Robby

My Feedback: (18)

So when you want a plane.. Any plane, and remember, this is the
ARF / RTF forum,, what is the determining factor for you
to make that purchase... Say if you wanted a 60 some inch
ARF trainer.. Do you buy on design, or by price..? And say you
wish to have a Extra 330, do you buy because of who made it or
because of the price..
And, finally, do you let price dictate WHAT plane you
purchase.. This is in reference to NEW plane purchases only
please, not used...

Robby

steve114

It is what excites me.

I love the feeling of being a kid in a candy store, and I attack my purchases that way.

It what pushes my button at that moment, like the H9 P-51, had to have one when I saw one of the guys at the field with that gorgeous bird.

I give into my inner child

Steve

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

1. Quality
2. Design
3. Price

I usually have a couple different designs I am considering at a given time. I go in and look at the quality of available designs from a given manufacturer. Then I decide how much each is worth to me.

For example. I recently was looking at the GP 78" wagstaffe extra vx the World Models 80" version. Both similar in price, both very well built. I happend to like the tail feather design/setup on the GP better than the World Models. I bought the GP.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

*I do not buy anything unless I have seen it fly or work. This gives me a sort of "baseline" to go from.
*What engine is he using on the plane? Do you think the engine performs the way you want it to?
* How does he set things up? I use two elevator servos on a WM Midget Mustang. This is a .60 size plane with a OS1.08.
* How popular is the plane in your general area.
There are countless scenarios

krayzc-RCU

My Feedback: (31)

i buy what rcuniverse tells me is the hot item especially if i am in the market for a bird.

djlyon

Impulse

CAPtain232

My Feedback: (40)

KRAYZC....seems to me I bought a large edge that way....LOL

Seriously though, STRICTLY QUALITY. I am a quality kind of person. If you get good quality, then it will be worth the $$$$. You can spend lots of $$$$$ and get poor quality. RCUniverse is good for finding out what is a quality plane.


Jeff

wildthng

Half the time i go to the hobby shop and an arf will just look good that day so i will buy it.But i will only purchase good name brands such as globel,greatplanes,Kange,or H9 that i know are quality.I will not purchase any V-Mar kits because they give me a bad feeling that they are disposable.How much i spend depends on how bad i want it.

glowplug

My Feedback: (1)

I try to find the best quality-to-value ratio...for example....In my opinion, World Models 40-sized ARF's have an excellent quality-to-value ratio.
I don't get the most expensive planes out there, but I look for good quality at a good price.
An of course......I browse the RC Universe forums for information about the plane before I buy anything!!

Mike

Crash90

My Feedback: (17)

1 What do I want my plane to do.
2 Appearance.

MacAir

Robby,

What dictates my deciding factor is the same thing that makes the world go around... some like blondes, some like brounets, and others like redheads. To me, it just depends on "what you like and why".

I don't ruleout anything if it's what I want.

Personally, I like the "Super Decathlon" and I wanted a "good" representation of that particular plane, in other words, I wanted a good "scale" model.

Out of the several to choose from, I went with what I thought I could get (long term) and went with a Carl Goldberg. I could have just as easily went with "Dynaflite" or "Midwest"... which I still may do, later.

Right now, I didn't want a "kit", but rather an ARF, so my "good" choices were more limited.

I like the looks and size of the model I bought, rather than the cost it took to get it. It was unfortunatily, one of the most expensive ARFs in the Super Decathlon choices, but it's what I wanted and I'll have it for a long time, provided that I don't run it into the ground and destroy it - but that's why it won't see the sky until sometime next year. I may buy another to buzz around with before that BIG DAY comes for it's maiden voyage, and I may go with Midwest or even a Lanier. Those (to me) don't seem to be as accurate of "scale", but the costs are less and it would be fun to have a variety of the same thing to try out different models.

It's all up to you. Get whatever you want that will make you happy and drive you to enjoy this hobby to it's fullest. The folks here (on this site) seem to be, for the most part, very helpful and nice to deal with. But it ultimately is up to you.

"Whatever floats your boat."

To answer your question in one word: "quality".

OUTCAST

Once I have decided on the type of plane and size, I usually check the manufactures reputations for quality and customer support. It's my opinion that a little extra spent now on quality may save a lot in the long run. I have seen ARF extras 300's from one company that flew fine and the same size from another that flew great.

Joe B.

My Feedback: (1)

If were talking $89 vs $99, I don't bother minding price. If it's $99 vs $199 then the money may matter. However, there are times I'll pay more. I own the Sig CAP 231ex even though the H9 can easily be had for $200 left and right but it's about 2lbs heavier and has single elevator so I paid 'extra' for the Sig setup (used however).

One more important factor is the covering scheme. Since this is the ARF I can say the primary reason I bought my Kyosho CAP (.40 sized) is because I loved the covering scheme and didn't think I could reproduce it with the GP Cap that I was gonna build.

mancha

1.- make
2.- $ is not the objection!
3.- When I want to go in any given type: mid-wing, biplane, in .46 or in 1.6 or .90 etc.., I always check in the clubs around which model/make have they tried and most of the time I go for that particular model/brand/engine if the word is positive.
4.- So, word of mouth gives me final desition!

Razor-RCU

My Feedback: (50)

QUALITY

djlyon

y'all sound like impulse buyers to me

steve114

Impulse, and what stokes your fire are the reasons I buy a plane, and I love buying planes

But quality is still the king

When I have a choice of two P-51's I want the one that everyone is saying is the best quality.

I am not interested in saving a few bucks and getting crap.

I want something that is well made, and looks great

Steve

LMProd

I first narrow down what type of aircraft I to move into.
I look for reviews and ask modelers on RC Universe. I value their opinions. And of course I ask my local shop.

The biggest problem I run into is to choose between a two to three similar planes. That can be tough.

rockmon

Lets see did anyone mention impulse (haha) it's what ever floats your boat when your looking at planes. I went into my buds hobby shop for a bunch of servo extensions to replace a bunch of known bad ones, I came out with a Saki and a P-51 and never did remember to pick up the extensions BUT that gives me a reason to go back, I hope I can remember those darn extensions this time. One thing I better add is this guy gives us such good deals on quality arf's that it's easy to be so impulsive. If your not sure after reading about the plane of choice in rcu then stick with a well known manufacturer and in most cases you will be fine,I repeat in most cases but there are some very nice arf's made or sold under not so well known names. A good example is three maybe four years ago my bud started talking about theses new arfs he was getting for the shop but the kind of prices he mentioned we all were thinking they would be disposable because of the very low price well they turned out to be some of the first Kangke/Super Kraft arf's and most of them are still flying so don't be afraid to look around and don't let low prices scare you off thinking they are junk. Whew did I mention impulse.

vinnie

My Feedback: (1)

I just can't resist a good deal...like Creek Hobbies 1.20 size ARFs for $199. I liked them at $289. Plus I like to get something that everyone else doesn't have. That's why a Sukhoi. There are at least 3000 Extras, Caps, Edges, Giles etc. at our field (ok maybe a dozen or so) but the homely little Sukhoi seems totally ignored. Exclusivity is high on my list, just under BARGAIN!

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

I always buy the arfs I see on the late night infomercials!!!

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

So, are you saying we should also have more than one of these "in the hangar?"

LMProd

Impulse did play a part in what I purchased. But, some of the impulse planes are still sitting in boxes. My taste have changed in the type of planes I'm flying. I prefer bigger wings and aircraft with good flying characteristics.

When I did my impulse purchases I had previously research the planes and they had good reviews.

I do however purchase a good plane I emphasize good, that is going out of production. Such as the Dynaflite Spitfire 82 ".

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

1. Style of aircraft ie Biplane, Pattern, Low wing sports.
2. Reviews from RCU and members of my club.
3. Value for the money.

Lately I'm getting into building from plans. This winters projects are a Bucker Jungmeister and a 60 sized Cloud Dancer.

I expect the quality will be there!

John

Edge

I try to find somethin in mags/rcu that I like or no one else has yet, then research quality and if it fits, its a go. Its always fun to have "the only one". I usually auger 'em in before anyone can duplicate it anyway. I can say I have never retired a plane because it was old. It is expensive but I am pretty proud of it. :}