Thanks for all of the posts on this guys. I do want to say that in fact we do care a great deal about the quality of the products that we sell. And, also that we do indeed test them to great lengths before we bring them to market. In this particular case, it is a tough issue. Mechanical retracts in general take quite a bit of tinkering to set-up and maintain. (learned that from many years of pattern flying before fixed gear models came into vogue).
Pneumatic retracts are certainly easier to set-up (though they have their own headaches), but cost quite a bit more. How much more would you be willing to pay for an RF warbird to get pneumatic gear with it? Twice?

The philosophy were following right now is to keep the sticker price down, and include mechanical retracts. If your willing to stay on top of them, they will continue to work. That being said, we are also working on improved gear quality. The new Corsair is a good example. The gear are metal, have adjustment screws to remove play.

Would you prefer to but the ARF w/o any retracts, like the approach we took with our T-34 .40?

Input is invited.

Thanks Guys!

Mike McConville