RE: Where Have All The Kits Gone ?
Have any of you folks thought about getting the plans of a plane you like and having either a short kit or the full kit cut by a kit cutter?. If not give it some thought. I have a Stinson SR10 and a Cessna 195 both from Hostetler plans. Ihad the Cessna cut by Cornell Michaels and it is a hand cut kit. Michael did a really really nice job of cutting the Cessna. I'm just about ready to start the build of this 25% model. It will be as scale as my skills will allow. I will be consulting Glenn Mcintosh for many many of the scale details as he is building the same kit and his is a real work of love and skill.
I picked up a pre-cut (lazer cut) kit of the Stinson from PKC. It is just O.K. as far as the cutting goes. Many parts were (smaller) broken upon arrivel. But the thing that made me upset with PKC was the fact that some of the wing ribs were cut to short in relation to the plans. I think that this was caused by the person who input the data to the computer that tells the lazer how to cut the parts. I'm now having Michael cut a new set of wing ribs for it by hand.
Some of you may have the tools and skills to cut the entire kit yourself. I have the skills but not the equipment, so that is why I'm having Micheal cut it for me. I would like to caution you about having a kit cut by someone who does it by hand. Do not expect it to be cut in one day. It takes time to do the job right. And if you order a kit to be cut think about how many kits the guy may have ahead of yours to cut when you order. But if you are willing to wait and let the cutter take his time to do a good job then you will have a very good kit to build.
Having a kit cut by someone is not all that more expensive then buying one off the shelf already cut. And you have the benifit of getting a model of something you really want to build and fly.