What happened to Carden?
 

Pardon my ignorance. A search on RCU didn't pull up what I am looking for.

Can someone please direct me to the thread talking about what happened to Carden over the recent years? I got out of flying planes 10+ years ago and just went to Carden's website to find they only produce one aircraft now????

Thanks!

Steve

You probably won't find a thread on RCU, most of these guys won't even know who Dennis of Carden is. Anyway there is a thread on Flying Giants, he is only selling the 124 to the IMAC crowd now....

Bob

Thanks for getting back with me :) I can't seem to find the right thread over there... however I can imagine why they are down to one plane. I just didn't know if Dennis ever officially mentioned what was going on. Their kits were always expensive but worth it.

Their kits were always expensive but worth it. Yes they were, and its kinda sad but I see it as the beginning of the end.

Bob

Isn't there several build threads on FG and GSN?

Yes there are many threads on Carden Aircraft builds on many sites... I'm specifically looking for any mention of Carden's status as a model kit manufacturer. Not many years ago they had far more activitiy on the forums and many different kits available in multiple sizes. Now they are down to just one kit, one size.

Trying to find if Dennis ever explained what was going on officially.

While I would not call this the official word, while at an IMAC contest this weekend the topic of Dennis, Caroline and Carden aircraft was brought up. It was mentioned that they are looking to sell not only the business but the house, shop and property. The reason offered is that they are ready to retire. I can't confirm this other then to say it came from a couple of guys whom have been long term Carden customers.

Hi steve,

I suspect that with the advent of large scale, relatively inexpensive ARF from Asia, it has been difficult for Dennis to justify putting out his high quality kits. I guess its just human nature to by cheap stuff ( Think Walmart ) . Another point is that it is hard to justify building a kit of any common type plane, P-51, Yak, Sukhoi or whatever verses buying an ARF. It doesn't come close to pencil-ing out. Kit builders are a rare breed nowadays and I don't see many young people coming up through the ranks anymore. I suspect our hobby in 30yrs will be as popular as Dwarf Tossing.

Carlos G.

Thanks for letting me know. I hadn't considered the fact that they are probably ready to retire by now. Assuming that is true, I hope someone takes over the brand and keeps it going!

As a side note, I used the waybackmachine (Internet Archive) and looked at their website over the past year. Their homepage had almost all of the models I remember from years ago still active as purchasable items as of March 15, 2015. So the kits must have been taken down in the last couple months at the earliest.

The ARF competition has led to the demise of many kit producers. Some specialty kits manufacturers have survived but are slowly going away. 10 years ago when at an IMAC contest you would encounter more kit built airplanes. Now the kits are no longer the majority. At the contest this weekend there were I beleive 4 Cardens and a couple Daltons. The rest were ARFs including my Carf. As the years go by it seems that we are loosing building skills, the ARF quality has gone up and people have become too busy to build.

Don't you mean "Too Lazy"? Arfies make "getting the crate in the air " easier, there's no question about that. Soooo, we get creative on the excuses rather than on the building board. True in Pattern as it is in IMAC.

The only way to ever get some of it back is to bring back the BOM rule or give a handsome bonus for every flight to the BOM/Pilot. Of course that will likely eliminate 3/4 of the guys left in either sport and that is probably worse than the current situation of Arfie dominance.

Hello Carlos,

This is a little off the topic but if you fly R/C in the Walla Walla, WA area you may know a very old friend of mine named Mike Jacobs. Please ask him if he recognizes these pictures. He should, two of the airplanes in the second picture belonged to him and the Sig Fazer was mine back in the 90s.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2110274http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2110275

Bob

Hi Bob,

Yes I know Mike J. I will let him know that you are on RCU. He is a good guy and a good pilot. He has an RCU membership here but, I don't recall his member name.

Carlos G

Thank you Carlos.

Bob

Matt, you are correct. Currently both IMAC and Pattern are ARF dominated. I see way more scratch built or kit built airplanes on race day. Reason being is that there is really nothing commercially available for the race guys in the series I race. The same it used to be for IMAC and Pattern. In ARFs were available that were competitive guys would fly them. IMO this is what keeps many out of pattern including myself. It appears that a competitive 2M airframe is quite expensive. That and like you, I dislike electrics.