recently i decided to: a. dump some (b)arfs i have been storing on ebay and b. stock up on balsa. somehow after returning from the UPS store after shipping several large boxes of ARFs away i came home to a 2 box delivery from BalsaUSA. how's that for timing?

david

Nothing better than finding boxes of balsa at your door! I absolutely love it and it’s fun putting the balsa order together as well. Kits at the door is OK too!

A few months ago I decided to purge my aircraft fleet of BARFs and make my shop a BARF free zone. Felt like the Chinese junk didn’t deserve to be in the same space as my scratch and kit built aircraft. I only had two of them that I bought at least 10 or 15 years ago, but as BARFs go they were in good shape so I gave them to my RC club. Felt like a real American sending them out the door! Needless to say there will be no more in my shop.

i believe i enjoyed getting the balsa more than the BARFS.

david

That's because there are more possibilities in the box of balsa.

Mark

there certainly aren't any arfs as good looking as our classic pattern planes.

david

I'm going BARF free, too. 1 crash at a time...
I do have a ZN Line Synergy 90 ARF which I am keeping (still in the box) everything has been sold or demolished - OK it was just one airplane, but the elevator linkage failed and the result was quite spectacular and none of the gear/engine was damaged.
What is depressing is that there aren't really any more new kits []
The Great news is that there are so many of our old favorites becoming available (I think I'll get a Tiporare kit from Eureka) or you can get a favorite airplane kitted. I love to scratch build, too. Nothing better than starting with a nice stack of balsa and creating an airplane!
The Best day for me is test flying (successfully, of course) a new airplane!
-Will

[quote]ORIGINAL: flywilly

Nothing better than starting with a nice stack of balsa and creating an airplane!





thx will. the graceful lines of my blue angel project that have appeared from a stack of balsa have just about done it for me with kit building or worse, arfs.

david

It is quite magical isn’t it! A set of plans a pile of wood and presto!

Boy, do I agree w/ you!

I don't think Eureka has a Tipo kit, (edit - I just saw it on their website) but I'd get one in a heartbeat. I have a set of plans for a Cleveland Condor Glider that I will send out to get laser cut. Classic lines on that. Convert to micro r/c and .049 or maybe even electric assist.

Glad you had a good day Dave!!

I'm defiantly not a BARF fan either but there was one I've really wanted for a long time...I felt it would be a good step towards a modern pattern plane I'm craving which is a Black Magic VF3...I finally was able to order one on Monday!! I had it shipped 2nd Day Air so I could have it by the weekend...

Well as you can see from the photos my excitement was cut short... [&o]

Now here is what I'm faced with:

My reply was pretty short...Three words...Loosely translated to kissing a donkey...

I know it wasn't their fault the box got run over by a forklift or whatever but I was kinda figuring there would be a little different approach to handling the situation (It wasn't my fault either)...Oh Well...

I shouldn't have ordered a BARF!!

Chuck

that doesn't look like a good day.[] and that problem starts with the seller. no way in he*^(* i would ship a plane in a single layer of cardboard. that's asking for that situation to happen. of course that probably wouldn't have happened if you had ordered a box of wood. hopefully the replacement process will happen quickly. sorry to see that chuck.

david

Wow - an ARF that's pre-crashed for you...[&o]

I've seen worse... I mean from shipping damage. Kinda kills the ARF part when it takes forever (hopefully not in your case Chuck) to settle with the shipper!

Years ago, Dick Hanson had several airplanes (mostly kits) pretty much destroyed by a certain shipper who shall remain nameless... ups I mean oops!
Turned out the new conveyor system being used was systematically jamming boxes together and crushing his kit boxes. He started shipping with a huge 'NO CONVEYORS' label on his boxes!

By the way, Chuck, I had one of those (Oxalys) and it was a very nice flying airplane. Mine was done in by too many snaps too close to the ground - it snapped 3/4 more than I thought it would [X(][X(]. You'll have fun with it - eventually!
-Will

the sad part is ...... carrier like to tell you it was not packaged correctly.

The ARF boxes have to be re-boxed inside another container for shipping. They are not shipping boxes, only product packaging.

Yet still, it wont prevent the forklift driver from putting a hole right through it.

Oh I'm not dealing with them guys...I literally told them to "Kiss My Donkey"

I'm fixin' it as we speak and hope to be flyin' this weekend...Just ordered some Bolly Carbon Fiber Gear...

Task for tonight is to work on installing the MK bellcrank...

Oh BTW...I'm sorry Dave for HiJacking your thread...

I'm happy you got some good wood and hope it brings you many hours of enjoyment!!

no problem chuck, it fit's perfectly in the thread. it was a conversation thread anyway. have at it. i would be irate if i received a plane without double boxing btw.

david

Oh yeah...I let them know of their inferior shipping methods...But they weren't gonna back off their "policy & procedures" or whatever...

It really wasn't worth getting all bent out of shape about...The kit just isn't worth it...It's a $200 BARF (I dunno..Maybe the "Pre-Crashing" added some value??)...It's taken me several hours just to straighten out the crappy loose covering which probably won't hold up...

It's pretty light...Seems pretty straight...It won't be perfect but no reason it shouldn't fly decent...I'm looking forward to it!!

Have Fun

Chuck

Ya know, it's not like a long drive over to my shop Chuck [8D]

If you want a VF3, we can make it happen. I know I know, it's definitely more involved when it comes to equipment, care and feeding. That step is not for the faint of heart.

Actually I have a better idea! The southeastern pattern championship is 2 weekends away (Oct 11-12) down at the Ga jets field, I'm co-CDing it this year. Why don't you come by? I'll throw you a carrot....you come by, I'll let you fly my plane, the Vf3 prototype. Now how are you gonna resist that? LOL

In fact anybody reading this is welcome to come by, hang out, and if you want, fly my plane. Rumor has it Jason Shulman MIGHT be there (but might not, you never know, he's been at the last 2-3 district contests) and if anyone has a really killer BPA plane they'd like to bring, we can play with that too and show it off for the current AMA guys. Whatcha think? Heck if it's super killer and you can be there Sunday we'll do a demo flight during the trophy break. See if we can whip up a little BPA action.

Let me know if anyone is interested,
-Mike

mike, that's one reason why i'm into classic pattern. all pattern planes are beautiful, the modern ones just have a higher buy in. one day though.

david

Mike..How Kewl about the southeastern pattern championship's!! I had no idea the event was going on...I would defiantly like to come check it out...Been wanting to see GA Jets field anyhow so what a great excuse!

I sure wish I had a BPA type airplane to bring along but I don't have anything running... [&o]

About the Black Magic...Yeah..Money is the main reason I have intentionally avoided visiting your shop...I know myself far too well and I have no willpower...Right now just ain't the time for me to think about something like that...I've kinda blown my budget on the stuff I've already acquired and still have to get a ton more stuff to finish those airplanes...I hate that money rules my life...

I'm not that great of a pilot right now anyway...I haven't been flying for several years and am kinda just getting started again...I thought the Oxalys would be a decent platform to learn to fly precision aerobatics with...I'd like to get flying on a regular basis again then go from there...I kinda figure my Black Magic is about a year away...

Thanks for the heads up about the S.E. Pattern Championship's!!

Chuck

oh, I could go on and on about how inexpensive modern 2 meter pattern CAN be....I've proved it, you can actually get into a VF3 for about $1000-1200 total investment if you are creative....and you can build....but to really have what you want, the equipment alone can cost that much. Heck the engine and exhaust can cost $850 if you buy it brand new. But considering a Hanno with exhaust can run you the same price range, well.....what's the difference? Really the servos truth be known.

But I digress, I have about $2k in my own plane and that's on the cheap side. The good news is it's VERY reliable and you don't have to spend it twice. That alone is a very large equalizer.

But I still love the old screamers. Let's face it, have a long look at a Curare. That is one GORGEOUS sexy plane. I just made a wierd connection the other day...the more I tweak my plane to get it to fly like I want, the more it looks like a HUGE Curare! have a look at the Comp Arf Integral and you can see the similarities. The lines around the nose and canopy from the profile especially. The planes of a couple of years ago were hideous to me. Which is why I designed my own...

Anyway, come on down to the jets field and introduce yourself, it'll be a lot of fun!

-Mike

Dang..I'm not going to be able to make it to the contest next weekend.. [:@]