ORIGINAL: RCKen
Ok guys, I went to ''The Horse's Mouth Today''. I spent some time on the phone with David Reddin from Sig today to find out what their status is. What he told me is pretty much what you read here. Balsa wood is in EXTREMELY short supply worldwide right now, so they are working against that. They got in a container of balsa last month and in David's words ''it was the worst balsa wood I have ever seen'', so most of it was completely unusable. They are expecting another container of wood next month and if the samples sent were any indications they are in business as David said the wood is very high quality. Right now there is absolutely no 48'' lengths of balsa at all. So any kits that need those lengths of wood will have to wait for the next container of wood. Other kits that they can cut with what they have are trickling out the doors, so keep an eye out as some of their kits are becoming available now. The other issue they have is ARF's. Once again, they are waiting for shipment from overseas to restore their stocks, but it is on the way according to David.
I think that's about it. David is a great guy who loves this hobby, so he is definitely a joy to talk to. We spent some time just chatting about the Sig kits and the state of the hobby today. If any of you ever get the chance to meet David in Toledo or get to talk to him on the phone please do so, he's a great guy.
Ken
It hasn't just been a problem for SIG, when Lone Star Balsa got there doors opened after there big fire it took them a long time to be able to get enough balsa wood in stock. It was the same thing for all the balsa supply places. The world demand for balsa right now is very high and what the supply houses are getting is not up to the quality it once was. Don't be in shock when you order wood and it is a mixture of both hard and soft. I have been using up my own supply of contest grade wood on projects I would have never dreamed of using it on just a couple of years ago. Model airplanes are not on the top of the list for the big suppliers. Think of how many planes could be built with the wood from just one wind mill blade when you drive by a wind park. THINK GREEN!!!!!!!!!
