After having 2 Aw ARF's I have decided not to ever purchase another. The last one was a 42% Extra 260 that the wings kept coming apart. I had performed the AW fix per Mark Dennis to them before I flew the airplane and they still failed. After a week of phone calls I was told I was on my own because I was not the original owner. It took a week to get that answer from Rocco. I had to open the wings for the second time, glue in a second row of shear webbing between the spar and leading edge. After that no issues. In my case what was happening is that the ribs were splitting and allowing the sheeting forward of the spar to seperate.

As to the weight of AW airplanes, the few times I had one in the shop it would give off a very pleasant wood smell. I'm assuming that was because the wood was still drying out. May also explain the poor glue joints. I would think it difficult to glue wet wood.


After some thought I did decide to come back and add that in the past I have owned an AW 36% Kit Edge with the flat tail . It was offered as an ARC. It is one of my all time favorites. I also have built 2 of their 37% Extra 300L kits that was a colabiration with AW and QQ. Great builds and high quality materials. To date these were the best airplanes I have flown , hands down. So we know Rocco and company have the knowledge to produce great airplanes. I just feel the manufacturer overseas and support is what is lacking