ORIGINAL:Paternguy
I am still predicting many more failures before everyone figures out that the airframes are being built in such a way as to maximize the profit margin of the manufacturers and adding the most available power to this equation is maybe not the best way to proceed. I still have faith that one day common sense will again appear on the scene. LOL
As an American based company whose having our ARF's manufactured in China as are almost all US based RC manufacturers I can stress how far from the truth your statement is. The US consumers do not stand for anything but the best. We as manufacturers do our best to give you the best and if we have to, and sometimes do, is transfer the cost of better materials to you, the consumer. But Americans don't mind spending more money for better products as do many other countries. Now in some other countries cheap products are acceptable, but here in the States they are not. The Icepoint for which I am an owner is what I would call way above average to excellent in both construction and materials. Don't try to plant subliminal messages that Ultra RC is after the buck and not concerned about the quality, that's just stirring the pot.
Now your other comment about planes falling from the sky is crazy, 525 planes, 2 known failures (one of which the owner was happy enough to get another plane) and it's a hot flying plane, not a trainer. But now lets talk about the wing. A wing failure is always a chain of events, not just a single event in this case we all think it's the glass. But maybe some of you think it's the glass because it's the easiest to see?? The Icepoint has d-tube construction, main spar, lower spar, butt glued together, sheeted and glassed. I mean get real here. But now we are assuming it was just the glass that failed? The pilot stated 50 flights and prolly lots of trips to the field. How do we know the main spar was not cracked in transport creating the chain of events. I'm not saying it was, but it could certainly have been.
Also, high G moves kill planes. I can't even count the amount of times I heard someone say "watch guys" then pull some crazy move and wing rips in half. Obviously there is going to be some kind of stress somewhere on the plane when it meets or exceeds the structual amount limited. I've seen men cry when they planted their 40% Edge's just from a simple low speed parachute. This happens in the hobby and it happens a lot. Icepoints are made to chug fast and snap hard. I've beat the crap out of mine and it's still in one piece. I've looked at my wing and seems fine to me. This is an isolated incident and nothing more.
I just hope we keep this thread productive and not controversial with the sneer comments. I think Brian is doing a great job in his support and based on these statistics I'm not going to touch my plane and I don't expect these to start falling out of the sky. I didn't purchase my Icepoint because the wings were held together by fiberglass, that was just another nice detail that Ultra RC added to make sure that these wings stay redundant.