kahloq

I will chime in with Rip here. Even though I've had a couple not so minimal issues with the stock gear on this plane, they are still a 100 times better then the wire stuff thats included with the 60 size planes and better then not getting anything. Almost NO manufacturer includeds heavy duty retracts with their kits, so H9 at least should be given credit they did provided something substantial enough to get some flights in. Its just too expensive to included high quality retracts along with the kit. The price would be $699+ instead of $469....and therefore they'd sell fewer planes. Its business. As mentioned, the B-25 comes with wire strut fixed gear and YOU have the option of buying a robart kit or use whatever. Top Flight is no different. Their 60 size retracts on the P-51 arent the greatest either and they dont offer any gear with their giant scale P-51. Its a separate purchase. The ppice of the TF P-51 is only $50 less then the H9 that does come WITH useable gear.
Ok...so, since the cost of the mechanicals is $65 retail, I can agree that it would be nice to have the option to leave those out of the box and have a price point of about the same as the TF giant P-51($409) as well as offering them boxed with the plane for those that want them. I am not convinced they are junk retracts though. The oleos are pretty stiff, but yeah the linkages could be beefed up some.