I've got a Jetjoe - well. the remains of one - given to me after the customer had bought a Wren to replace it. This particular JJ had been given a Wren front and tailcone and passed off as a Wren in a secondhand sale. The turbine failed in the air and spat blades out the back ... and everyone at the JetMeet thought it was a Wren that failed. Maybe you could spare a moment to think how you'd feel if your company's product was in danger of getting a bad name because of the failure of a pirated copy?

So, surely I'm allowed to discuss the engines?

A few points from recent posts
"Wren really would be upset if ebay was flooded with Wren Turbines that were fake copies! "
Mercifully Ebay has not been flooded but there have been a number of cases. JJs were (possibly still are) sold in Asia as "JetLucky" with a green front, and people have tried to resell them as Wrens. Another trick is to buy a Wren FOD screen and fit it to a JJ, as in the incident I've just reported.

The miniature jet engine is not easily patentable. There was a lot of work done by people in the 1990s, including Schrecking, Artes, Kamps, Gaspar Espiell and Mike Murphy of Wren, and the majority of model turbines are based on these designs. All reputable companies do things their own way, each has their own designers who are continually improving the engines. Wren spend over 50,000 dollars a year on R&D, working to develop new engines and improve the existing ones. For example, the original Wren MW54 with 11 pounds of thrust has been developed into the SuperSport with 18+ pounds. I could give you examples from our competitors, too - we are all constantly competing with each other to improve. If we didn't do that then you guys wouldn't have all the latest engines, you'd be stuck with something that weighed four pounds, only produced 15 pounds of thrust and had to be started with a leaf-blower.

Have you seen the new KingTech turbines from Taiwan? Those guys have done their own development, produced an engine that works and is value for money. They have had a good review in RC Jets International and are being sold by trusted and experienced retailers like Todd at Dreamworks. We accept that as legitimate competition - a good thing for customers, as I've just explained. Joe, however, has simply copied other engines and his product doesn't even work properly. I've been on here a number of times and said we aren't against competition, only UNFAIR competion. A poorly copied product is not only unfair to the original designer, it's also unfair to modellers, I know of many people who have bought the engines and found that they have lost their money because the engines don't work.

Sara Parish
Wren Turbines