MLS #665300 - 401 S Front Street Montezuma, IA 50171

This is sad. REAL sad. It appears to have either been run into the ground, or just fizzled out to nothing. An American icon in this hobby.

And disturbing - maybe the real estate market there is really depressed. $550 grand for 2 acres of commercial property with an established commercial building with operational equipment? WTH??? Here in metro Atlanta, that 2 acres of real estate all by itself (just the land, without anything on it) would be worth that much. Disturbing is the wrong word. More like disgusting.

This country (and the entire world) is circling the toilet drain. The entire world has been a freakshow for the last 3 years, with the Plandemic, politics (from ALL sides), wars, etc.

I ordered some balsa and shop equipment from them a couple of months ago, and they shipped it out right away.

Have they made any kind of public announcement? I couldn't find anything.

Yes, this is very sad, but there just aren't enough of us old-time balsa builders left to keep companies like Sig going (and I would guess the margins in the ARF market to be so razor thin as to make it hard to keep going too). This is the same dynamic that ultimately led to the demise of TF and Great Planes kits. That does not mean the end of the hobby, it just means the end of a particular era. I get a lot of RC related posts on my IG feed and keep seeing more and more sophisticated foam builds and 3D printer builds and all sorts of innovation going on. It may look different (and may not appeal to some of us old-timers) but it has the same soul.

Hi guys, I contacted the listing agent, Andy Erselius and asked about Sig. Here is his reply ;

I was going to say that they are moving from what I heard.

More communications....

It's never been a better time to be in the hobby with the advent of unbelievably reliable and light radio gear, RTF planes, infinite choice of propellers, engines, motors, composite materials, fast drying glues, easy access to information............BUT IT SURE DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THESE ARE THE BEST OF TIMES WHEN I DRIVE PAST SO MANY INACTIVE CLUB FIELDS.

Agree, todays youth just don’t see the magic with aviation that we did as kids.

Getting out of the most rainy area of the country, one can find that sunshine changes your outlook and activity level considerably. It did for me after I move into FL. They estimate 1000 people a day are moving into this state, the increase in traffic sure does agree with that number. Hopefully more diners and sandwich shops will show up as we settle for one local diner to gather in, after we fly. Even when people are inactive here due to age, they still show up to meet old friends and chat out of their SUV window. Good company is found at Palm Bay's non-sanctioned field especially with Rich Uravitch and Dave Platt being regulars for the last 30 years, no AMA or club dues, so there isn't a soul to complain about the noise level of a Rossi or other high rev engine, it's just that I'm the only guy doing it, and everyone else is a lipo battery charging hobbyist.

Sad to hear about this

AMA's financial data supports these observations. Based on inflation adjusted IRS990 filings over the years 2001 to 2021:

• Charter club fees down 10%
• Membership revenue down 13%
• Event sanctions are down 23%

Andy Erselius sent me this today. So it appears the RC kits will still be available from Sig, but things like the paint and fuel will not.

Tell me about it. IIRC, the Eagles lost their field out along 530, the club just east of Everett folded, as did the one not too far from Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The only ones I know that are still around are the two in the Monroe area. Granted, it's not a long drive to either one but, when I consider that I used to be able to almost walk to the one by the high school, it does kind of suck

The good news is the Eagles field is open again.
The bad news is how close the field is to hwy 530 and to homes...and how the pilots have to look due south into the sun.
At the field next to the Marysville HS the club was sued a couple times after an Old guy flew his 60 sized pattern plane into a roof, another plane crashing into the main hwy during rush hour [67th ave] and all the close encounters planes had while the farmers were out working the fields.
Corn Farmer Neff had a Field Hand shoot a guys plane out of the sky that had badly overflown the boundary line.
Years earlier a pedestrian was almost killed by a 100 mph combat plane [FOX .36 Combat Special] down at Sand Point Park ...when one of the planes was accidentally cut loose during a match....at a AMA sanctioned event. Back in those days the flyers didn't even wear a wrist strap and automatic fuel shutoffs were still 20 years away from being made mandatory by the AMA.
I've seen dozens of fly aways over the years..the most famous might be the time a plane plowed through the high voltage powerlines and knocked the power out to an entire town.

Interesting detail regarding the fuel shutoff. I take that as it was recognized that the event could be made safer and changes were initiated.

Just moving/reorganizing.

https://sigmfg.com

AMEN...!!
When I first moved to Washington from California [almost 40 years ago] I was amazed with all of the interest in model aviation.
Our clubs had several WWII, Korean War and Vietnam Vets, some Boeing employees and others who had connections with GA.
I would love to be able to fly at a nearby field like you describe where one can "LET ER RIP"..!!!
The 100 acre field you see in this video was once owned by a Korean War Pilot but has recently been converted to a RV Dealership and a Mental Hospital..

This is good news!

Excellent...!
They contacted me recently via email and asked if I still wanted supplies that I had ordered back in 2021.

I just ordered from SIG and they accepted my order…. Let’s see if it gets shipped out.

I've been trying to get a refund from SIG for a month. It seems that when you place an online order your credit card is charged for ALL items ordered plus the shipping charge. Now here is where the fun begins.....Any items that are out of stock and you cancel them never get removed from the charges. You get a "store" credit instead. Well I have a $141 credit. THIS is what I've been trying to get refunded for this past month. Several calls ALWAYS had the person in accounting out of the office at the moment. Lunch, hair cut (no not kidding), etc. SO......Not thinking anyone is about to get me a refund....I called in an order on Wednesday the 25th of this January for stuff that was in stock and told them to use my "store" credit (order was around $136USD). Fine I was told. The order will ship on Monday the 30th. I called them Monday afternoon to see how it was going and I was told they are very behind and maybe it will ship later in the week. Hmmmm... I have NOT received an order confirmation as of this writing, let alone a shipping notification nor a refund.
This is just an FYI on my latest experience with SIG. Seems they are taking orders but not in a hurry to ship them. I'd be VERY cautious about sending them any funds at this time. I wonder if anybody has RECEIVED an order from them this past week or gotten notice it has shipped?

I received a balsa order from Sig within a week. I asked what was going on and was told they are moving the operation to Chicago. The plan is to continue in the balsa business and to modernize the operation. Arfs and kits will likely come back.

When did you order it?

About 10 days ago.

Coming up on six months of promises from SIG to move into a new facility and introduce new products for 2023.
Are they still excited with their timeline? If YOU were just moving, would you set your phone on outgoing announcement only,
and stop returning people's emails who are waiting for their overdue orders? What would we call that, if it was any other company but SIG?

That $550,000 Iowa facility listed on MLS is still a fire sale, price reduced to $525,000.
Broken down into three different properties. If they can sell it in pieces, it will be interesting to see what
they actually do with the money.

https://www.realty.com/commercial-li...ezuma-IA-50171

​​​​​​https://www.realty.com/commercial-li...ezuma-IA-50171

​​​​​​https://www.weichert.com/109866832/