Never bought an ARF of any type and I am now thinking about the Global "Free Style" I am concerned as to the quality and durability of Global kits. Any feedback will be appreciated.

I had the Tequila Sunrise 36 inch wing span. Taking into consideration that you get what you pay for, I was happy with the tequila. But their not Great planes or Hanger Nine. I wonder if this will get edited.

The Freestyle is one of their newer planes. I have built many Global (and Hangar 9, World Models, and Great Planes) ARF's. This includes the Avenger, Ultimate Bipe and others. I can tell you that the Freestyle goes together very well, with no doubt the best Global plane I've built. It is on par with WM stuff. Better alignment and fit than H9 or GP models that I have built. Comes with a clear cowl (to help with cutouts for the engine) plus truly usable hardware including a really nice fuel tank.

The Tequila Sunrise is one of their older models. Everybody's ARF's seem to be getting better and better, so it's possible today's newer GP and H9's ARFs have even better fit and finish than the ones I built.

Parts alignment is great and the plane flies awesome with a YS63. You can fly it with a 46 like the OS 46FX or Magnum 46XLS, but the plane will not be 3D capable without some added power. An OS 50, YS63 or Saito 72 would be the right power for it.

Being a newbe to RC flying, I had the RCM Trainer. On the first flight out, with an experienced RC pilot at the controls, the wing screws vibrated out and the fuselage became a dirt dart.
I emailed Global about what happened, they sent me a new fuselage, no charge shipping and all. They do stand behind their products.

My wing saddle fit was awful. They should of checked it against a template before it left the factory. Had to add a lot of wood in the front half of it just to close up the gap (fear the wing would seperate from the fuse because the only place it touched was the wooden piece that locates the front part of the wing. Also, the wood will crack were it is butt jointed together, run CA along the joints that are accessable. When they broke in the rear of the fuse, I opened it up and put a doubler on both sides. It's a decent flying plane, but since it was my first ARF (after 8 years of building), I would look around a little more before buying something again.

Good luck,
Jon

I've had several global/ model tek arfs/arcs. They were all well built and solid, but they tend to be quite heavy, the penalty for solid.