BANJOAIRPLANE

Ok,everyone wants to flame any company when they don't get the service they feel they deserve,myself included.So I thought I would share a good experience for a change.I purchased a Sig 110" Rascal this past spring with my tax returns.Put all new radio equipment in it and a new Saito on the front for power.ARF,by the way.After taking my time and assembling the plane I took it out to the field and maidened it without a hitch.This is the first arf of any brand that I maidened and didn't have to touch the trim,hands off level right out of the box.This was in april.Since that time I have put about 20 flights on it and was learning the plane and slowly breaking in the Saito.Hardly any dead sticks in it's career.And the ones I did have was due to me not watching my flight time and running it out of fuel,it was just great fun to fly this thing.Anyway,a week ago from today I was with my flying buddy and had 3 perfect flights in and had started my 4th.I had done a couple of t&g's and was about to do another.I was at about 200' on my downwind leg,I decreased throttle and pushed the nose down a little as I entered my base turn and decreased throttle some more and pushed the nose a little more down as I turned in for final.( this thing really floats well) I was stiil a long way out from the end of the runway and thought I might ought to pull the nose up just a tad to make sure my glide would be long enough.When I eased back on the stick nothing happened.Crap! I chopped the throttle completely and pulled back on the stick again,a little more aggresively this time.Nothing.In fact the nose had dropped pretty good and was hewading to earth at an alarming rate to me.I didn't know what to do so I done what has saved a few planes for me in the past.I pulled all the way back on the right stick and pushed all the way forward on the left stick.Wrong decision on my part in an already bad situation.The nose never came up and the speed increased.All I couls do now was to chop the throttle and watch this beautiful plane go in!Me and my buddy walked out to the crash site to gather up the pieces.The wings,landing gear,and everything from the back of the cabin forward were toast,the tail from rear of cabin back was untouched.Both me and my friend seen the elevator push rod at the same time,the ends till hanging in the servo and horn at the elevator surface.No bends in it,just a clean break.Now back to what I was trying to get at.I made one phone call to Sig and talked to a guy there,I won't tell his name without his permission,but I assume he is in customer service.He asked me to send him pics of the damage and also of the failed area and part.I shot the pics and sent them email to him and withing minutes he emailed me back and said to send him my bill of sale and the defective rod and he would get a new plane in the mail!And then he asked me if I thought that was fair enough?Ok,I'll rap this long post up.I just wanted everyone to know that there is still a big company out there that does care about it's customers! Sig defineitly stands behind their product!

LuftwaffeOberst

SIG and Hanger 9 makes great stuff, but as of late I've been conscerned where Hanger 9 is going? The quality of the covering on Hanger 9 is slacking as of late.

I plan on trying out KMP in about a year or so... I love scale, most of all Warbirds. I have a Hanger 9 PTS Mustang with out the PTS stuff on it... and it has working flaps on it... I usually fly the wings off that bird.

I'm working on the Hanger 9 .46 J-3 pnp Cub right now. I had covering issues from the factory, so I have to re-cover the right side.

One thing I do know about these ARF's is... after a while I will be ready to build from a kit with all the poor quality issues I've been repairing.

The last issue was my fault. I was carving a hole for my charging jack on the right side of the Fuse and my knife slipped, and I wound up slicing the Ultra badly.

Man I was very un-Christian like with my words that night! [:@] @#%$!! I've calmed down since that night, I'm going to make my repairs and I'm going to re-cover it again. If it doesn't look good, I'll just order another fuse. This will be my 3rd one if I do. [] SOB



Luftwaffe Oberst
Radio Aero Modelers Club
AMA District II
Pulaski, NY

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

The quality on a lot of ARF's is slacking lately. I've got a new Great Planes airplane that has some of the cheapest covering I have ever seen. [>:] I've always been impressed with the Sig products though.

Evil_Merlin

My Feedback: (13)

Yep, here is another person with great SiG Mfg. customer service.

I was one of the first to get the Do 217 kits from them. The plans, instructions and even parts contained lots of errors. I sent them all the corrections I could. Within a couple of days, the plans were updated, the instructions updated and all the missing or miscut parts showed up at my door. The guy who designed the kit actually emailed me to thank me personally. It was quite nice of them.

ckangaroo70

My Feedback: (51)

Sig puts out a very good product and seems to have pretty consistant quality IMO! Hangar 9 and Great Planes also put out fairly descent products, but where they really shine is in customer service when things are not quite up to snuff. My biggest complaint with Hangar 9 and Great Planes is that I wish they would start using better epoxy to beef up crucial areas on there ARFs...like landing gear blocks/firewalls/wing mounts. They use some type of epoxy that has no flex whatsoever. My guess is they are using something like 6 minute epoxy instead of 30 minute epoxy, which may be the case to help speed production, but I'm not certain of that. Within the last few years I have seen many landing gear blocks fail on Great Planes and Hangar 9 Planes on very easy landings. After close inspection it is usually revealed that the brittle quick cure epoxy or CA they used failed because it lacked the plyable strength that good 30 minute epoxy has. I don't have any trouble going around and beefing up certain areas on a new Plane as long as it is in an area I can get to without having to butcher up the Plane to get to it. With that said though, they do put out some good planes that are much better than many others that come to mind that I won't mention so as to not turn this thread into a flame war.

BANJOAIRPLANE

Well this is my fifth Sig plane and all of them have been great with the exception of a lot of wrinkles in the covering to iron out.At least you can iron them out.I have had other planes from companies I won't mention that you couldn't get the wrinkles out.[]

fxrider

I agree SIG does Rock......both with the ARF's and the kits. Building an SSE and it is the best kit I have ever put together. I hope they stay in business for a long time they are my personal favorite and have been for years. I have a Senior Kadet ARF, probably one of the best trainer, sport flyers out there. I just finished a GP ARF and the quality was just mediocre......they seem to be hit and miss.

suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

I agree with you on Sig. I have a Mayhem and it is the best quality ARF I own. A friend has the 1.20 Sukoi and crashed it because the screws came out of a control horn and they made it good with another plane. Not many companys would do that.

stevepsd

I just received a Sig Rascal 110 ARF and the covering is perfect, not a single wrinkle anywhere!

I have to say that the quality of the build and components is simply outstanding! Well worth the money.

IAMKAOS

two years ago i bought a gp. venus .40. it is covered in monokote. here recently one of my flying buddies bought one and it is "not" covered in monokote. i reconized the covering right off as towerkote which i consider a crappy covering. the colors are lighter than mine. i took scrap pieces of towerkote i had and matched it on his venus. perfect match. his is already starting to wrinkle and come loose. arf quality has been subject on these forums for a long time. funny!... i am a goverment employee which i have a purchasing card to buy electrical material for mainteanace and projects i'm working on. we have been told not to buy products made in china......oh well!!....that just made my job easier. because a lot of electrical products are now being made in china for american distributors. if my suppliers do not have it american made, i cannot buy it. i do not do the job.

gnirwin

My Feedback: (25)

I love Sig products. i think they are at the top as far as quality and design go. I'm assembling the large Sundancer right now and boy is it impressive. I too have had good service with their customer service in the past.

IAMKAOS

yes i agree. sig still is one of the better arfs on the market.i have their somethin extra arf that is now 4 years old and it is one of the best of 9 arfs i own. i believe sig demands better quailty from their china manufactures. but their arfs seem to be more expensive now. the somethin extra sells for around $200.00 now.pretty pricey for a .45 size plane though. sadly one of my favorites, great planes seems to be having quality problems now. but all have their up's and downs. you will read one post and someone is bashing a certain company. then you will read another post someone is praising their products. i believe these companys have no control of the quality of their products made in china. they will manufacture a good batch of a model but the next batch will have issues.