Balsa-
I was not trying to criticize your craftsmanship. Sounds like your planes are very nice and sturdy. I like to reinforce certain things on my ARF's and put a little attention to details on my planes too. I realize everyone is different in their own way. I recently put together a Hangar-9 Funtana 90 in just a couple of evenings after work and I reinforced the firewall with dowels, pulled the sheeting from the wings and reinforced the servo bays, installed aftermarket hinges,ironed out the wrinkles,etc. etc. I just thought the idea of an ARF was to get to the field and spend more time flying than anything else. I do see myself taking my time and building kits in my later days and enjoying the building process a little more. Once again, I do appreciate your time and effort.

Bob,

I have to agree with you on the ARf pricing and the person I spoke of in my post does all three thing and many different levels and his prices are well worth it in my eyes. I'm a little unsure of your Cardin Kit statement though. Are you saying you would expect to pay a bit more for that kit. I know I would because of the amount of work involved or at least what I have been told is involved. I was thinking along the lines of 3K to 4K for the Carden build myself including covering and mounting of all the radio gear and engine. I do the setup of the radio.

I actually have been really contemplating getting a Carden Edge and sending it to him. I have talked to him about the pricing and he is right where I expect in price. He did mention that if I can get it to him by the middle of April he may be able to have it ready by late August early September. He said he has always wanted to do a Carden but no one has ever asked him. Around here there are not may places to fly big planes so anything over a 120 size plane is unusual.

As far as Balsa stating the manufacturers name I have to disagree to a degree on your point there. It's not uncommon to mention a manufacturer that has less than superb quality then the thread gets into a flame war and we as mods have to lock it down.

If he does want to name the company he can but if he does I ask that everyone keep this thread as civil as it has been so far. If he does not want to post the name maybe he will reply to a PM with it if you or anyone else sends him a PM asking for it. If it ends up going that way then I for one would respect his wishes and keep it private amongst yourselves

Guys,

Check post #10.

Ken, AMA 19352

Yes, I did mention the brand, and no, I will not ever again get into a flame war or any other type of cuss out here in RCU. This is a hobby for our enjoyment, and not a place to, "One-up" someone else. My point is, has been, and will continue to be, Why do we accept less than good quality as being the norm? If we stopped buying marginal products, then we should expect to receive the quality that we are paying for. Soon, the manufacturers and distributors would get the picture and get the quality where it should be. Of course, I know that that is not going to happen. Too many of we model airplane enthusiasts are not willing to wait. We have gotten into the instant gratification thing, and will not wait for anything. Just keep on buying one model after another, get it on Friday, fly it on Sunday, and the Importer/Distrubitor keeps laughing all the way to the bank. What does he care that the quality is not there? To him, if you crash one after another it just helps the bottom line.

I have models that are hand built (from kits, and from plans) that are over 10 years old, some with over 500 documented flights that are still in excellent condition (not rebuilt/recovered) How many of your ARF's can make that statement. I am talking about garden variety models here, not some hangar queen. Enough about that. Like I said before, I wish that I had not even mentioned the manufacturer before. All that ever accomplishes is to start a Flame war, because you probably have one from that source, and you cannot believe that you would ever buy anything but the best. I will not ever become a party to that argument.

Peace,
Bill

I don't know if you are still interested, but as promised, here they are. The P-47 is the ARF in question. The PT-19 was built from plans from 1964 MAN. The Cub is Balsa USA 1/4, the yellow one is Corben Super Ace as is the one in the bones.

from your pic, your just as crabby lookin as i thought 8^)

A lot of very good points here. Personally, I have been 'building' since I was 14. I am now 53. I have been 'assembling' since they came out with these Almost Ready to Fly models, and covering the ARCs since they were first available. They were a lot more work, but at least with them, you could do the sanding and prep work that it takes to produce a really nice covering job. Prep work sorly lacking in most of todays ARFs. They are doing an amazing job with covering, but not taking the time to prep the airframes. That's production, I guess. Even thes ARFs, just a few years ago, were a lot more work, but have gotten much better, in general. I still go over the factory work, upgrade whatever hardware is not up to my standards, rework the covering as needed, repaint the fiberglass as needed, and change any installations I deem nessasary. All this is done to all of them I produce, plus any specifics a guy might want, like extra detailing, weathering, or scale feachers, all for an adder. As has already been said, it is important for the owner and builder to be on the same page.

Crabby lookin???? Crabby lookin ???? I'll have you to know that I'm uhhhhh, uhhhhhh not crabby (exactly) I'm really a, a, a, a, aw Hell, I've earned the right to be a little crabby.

BubbaGates, you gonna let him call me crabby an get away with it??? Dang![>:][>:][>:]

Amen Amen Amen Amen....!!!!!

out of the 15 arfs ive gotten in the past 5 years...5 of em were ok with 3 being exceptional value, the other 10 are garbage...

BB

I just thought that you looked appropriately unhappy about it.

Ken

I can't yell at him when I also thought you looked a little crabby myself

I uz jest tard. (translation I was just tired) Long thrash to finally finish that %%$#@#$%$#$ ARF. Never again. I can fix my own screw-ups and blame myself. [8D][8D][8D]