I’m not saying that the value isn’t there. And it’s great that a certain portion of the flying population will beat a path to his door. That also means that rest of the population pretty much WON’T. The American economy and the world economy are in flux right now, that means that the last man standing will be the one with a realistic and flexible game plan. American products are going to have to sell for less by the time all the adjustments have been made, that’s why everything is in flux right now. I doubt that tsyssa will find things to be any different. Wal-Mart hasn’t done what it has done by offering only expensive American products, and that has taken away from the American workers.

Only by adjusting prices can we compete. Not blow-for-blow, foreign labor like Chinese labor is far too cheap. It’s great to be able to extol the virtues of good American craftsmanship, but that alone won’t convince many folks. Bring the price just a LITTLE closer AND extol the virtues and benefits of solid American craftsmanship, and MANY more folks will be able to rationalize spending some more for an engine.

Let’s not kid each other. We all know that pretty much every one of us has gone and shopped at Wal-Mart, knowing that somewhere your basket full of goods just unseated an American worker from his job. We’ve all gone to that cheap tool store and bought something made in<place></place><country-region></country-region>China.

We’ve all got families and budgets and kids in college and you-name-it waiting to eat up our money. If we’re going to rationalize spending more on a 30CC engine it’s got to be giving us enough reason to make that decision. I can pick up a CRRC engine for 200 bucks. I want something with American quality, and that’s worth more, but $429.00 plus shipping ??? That’s more than twice as much! Yes, it’s beautiful, and I feel like I want one. But most guys also have wives who will want to know what they want to spend the money on and why. Now, my wife is great. She’ll say sure, go ahead. My last wife and the three before that HATED my planes, and I had to play hell getting a few bucks here and there out of the budget. THAT is the norm out there, and in this economy with savings being lost in the market and all that I would bet that things are even worse that way for most guys. $389.00 and I stand a chance of being able to convince her that the value is there compared to the others. I’m not speaking about my present wife, I’m speaking for the other regular guys out there. Or say $399.00 delivered. Something like that.

That’s just my take on it, and as I said, it’s not just the value, because the value is there. It’s what the average Joe is going to be willing (or able) to spend to have that. The big money in this industry, except in very rare cases, is not made from the specialized market, it’s from the average guys, and 10 times as many of them are scrutinizing what is available and more often are spending money on more modestly priced items. Striking a balance between the very best and the very most expensive.

That’s my 2 cents worth!

And I still think I’d want one.

Jim

So, the regular Joe who just needs standard gas engine power is not who this brand of engine is intended for. This should be interesting. Starting a business that ignores a HUGE portion of the modeling population. What’s the percentage of guys doing 3-D? I’m going to venture a guess that right now 70% of them are using Chinese engines.

NOTHING sells itself. Even QUALITY has to be advertised just right. And even if some DO sell themselves, that doesn’t mean ENOUGH of them will sell to stay solvent. Especially when your target is a limited portion of an already limited industry. DOUBLE especially when the market is already flooded (and getting worse) with viable (and getting better) engines by your competitors. Arguing existing potential problems or even arguing against them does not make them disappear. Business is business, and sticking your head in the sand is a sure recipe for disaster.

Take care.

Jim