I am building a Phoenix Models Extra 330 60 size ARF and practically nothing fits and almost everything has to be modified. The instruction manual is the worse manual I have ever seen, if it was a person's first ARF they might get confused, looks like it was written by a Chinese guy who cannot speak english...THIS IS THE WORSE ARF I HAVE EVER HAD!

DO NO BUY PHOENIX MODELS!!!!

For the same price range, Seagull is a much better ARF!

Just a thought: Is your Chinese better than his English?[X(]

My Phoenix Extra is just fine, and it flies great. Chuck must have gotten one that was built on a Monday.

I'm hoping it flies good, I am taking my time to fix stuff as I go in hopes that it will fly well... the wing tube didn't fit in the wing, so I had to sand the inside of the wing...the wing tube was too long, so I had to cut it in order not to damage the other wing when installing the wings on the fuse... obviously this was never test fit, 2 out of 4 of the motor mount blind nuts came out of the wood during the install, they were barely in the wood came out immediately, brace across top of fuse was weak and cracked, installed an O.S. 91 FS at the recommended distance and the engine mounts are blocking the throttle, so it cannot turn the throttle, I have to grind down the motor mount for clearance, that's just off the top of my head. The manual is a joke...

This is the worse ARF I have ever seen[>:]...I've had several Seagulls, much better made, serval Hangar 9s...much better made...I will NEVER buy another Phoenix, now I know why they are so cheap...LOL

I just bought their 40 sized Yak. Looks great on the surface but the deeper you get into the assembly you start seeing all sorts of little problems. I am definitely not overly impressed. I'll be able to make it work though by changing out soem hardware and making a few modifications. Hopefully the flight characteristics will make everything worthwhile.

We get what we pay for. Everybody keeps buying that crap from China, it won't be long we won't be able to get any good " USA" stuff cause they went out of business...

The CHEAP ARF's are still cheaper then buying and building a kit. I am helping my brother put one together. It is an alright ARF. There is NO ARF that is built as well as I build them. For $149.99 it is not bad. I have seen some bigger name brand ARF's that were a lot worse. There are better ARF's out there but they are no were near in price.

I have a CMP Giles 202 that is pretty good. It is painted and has a nice finish, glue joints look adequate. It has good main gear, pinned hinge points, glass cowl, wheel pants. It is way better then the $88.00 price tag.

All the kits and ARF's I have built over the last 35 years or so have needed a little tweaking. Some ARF's I have thrown all hardware away, same with some kits. There are some ARF's that still have the self stick um shelf paper covering. At least the Extra 330 comes with real covering.

My opinion only.


Dru.

The Covering is the best part about it...so far all 4 engine blind nuts fell out...LOL[:-]

Phoenix models is Vietnamese and is owned by Loc Nguyen and Seagull models is owned by his brother - Phat, so there is probably not much difference between the two. Both Phat and Loc were out in Australia recently promoting their new model range, and from all accounts were very pleasant English speaking gentlemen. I have had both Phoenix and Seagull models, and they have both been excellent for the price. All 4 engine bolts "falling out" sounds like a problem with the builder, not the model - use loctite.

Am sorry but please name me one just one ARF the is built here in USA. Honestly I cant think of any

You're sorry? I'm sorry too !!! THAY WAS MY POINT !!!!!! Our "bargin hunting has basically run all "our " manufacturers out of business !!! When Wal-Mart came to your town. Did you keep buying at the local grocery, hardware, clothing store. At the small mom&pops you could get items that were"local". Well, Wallyworld has now run all the little guys out of business, & we now buy what they have to sell. You can't get the "local" stuff anymore. We did it to ourselves. They say it's a world economy, & it is, as long as we let it..

Hey bjor :

re: I said the blind nuts, those are the nuts in the wood put there to hold the bolts by the manufacturer...

Sorry - mis-read. My mistake. All 4 blind nuts falling out really does make for a crap ARF.

is there a manufactuer in the u.s. making arf's?........and if there were they would cost a lot more than the china imports.

Am sorry but please name me one just one ARF the is built here in USA. Honestly I cant think of any
[/quote]

I think thsese guys make their own. Not really sure though.
http://www.skysharkrc.com/

I have the Phoenix Tucano and its excellent! Both the quality of the ARF and the way she flys. So Good Im going to order a second one for use when my current model expires!

All ARF's should be inspected for quality. You should go over every joint, seam. blind nut etc. before and after you assemble it. If you feel that the ARF does do not meet your standards you can return it. Most of the major good distributors will work with you. Pheonix models happen to be one of the better inexpensive ARF's. In fact Seagal, BH models (black horse) and Pheonix all come from the same manufacturing plant. All ARF's need to be reworked no matter who you get them from. If you want US products try AREOWORKS models, but remember paying more for a product does not automatically mean better quality. Go to the AMA website Sports Aviator and look up the articles on how to prepare ARF's properly before you get to the flying field.

I am kind of surprised to see this because I recently built a Phoenix Strega ARF and the whole time working on it I was noticing how it is better than the two Hanger 9 ARFs I have built.

I am very pleased with how my Phoenix Strega ARF was and wow the value for money was outstanding.

Nope, sorry.

I am about halfway through the build of a the Phoenix 40 size Extra. Overall very happy with this ARF. Couple of minor issues, but nothing major. All the parts look well made and fit together well. So far, I am using the supplied hardware and it seems to work fine.

ROFLMAO...

No way a Phoenix is better than Hangar 9, sorry...and the support from Horizon is better, Tower Hobbies took my information and blew me off, never even attempted to call me back or anything...Horizon will not do that.

Hmmm...

I've had equal ( good ) luck with both Tower and Horizon.

I've only been blown off once with a problem with a plane, so I called back six hours later ( shift change? ) and spoke to someone else.

The second person sent me a new plane, no questions asked and told me to keep the problematic one for parts.

I just tried again to talk to Tower and they tell me to send the plane back with a receipt and a letter explaining the problem,even though I told him I have been fixing it and still building it as I go...Horizon doesn't do that, Tower cannot compare to Horizon's service.

ever since tower sold the company to its employees thats when those "blow you off" attitudes begin. myself and some of my flying buddies have had the same experience's with tower. after 25 years i'm no longer a customer of them............sorry. did not mean to get off the subject of the thread

Built the Phoenix 330 2-3 months ago. Same problem with wing tube too long - took less than 5 minutes to cut. Also 3 out of 4 blind nuts came out - ten minutes to fix. Otherwise used all factory hardware and built went quickly overall. Have somewhere between 80-100 flights, great flying plane. Have never built a kit or an ARF that went exactly per manufacturers plans without needing some modification or repair. This was no worse nor better than others including 2 from Hangar 9.