with everything supplied, for a 40 size Pulse XT.

pop

The 40 Pulse XT is an exceptionally well engineered and complete ARF. All the stuff in the box fits and it is all good. The instructions are some of the most complete you will find. If you have never assembled an ARF, this is a good one to start with, and I encourage you to give it a try, assembling it yourself.

If you are asking to see what you would pay someone else to build your ARF, consider this:

Building an aircraft, even an ARF, requires some level of skill on the part of the builder to do it well enough to make a business of it. This would mean some level of experience building ARF's with at least a bit of talent.

A person doing this would charge a per-hour rate (even though they gave you a fixed price) based on the time estimated to build the ARF. Say it takes 10 hours to put it together. And, if the person is skilled, I would imagine that the per hour charge would hover around $30.00 per hour. SO, that charge would be $300.00 to put it together for you.

Is it worth that for you to pay someone else to build it for you?

Even at $20.00, you would pay $200.00 for that service.

One of our local hobby shops does building for others. He charges accordingly, and based on what I "quoted" above, and I would think that would be reasonable. You can't expect that person to work for less.

CGr

$300 give me a break, the Pulse XT is pretty much built coming out of the box.

The motor and fuel system is installed & ready to go just put the prop on.

All the Servos and other electronics are installed with push rods connected.

The builder has to:

Bolt on the wheel pants (two bolts),
Bolt the landing gear to the fuselage,
Secure the tail with the supplied lock nuts,
Slide the wing halves together on the aluminum spar pipe
Attach the "Y" harness to two pre-installed aileron servos.

I would think most people could put it together themselves or a guy from a local club could help out for a six pack ofGuinness Stout

The ARF would take a considerable amount more time than the PNP or an RTF because nothing comes installed. 10-15 hours minimum.

Curt

Actually, nobody said the Pulse would take 10 hours. Mention was made, "Say it takes 10 hours to put it together" and was part of an example of cost for any build.

So you're suggesting there should be some negotiation based on the complexity of the build. Good idea.

You are right if it is the PNP version of the Pulse XT 40 but not if it is just the ARF kit. That requires assembly like any other ARF.

Bruce

That would still ultimately come down to time. More complex = more time.

But with something like an ARF, especially a Pulse that is very high quality, it should be a simple build. Even with no building experience should be manageable.

Bah,

If you can't find someone who can and will that in an evening in exchange for a pizza and your company, you're flying with the wrong guys.

Kinda what I was thinking. I would think you would be building it for a friend. (so when its crashed you aren't accused of mistakes like a stranger would)

Why not offer to "help" him build it and if hes a true friend he will compensate you accordingly. Worse cause scenario you aren't compensated but you still got to spend time doing something you enjoy.

Who in there right mind would pay 300$ to have a plane built when the plane itself cost half that.

I always find this an interesting discussion as I've assembled numerous ARF's for people thru the years. Minimum charge is $200.00 and the maximum depends on the complexity, average cost is in the $300-$400 range, kind of like CGRetired said. I will teach you how to fly for free but I won't put your toys together for nothing. If you can't take time to assemble it yourself I do not believe you can expect someone to do it for nothing. If you can get it done for a beer or pizza remember you get what you pay for.

I think the distinction here...and perhaps the OP should chime in on his situation...is between "helping out" and "work".

If a stranger walked up to me out of the blue, and said "Assemble this airplane for me", then you're darn right I'm going to be paid for my time....well.

If, on the other hand, a friend from the LHS, or a club member I enjoyed flying with, or maybe a new pilot looking to learn, or someone like that walked up and said "Hey...can you help me out with this ARF?" then you bet...Pizza and your company, I'm all over it.

In EITHER case, the person's going to get my best. There's absolutely no difference in the quality of work I'll do, parts I'll use, or attention to detail in either airplane.

Oldvet's right though...both parties will get what they pay for.

How's that possible, since one's "paying" far less, but i promise equal attention to both jobs?

Simple...the second guy is offering me something of value besides his money. He's offering his company, the fun of passing along experience/ideas/skills, an enjoyable evening of hangar flying, etc.

Both cases are a value for value proposition. Both are making it worth my time. The latter's simply a whole lot more enjoyable, so it takes a lot less money.

Hence my statement above...if you can't find a relationship like that in this hobby, seems to me you're flying with the wrong folks.

You know we may have made a mistake in answering the origional post. Maybe Popriv has been asked to assemble an ARF for someone else, not pay to have one assembled himself. If so only he really knows what his time is worth.

I would gladly "show" someone how to do it for free. If they want me to do or want to supervise, it's going to cost them. It's like the give a guy a fish or teach him how to fish analogy. Plus if you do all the work and he has a problem, he is lost.


David

I used to assemble ARFs for club members, $125.00 for a trainer and I maidened the plane and had it in trim before I handed over the owners TX to them. I was in shock because almost every person I assembled for was retired and stated they didn't have the time to assemble there own planes. If you don't have the time then your going to be paying someone like me to assemble it for you. If the plane was something more then a trainer then I charged more depending on what it was.
I also teach my own students how to assemble ARFs and set them up, these people are friends and not charged for the lessons. I even teach friends/students how to build kits, again, it's free and takes a big bunch of my time.
I have one friend I taught to fly and he bought the Pulse 60 and for the most part all I had to do was answer a few questions over the phone and talk him through a few things. I did go over and help him set up his controls, no big deal and the beer was cold.
The Pulse is an outstanding ARF with good hardware, goes together very easy and fly's great. There are no surprises in a good ARF like that but some of the cheap ARFs like CMP can be full of surprises and missing hardware of just junk, not a first time assemblers best choice.
If you can't do it yourself expect to pay someone to do it for you unless you have a friend to help. Just being a club member does not make you a friend.

I've repaired a few airplanes for free, but that's about it. I'd help a new pilot assemble an ARF or build a kit for beer and pizza. Your out of luck if you want to pay me $10 -$15 an hour to build that same ARF for you. I've got plenty of my own stuff to build.

Agree with the "helping out" statements.

Personally, I would either work WITH the guy for beer & snacks or not do it at all. Have no interest in doing plane assembly for pay.

As for getting what you pay for my team has built hundreds of virtual aircraft for a number of online combat flight sims. They are all freeware & considered some of the best available on the net freeware or payware. You get what the person doing the work is willing to put into it regardless of how he is compensated.

Our club shares a field with another club. One of their members stopped by the field and was watching our fun fly yesterday. He was admiring my Tiger 60 and asked if I was interested in putting a pulse XT together for him.
I wouldnt consider paying anyone to do this as building is half of the fun. But I can see his point with two small kids...not having time.. my kids are 22 and 26 and I'm just getting back into the sport.
If this happens it would be in the fall.. Not even sure which version it would be, we didnt get into details.

thanks for the thoughts

pop

What's an ARF?

Ain't Really Fast to put together

The notion that someone should put together an ARF and only be compensated a 6 pack and a pizza is ridiculous. If it's two friends and the more experienced flyer is just acting as a guide, then that's totally appropriate. But if a guy wants to drop off the box he just ordered and come back in a few weeks to pick up a ready to fly plane, then I'm getting paid for it. Otherwise, every squirrel for three counties will be showing up wanting me to donate my time to his hobby. I do help other guys out regularly with basic things, but being generous is on my terms and by my decision. To even suggest that one shouldn't get paid for working on other people's stuff shows a real lack of appreciation IMO.

Ah, see we did misunderstand, Popriv was asked to put an ARF together for someone else. So he can decide if it's just beer and talk or work.

I sorta go along with giving someone a helping hand here. If you take it upon yourself to build a kit or an ARF for someone you assume some responsibility for its performance (or lack of). If you help and guide someone they pretty much take full responsibility for the final outcome. Even if you create a masterpiece, if it falls apart or crashes in the hands of someone else and they've paid you for it, guess who's gonna get the blame?! We're all "Waldo Pepper" in our own minds, so it comes easily to lay the blame on the poor shmuck who built the plane for pay. JM2CW.

Happy Flying (And Building)

Loopman

Ask yourself what it is worth to you to have someone else assemble this for you?. It is a very easy thing to assemble, but if you are one who just doesn't have the time or skill to read a fallow directions the just ask yourself how much you would pay. Then put your offer to assemble out there at your price and see if there are any takers.

The Great Waldo Pepper, kind of a goofy movie but I haven't seen it in a long, long time. I may just have to go out and rent it tonight. Thanks for the reminder.