I know I know. I hear a whole lot of Horror stories about them. I hear how cheap they are. But what baffles me, is the fact that magazines rate them well. I have probably read 3-4 magazine builds and they rate them well in pretty much all aspects, including looks. Especially on that Subaru. Is it because they advertise a lot and the typical political BS . Is it because they give them free planes to test and play with? Or are they not as bad a a lot of guys on here make them out to be? I am interested in a Beaver with floats they have...

they pay good. the mags now are junk all they want is money. vmar if anybody asks you to build one run like heii absolute crap.

Thanks for your opinion. Lets hear some more comments. I sure would like to hear a guy or gal who works for the mags justify their quality and all this hype when I read an article... I would like to start a mag with real reviews, good, bad, or different.. Not negative, Just real. !

well i have had one and there not the best, their very heavy and the covering is crap

Today while the forums were down, I went to RCU Magazine.

Same story. Never met a plane they didn't like.

Keep in mind that the magazines are taking into alot of things when they review a model. Usually with v-mar and most of the low end arfs are just that low end. For 90-100 dollars do not expect this plane to be aero-works or carden quality. They are the ford escort of model airplane arfs. They do fly, some of them well, quality is that of what you would expect from a 90$ arf. Magazines do keep this in mind when they review. The 100$ arf is not going to be looked at the same way as the 1000$+ ARF. And yes they are paying advitisers. My experience with them is a low end aircraft below my standards but it flew and for a novice it would probably be ok just not to my liking. I have in the past not had many good things to say about them but I must keep in mind it is a 100$ airplane and an ok one at that.

Like everyone said before, R/C magazines (any magazine that get products for free to review) are in it to make money and keep the advertisers happy. Bottom line: get the "real" reviews from local flying folks and R/C forums.

There are many better ARF makers out there than VMAR and similiar pricing once you figure in VMAR's shipping cost (if you buy it directly from their website). Makers such as Seagull Models, World Models, Phoenix Models, Modeltech, and Global are comparable in cost in VMAR, but once you put their products side by side, you'll be stunned at the "low, shoddy, crappy, junk" quality of the construction of the VMAR. I've been there and done that with VMAR. Just say "NO" to VMAR.

they must get paid to give vmar a good write-up,the things are junk,i have only owned one and that was one too many!

Owned one VMAR. It is the worst ARF I have ever seen or had! They are CRAP!!!!!!!

You know, I have never seen a review of a Vmar ARF in RCM or RCReport. Even though Vmar advertises in them. I wonder why.

Hey I know... If you see a good review of a Vmar in one of the mags, don't buy that mag anymore. Better yet, send them an email telling them you don't buy their mag anymore because their reviews are dishonest and misleading.

Jim

i snail mailed them their renew notice back. a lier is worthless

Sorry to say this but generally Americal mags are bad news. They cannot be trusted ... the magazines are parts of a huge business where they have RC planes, cars and helis etc. Sometimes they publish 2 magazines on say RC cars and they will swap articles. All the reviews are CR@P ... like I said before, I was into nitro cars and some cars are totally useless but the reviews were like 4 out of 5. British magazines are better, one did a review on the VMAR Jodel and it was trying in a nice way to say the quality is low.

Anybody else?

Sorry can't confirm this as I can't remember seeing a Malaysian RC magazine lately.


By the way VMARs should be avoided like the Malaysian flu!!!

I use to doubt people who said RC magazines were afraid to write negative reviews about advertisers planes. I've heard that story before in other interests of mine, in particular with motorcycle magazines.

However after reading lots of RC magazines I've come to the conclusion that they really are afraid to write negative reviews. They almost never say ANYTHING negative about a plane. I've never assembled an ARF that doesn't have at least some significant problems, even if I really like the plane.

I was talking to someone from another club at our field a few weeks ago. He mentioned that he was given a plane (can't remember the name, but it was an electric jet style plane) by one of the RC magazines in order to write a review. Although the ARF was fine to assemble he found it flew very poorly, which he stated in his review. When he submitted his review, it was rejected, the magazine stated they couldn't publish such a negative review.

I also get tired of the RC magazines reviewing 3D type aircraft and the tester can't fly 3D. What is the point of that? I've given up on almost all RC magazines, I subscribe to Fly RC, but even it is a disappointment.

Malcolm

Manfred ... What Malaysian RC magazine? Was there a review about the VMAR? Malaysian Flu my butt!!! Hahahaaaaaa ...

Hi guys,
I have a VMAR EXTRA 330-L and I'm very happy with it,the build quality is fine and the overall package is good value for the money outlayed.
I know,in the past VMAR have had serious quality/consistency problems,but they have lifted their game.
My EXTRA 330-L flys great,it's powered by a VMAX 46 pro engine,which I am also very happy with.
I agree that a lot of magazine reviews are .......,maybe they should try the truth sometimes,hmmmmm......
I have been flying the wings off it and haven't had a single problem,I had my mate,who is the chief flying instructor at my local model aircraft club fly it and I had to beg him to get the TX back,he said it flew great,he tied it in some serious knots and it did all he asked,good enough for me.
This is the 4th ARF I have had and by far the best.
I still love scratch building,but the old time factor.......the older I get the less time I seem to have?????
Well I've said my bit.
May all your landings be right way up.OMEGA111 (Larry) seeya

Dart 373, Buy one of the darn things and so judge for yourself. A $100 VMAR RV-4 [RV-3 really,]
Makes a good project [to correct some small stuff] I know it's only a little bitty .40 size, and the rest of the guys are right, the covering is not the greatest, but , to be honest, I have not had any problems with it. Balsa they use is that wild " Burmese" stuff but with a little SIG glue the the little plane is quite a performer once it's re-inforced all around. To conclued, no, I wont buy another. Ones enough. Seeya, MormonMike.

Omega 111, Question, How in the heck do you guys "down there'' get used to flying right-side up when your all really "upside down"?. MM

I see Omega is happy with his Extra 330L. I was so happy with my (much older) Vmar Extra 300 (not the fancy colorful one sold now) that I recommended it to friends. Two bought them, and were happy with the construction and the flight characteristics.

Mine now has over 330 flights on it, most over a year ago. The covering is all faded and the elevator hinges had to be re-pinned, but the flight characteristics are still fine. I have to re-glue the covering from time to time on the front of the horizontal stabs, because they put the seam too close to the front. A bit of CA has held the other seams in place.

This plane, on a .46FX, will do all the aerobatics in the IMAC catalog, unless they now have included hovering. It holds a knife edge for quite a while, flies inverted like it was intended to, and snaps like itĀ“s on gimbals.

Apparently this plane (and the two others in my club) are unique among VMar offerings, since all the quick-to-post people dismiss them with one-word reviews.

Your mileage and your results may vary, probably in proportion with your skills and inversely with your expectations.

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

I also have the old 300L by VMAR and must say it does perform well, with a GMS 47 for power, it does all the right things for me except for flat spins!




Hey SCAR, where have you got your CofG set?

I started with it on the spar, and (if I remember correctly) moved the battery back a little, later. ItĀ“s been a long time, IĀ“d have to go pull it down from the garage rafters where itĀ“s hanging and put it on the balance stand.

I guess I donĀ“t try flatspins, but now that you mention it, ƍ should pick a plane I donĀ“t care about and try them! For other things, like rolling circles and outside loops, that was the Vmar Extra. IĀ“ll have to get something else to learn flat spins.

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

Hey MM,
easy dude,we take off and land inverted
Looks kinda funny,but it works for us.
Happy flying mate,seeya

There's only one way that you'll find out about VMAR. YOU be the judge.
Regardless of all the bashing,only YOU can tell.
I've had the 540 Edge for four years and many flights and I'll say that it's a nice plane and tuff.Flies very well.It's not like you loosing an arm and leg in the pricing.It's not perfect (no ARF is),but nice for the price. If you don't like it,you've got $169 worth of pretty. Look at the new version 300L.Can't get much prettier than that,bar none.
I also had the New Arrow Tiger.A real looker.Looks a lot better up front than the pix on the site.It crashed,but not the planes fault. It did want to stall on landing,but fixed that before it's demise.

Try it,you mite like it
Just my 2 cents