I just bought a Stinger .60 kit from Lanier. Keep in mind this is my first kit, so I may have had some higher than practical expectations of a kit.
CONS
I thought since I was at their website I was buying the plane directly from Lanier. This is NOT the case. They use something called Shopatron to bid out there online sales for them. I ended up getting the kit from some shop in PA that I had never heard of. Even if you order it on their website, you're not getting it directly from them so you may as well order from someone of your choice. I wish I had known that...
The info on the [link=http://www.lanierrc.com/lrcprivate/LRChtmpages/sting60.htm]Stinger .60[/link] page states,
Presheeted foam wings, ABS cowls and wheelpants and balsa/ply parts slash building time to ribbons
Upon arrival of my kit, my wings were certainly Not presheeted. They were raw foam still in foam panels.
The site said rolled plans. Well, this is true mostly. They were folded in the middle and rolled the rest of the way. I don't know if this is typical or not.
The instruction book is pretty vague to a new builder. It contains no pics at all and has no complete list of supplies needed to complete the kit. It mentions several types of glues, contact cement and other items within the book but never tells you ahead of time that you'll need them. I guess this is why you need to read the whole book first and make out your shopping list.
Several pieces of the included wood were either badly warped or had bad spots on it including the wing root spar. This may or may not be typical, but I had to replace some stuff. They also leave you very little room for error on the wood supplied. If you mess one up one piece you'll be making a trip to the shop.
PROS
The site said die cut lite ply parts. The sheet of of lite ply parts I received had been laser cut. They were almost falling out of the sheet when I picked it up. I thought this was a good thing...
Not having to sand a turtledeck and all the whatever else goes along with it will be nice. The whole top of the fuse is plastic from the stab to the cowl.
Nice sturdy landing gear were included in the kit.
Again, I may have expected more than I should have with this being my first kit. Rcpilot said Lanier kits aren't the best for a beginner and that holds true for this one. I've spent allot of time waiting to confer with another builder on what they are talking about and how to do it. Even he said some of it was a pain in the arse the way they laid it out. All in all I'm not too disappointed in the kit itself. I guess I got soured from the beginning by feeling a little misled though. Hopefully the one your looking at will be all you hoped for. Good Luck.
Rick