Norm Nestie

Hi all, I was looking at a site Raidentech.com and thought the ARFs looked pretty good. I wonder if anyone has had any experience with these planes?

drone pilot

You should get a lot of replys.....Check out the threads about Nitroplanes.com they were/are the same outfit. There is some good reports, and some bad reports. I tried get a plane from Nitroplanes, but after two weeks of no reply to my offer I gave up. Cliff

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Do you own a Temp gun?

txntlidie

A friend of mine bought a courseair f4u from raidentech and the plane was awesome, supper impressive, never saw such a nice cover job on an ARF.

jrotor

My Feedback: (5)

I read many threads about planes from Raidentech, AK-models and NitroPlanes and many of them are same planes.
But most people only comment about how good and detail it looks.
I wanted to find out more about how well it flies.
I bough a CMP Cessna and it looked so nice but I hated the way it flies.
The wing areea was too small so it had to fly fast and land fast too.
It didn't look scale at all.
My friend has a CMP Lanclair and it has the same problem.
They all look great though but who cares if u don't enjoy flying it ?

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Cyclic, you are such a pri*k [sm=lol.gif]

TestPilot6

Yep!
I bought 4 ARFs from them. 3 trainers and 1 aerobatic/scale. What can I say? The prices were good.

2 of the Galaxy trainer were great. Put them together in the afternoon and flew the next day. However, there were small glitches in the 2nd one. It came with a wrong spinner. I would have been annoyed if it had been the first plane.

The 3rd trainer, Yamato, was an abosolute horror. I picked it up for $49.99. Just about everything was off and the kit wasn't as complete as Galaxy. I would have to admit I had spent over 20 hours correcting mismatches. I would say the flight characteristic of Galaxy is much better than that of Yamato.

4th one was a Yellow Long EZ 46. I'm satisfied with the quality of the ARF including the material and the workmanship. The instruction has much room for improvement. I haven't completed the assembly, yet, because I've made a lot of modifications and still contemplating further modifications before the first flight!!!

- Ken

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

The covering on the first plane I bought from them started peeling off before I even got it to the field. I had gone over all seams with a covering iron before I started the engine, but the glue began seperating from the plastic the first time I started the engine. I bought a second plane of theirs indirectly, eBay seller who turned out to be selling their planes. I have another plane from World Models that's basically the same. A direct comparison between the Raidentech and World Models plane helped me figure out why the Raidentech planes are so cheap. The Raidentech appears to be a copy, saves R&D costs, and it's not very well built. The construction and fit/finish of the World Models planes is way better. IMO, you get what you pay for.

B.Matt

I purchased a cub from raidentech, I have been trying to get the landing gear from them for 2 months. No luck, they thought it was funny that I didn't get the gear and can't fly the plane.

Blacksheep-J

I dont think RaidenTech is a manufacturer. I bought two planes from them and they are made by CMPro. Before buying I read all the horror stories about them so I was prepared for whatever happened. The 1st plane is a Giles 202-50. I took the advice from all the posts and reinforced everything,and replaced the hardware. This plane flys awsome!!,I'm having ablast with it. The only problem is the beautiful but very cheap covering. I just keep patching it up and having a ball flying. Eventually I'l recover it and continue the fun.
I'm still taking my time working on the 2nd plane,a A6M-5 Zero 50 (had very bad reviews too) . It was missing some small parts.(aileron servo covers and wing bolt hardwood plate) I thought I'd try RaidenTechs notorious customer service and called them. The guy tried to be helpful but he had no idea what I was talking about. They're not RC people. He asked me to email him a picture of what I was missing but he may not be able to help because they don't carry spare parts. Anyway I just manufactured the parts I needed.
Bottom line is if you want to buy a cheap ARF RaidenTech and the other similiar suppliers is the ticket. But realize when you buy cheap, don't expect high price quality and customer service.

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

Call them on the telephone and make them SWEAR to you that they actually have it in stock BEFORE you buy it.

USE a credit card. That way if you get hosed--you just call the credit card company and let them chase raidentech.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

There planes are questionable but even if they were fine, its not the planes but the way this company does business. One way to get them to wake up is for RCU to drop them as a customer.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

As long as people keep throwing money at them for poor service and cheap products, their business model won't change.

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

Ya know, it's funny. I essentially made these same comments about the Thunder Tiger Rare Bear and I just about got tarred and feathered. The planes were falling apart. The company wasn't standing behind the product. People KNEW it. There was a 20+ page thread about this piece of junk plane. And people continued to buy it and struggle with it. I told them to send a message to Thunder Tiger by refusing to purchase it. Stick TT with several containers of the airplanes that they couldn't sell. Leave them sitting in the warehouse. THAT would get the message across.

But, I got told in no uncertain terms that I was a complete jerk off for even suggesting it. Maybe it was because there is some type of blind loyalty to TT?

Slam Raidentech for inferior products and poor customer service. It's okay. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Funny how we as modelers react to different manufacturers and distributors.

I"m not looking for an argument or trying to get a sympathy pat on the back. No axe to grind. Rather, I find it interesting how the human psyche works and how we react differently to essentially the same situation. Just a different timing factor or a different variable in the same equation.

WAY off topic. I know. But, it is interesting--don't ya think?

da Rock

I think it's funny how most of these cheap knockoffs that really are a total waste of time are so often described with, when so often, you don't get anything at all worth buying. Just poor materials, poor workmanship, and two or three times the work to get the junk into the air. You often don't get anything that was worth paying for, no matter how little you paid.

And the other joke is how little money you actually save. The difference in prices is often just $20 or $25. The "deal" usually saves you little more than 15-20% and "you get" something worth almost nothing.

There was a super deal model recently that was very popular at one club where I fly. About 4 of them were built and flown. At least 3 of them went in flat out with a lost surface. Either the elevator or one of the ailerons let go. Seems the "you get what you pay for" hinges aren't worth spit. They're garbage material and often crooked. What do you pay for in a hinge? 20 flights? 30? And at the cost of busted servos, a RX that's hit the dirt hard, and the possible loss of an engine?

A lot of these cheap deals don't come close to giving you what you paid for, even when you paid less.

LuftwaffeOberst

Don't buy them... they are junk. Personally I wouldn't take a CMP even if it was for free, plus the directions are vague. JMO


Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 56404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

LOL......... are you going to subsidize RCU for the loss of advertising revenue from them? Didn't think so.........

Everyone has a story to tell. I wonder how many sales RaidenTech has in a week? 100? 1000? 10000? Out of that, how many post a complaint? 1/2%? 1%? 10%?

Well, I sometimes wonder why some people have such terrible luck. Anyway, I have made three purchases from RaidenTech. I bought a C-160 twin. Arrived unscathed in a couple days after the online order. Perfect service. I ordered later, one of those 1/16 Panzer tanks. Again, arrived quickly, no shipping damage. Works just as advertised. My third order was for a P-47. It arrived in a couple days. But, it did have some damage. Not on the outside of the box however. Inside, the way the factory in China packaged it, caused the wingtip blocks to receive some damage from a control rod banging on it during the long ride from China. No biggie, I fixed it myself. But I contacted RaidenTech about the problem, only to advise them of it and that they may want to contact the mfg. about their packaging process. RaidenTech offered me a new plane in exchange. I declined. Said it was not that big a deal.

I ordered one more plane from them, and it was indicated as "in stock" and I placed it on my credit card. A day later I received an e-mail from them advising me the model was no longer in stock and asking me if I wanted to backorder it or get a refund. I requested the refund and it was applied with 24 hours.

These are my experiences with RaidenTech. YMMV.

-Tom

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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I have brands of hinges and accessories that I use because I know I can count on them. I never use the junk that comes in any kit or ARF.

Some of the high bucks models fall apart in the air too. Covering is one area that does make a difference, unfortunately.

I pull test all of my flight control surfaces on the ground in a rigorous fashion. I find it preferable to rip it out on the ground than to have it rip out of its own accord in the air.

I have a CMP Extra 300 that would have easily cost twice as much if sold by Lanier or one of the other high end (by their own decree) resellers. It is beautiful, structurally sound and a great flyer. Elitism, for the sake of elitism, makes me chuckle.