I recently bought an Aeroworks Extra 300 50cc and it arrived with some damage. Some of the fuselage formers were cracked on the bottom of the airframe. Aeroworks did a decent job trying to fix things however, the airplane was out of stock. I would have had to wait until the end of July or begining of August for a replacement fuse. I reluctantly decided to fix the formers as I did not want to wait until the end of the season for a replacement. I talked with a friend who just recieved the same airplane with exactly the same problem. I flew the plane yesterday and it flew great, tracked well, and very smooth. I had planned the 100-150 cc yak as my next project however If this is a systemic problem with aeroworks I may rethink that. I have heard nothing but great things about Aeroworks and my experience with them has been ok. I was very impressed with the customer service but since I know of two airframes with exactly the same damage, I wonder if perhaps their QC is subpar. Has anyone out there had a similiar experience with the company?

I have a buddy that buys AW planes mostly around the 60-90 size and for the most part his have always come in pristene condition. They are a tad more pricey than some of the others so from my viewpoint I would expect top notch condition upon inspectiton. I only had one AW plane and bought it used but it was a very decent build and a good solid flyer.

For the extra money I would not have necessarily bought it myself because it was not worth the extra cost new compared to other offerings. The thing is you can have problems with any of the planes today. It all depends on how much service you expect to receive. I have heard that AW service was excellent. I am sure you will get some responses from AW buyers.

Happy flying!

I have an AW Extra 300. The box it came in had some sort of masonite board inside of it. I had no dammage.

david

This is not just an Aeroworks problem, I just recieved a Pilot 35% Yak 54 from Chief Models. The canopy was badly damaged even though the shipping box was pritine. Because I did not keep the box I am out of pocket for the damage. Lesson learned keep every thing until a thourough inpection is made. My mistake cost me another $45.00 plus shipping. Paul

as long as AW is working with you in some way to make your end of the deal whole... is what i think would be the main concern.... like people are saying shipping is a drangrus roll of the dice damage happens

Well, I would like to share my experience from both sides of the coin. I bought a AW Extra 300 30cc QB in February (its still in the box). When I did an inspection and unboxing (the thread to that is in the Giant Scale section), I was not very impressed for various build reasons where I thought it could have been better given the cost. The main issue was that the bottom of the airframe was hollow and therefor susecptible to damage. Secondly, I too received a damaged RHS wing. I informed Tower (I had bought through them) and they said I should deal direct with AW. My position was a bit uncomfortable because of my location, I couldnt send the wing back for inspection. AW sent me a replacement wing and I packed it off to storage.

Then, a local GW vendor offered some airplanes he had imported. The 30cc ones were too expensive (and I already have the Funtana 125, GW MX2 and the AW Extra 30cc in boxes) so I decided to get the new 20cc Sbach (I regret that now). When I received the airplane, the construction was apalling. The wings didnt have spar with double shear webbing as is standard, the fuse side ply was paper thin and would bend out when installing the wing, the CF wing tube was also delicate, tristock required was missing and it was really a cheap build. Pics are in another thread in the ARF forum. Recently my flying buddy flew this Sbach with a 120ax with plenty of modifications- he basically sheeted the inside of the fuse with balsa and miranda ply he had scrap plus added tristock and CF strips. Havent seen it fly but I heard if flys well

When I got the AW Extra, I thought it was a piece of lumber. Having seen the GW Sbach, the AW is really excellent quality, albeit a bit heavy. Since AW build their QB series in China and ship to the US and then around the world, there are always chances of damage. AW usually put in some ply in between the paper box and the outer cardboard one (though mine didnt come that way but the replacement wing was really well packed). With these new ARFs being built as light as possible, transit damage is to be expected. Atleast companies are willing to offer replacements for free (cant say same about GW, no offence meant)

So its your decision to either reinforce the cheaper builds and spend time and money that way or buy good stuff in the first place. If offered the chance, I would immediately swap my GW Sbach for an AW Extra 300 20cc (60-90) and bear the cost difference. I count my lucky stars now as there has been a 25% increase in the conversion rate between the INR and USD since I bought the AW

Ameyam