ORIGINAL: FenderBean
Im just trying to figure out what right looks like, you see so much back and forth here about different companies but it seems to be opinion drivin. Nobody ever gives details, they just say its junk, well why is it junk. I have heard people say good and bad things about every company out there and if I was someone trying to research what I should look for I would be totally lost. Just like every other thing you only hear about the bad and sometimes that can over shadow the real truth. Every company out there continues to sale jets even with all the negativity so what gives?
Does that make sense? I was looking for facts not opinions
Ok, makes sense now.
So if I understand correctly, you want to know what a good airplane looks like, right?
I think is a hard to give a general answer. But things I look at are
1) internal structure. Not completely possible, but at least look at what you can. It is not about seeing a lot of structure, but well engineered structures
2) materials, glue quality and application
3) Tidiness. I have a hard time believing that a sloppy construction like the ones i've seen in several posts correlate to a good design.
4) stiffness of different structures. For example, I always grab the fin and try to bend it side to side. My F100 will not flex one bit. Other planes I've held bend and has translated into flutter. There has been talks about a plane (I wont say names again) that is been in recent threads that everyone considers that is great, but it has rudder flutter problem. That is not acceptable and should be grounded until fixed
5) Landing gear desing and reliability. This is a hard one to judge, and I don't think you can just by looking at it. As you mentioned, go to events and see them fly. see which ones work and which ones don't.
As much as you want facts, I think this is not a very factual process. there is no data. The best you can do is simply to follow success. Go to events, see what works and see what doesn't. I don't want to get into a brand discussion, so won't say what I think doesn't work. But you see skymasters, BVM, JMP, Philip Avonds, CARF, and others, and they always work. This is not a full list, so don't try to conclude from my comment that what is not in the list doesn't work... that is not my point.
And lastly, it depends a lot on what you want to do with the hobby. Not everything needs to work. Getting it to work might be your thing. Again, without mentioning names, you might get a kick our of getting a sub par model of a plane you love and making it work becomes a challenge that you enjoy.... Not everything needs to be perfect from the box. People love scratch building, kit building, kit reengineering, it is all good and fun. Nothing wrong with that as long as you keep it safe
enough talking... time to start getting ready for the weekend flights
later
jack