hvac

My Feedback: (7)

How many of you think a new 50cc ARF is worth $600 or more? Doesn't that seem overpriced? I know there are some available for less, but what about the ones that do cost that much?

rcblimppro

I will answer your question with yet another question. Most 50cc kits are in the $250 to $300 price range, how much would you charge to build, cover, paint and add some hardware to such a kit? I sure wouldn't do it for 300.00 and the build quality of a $600.00 arf in reality is going to be better than what 75% would be able to do themselves.

Shawn

rctom

I don't understand why people pay that much when there are excellent 50cc planes available for $429.

Perhaps they don't feel fulfilled if they are not flying the most expensive thing they can find.

TF

Mark Dennis

My Feedback: (4)

One thing to also keep in mind is the quality hardware you get with some of todays ARFs. Plus the pre-fab work that has already been done for you. To many, the limited time they have should not be spent running to the hobby shop to by the correct hardware or by spending countless hours assembling the ARF, and to those thousands of modelers out there the money spent is WELL worth it.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

The value of an ARF is directly proportional to the quality of the work, the materials, included hardware, and most importantly, what someone will pay for it. If there are no buyers at any given price, then the price always falls. If there are too many buyers for the amount of product availble, then the price rises. That's the way in works in almost everything retail.

rcblimppro

In the past year I have assembled offerings from both Wild Hare and Aeroworks and found them both to be an outstanding value. Like I said priviously the quality of ARFs now on the market are difficult to surpass. We have seen a huge growth in the popularity of giant scale and I beleive it to be because of these high quality ARF models. Not too long ago it was rare to see a scale model of any kind out at a typical field. It was not too long ago that if one wanted a first rate model he had to spend months building it or hire a pro builder and pay a premium. The industy has changed and IMO for the better, there are people now in our hobby that if it weren't for ARF models would not be. As for the prices......It's up to you to decide. I am perfectly happy with my plain jane Suburban, but some guys NEED the Escalade. At the end of the day my Suburban gets me home just as good as an Escalade will.


Shawn

closetguy

My Feedback: (13)

you get what you pay for,if it is well built guy's will pay,the buyer will set the prices,if sells are down the prices go down if sells are up prices go up,supply and demand thing.
ENJOY!

bladebender

My Feedback: (5)

You should go out and buy a carden Cuda 50 cc and build it see how much that cost ya arfs will keep you flying when was the last time you bought a kit. I have seen 50cc arfs cheaper but how good are thay Rich

CAPtain232

My Feedback: (40)

Hey Shawn,

I see you are a middle of the road kinda guy.........I drive a Ford Focus, and it get me where I need to go[:-]

zzw26n

My Feedback: (45)

I like Shawns choice, SUBURBAN. It's the URBAN assalt vehicle and it will haul a 35% real easy.

Ward

rcblimppro

Man, I use up every inch of space on that suburban come contest weekend. 40% airplane, equipment, shade canopy, clothes, better half's stuff, cooler, inventory. A Focus would be out of the question. When I don't need to haul anything around the other car gets used though.

Shawn

YNOT

RC Advice: You get what you pay for.

Personal Advice: You are in the wrong hobby to complain about money. If you want top quality gear, you will pay top money. Always buy the most you can afford. Set a budget and build your bird.

RTK

My Feedback: (1)

Maybe I am a little different than most modelers. When I had the time I loved to build, now I have little to no time. I always buy top quality servos, radios, engines, etc because they usually holds up better and you do not have as much down time. To me it's all about time. I have no problem paying a couple of hundred extra bucks to have a highly prefab ARF with quality gear included. When things slow down in my life I am sure I will start build again.

Thunderbolt47

My Feedback: (8)

Also, some of these 50cc planes come with a lot of carbon fiber parts.

Ken Bryant

My Feedback: (10)

Here's my thought, some people think that they need to spend more and that it gives them the illusion that they got better quality hardware and parts. It's commonly assumed when you spend more you get more. The question is will one set of hardware fly the plane any better than the other??? NO! I'd use toothpicks and duct tape if it worked. The difference from one plane to the other is always going to be what value people attach to the brand or name.

As for Carden.... Just saying the name could start a flame war.

Hooked-On-RC

My Feedback: (16)

ARF's fulfill a purpose in life these days as compared to the past. I remember the days when guys would take months to build airplanes, whether it was from scratch, a set of plans or a kit and most of those planes were well built and sometimes very overbuilt. Now with the technology of laser cutting and CAD plans etc, a guy can buy a "cut kit" and build it himself if he has some basic woodworking skills and a place to do it in. There in lies some other issues with plans and by reading through these forums a number of the plan providers products are not always up to snuff either.

Along come ARF's and you get a "decent" built plane with decent hardware package for a "bargain" price. I say bargain becasue if you were to go out and buy all of the things that are offered in most ARF kits you would be well over the cost of the ARF afterwards. Not to mention you would have to factor in build time and what your time is worth to build it. I once calculated my cost to build an airplane from a kit based on what I charge professionally and the plane came out to be worth way more than what anyone would pay! Personally I like to build a plane from plans or a kit, that way I know how much glue was used, it gives me the opportunity to make some changes as I build it and I always have the knowledge of how it was built if I need repairs. It also gives me the confidence to know how much stress I can put a plane through, I have seen far to many ARF's come apart in mid flight becasue they were built incorrectly, endured more stress than they were designed for, or just flown way beyond their design engineering with the materials used.

Do I own any ARF's, yes I sure do, however I have gone over them with a fine tooth comb before they ever leave the ground and I often add "extra" things to boost my confidence in the plane, that way I have piece of mind if I want to ring it out a bit!

So consider ARF's a blessing, pay what you think is fair based on what is offered, form your own opinions and fly what you want.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Speaking of the cost of carbon parts, I went out and bought a square yard of 9 ounce carbon radial weave the other day. Cost me 40 some odd bucks. That stuff just isn't cheap, and then you need to factor the cost of producing the part!

jbflier

rctom said it all.........I've had his kits, and others similar to them for under $500.00 delivered[8D]

Olli-Matti

I cannot imagine how could I get a decent arf with a price tag of under 500$...

Building the kit is definately more expensive than a 600$ quality arf.

You just can't buy a 300$ kit, build and cover it and still expect to be under 500$ total.
Just the 7 rolls of monokote will put you back like 150$ plus all the hardware etc.

In my opinion 600-700$ for a high quality arf is not much at all.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

If you can't imagine a quality arf for less than $500.00 U.S., then it's obvious you have yet to purchase a Wild Hare kit. All of the 28% planes are exceptional values for the money. At $429.00 they easily stack up with aft kits selling for up to $250.00 more. Why so much less? Because he sells direct without the middle man mark up.

Pat

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

ARF's are a good deal. If I were to start complaining about prices an ARF would be the last place I'd go. I'd start with our taxes, then gasoline prices, then maybe the cost of phone (land and cell). How about cable internet at $43 a month? It's all over priced and almost a monopoly in some cases.

Yes ARF's are a good deal.

PS: Not bashing the author of this thread, just making that clear. This is only my opinion. I respect everyone elses.

hvac

My Feedback: (7)

$630 for a 50cc ARF is not a good deal. $595 for a 50cc motor with no muffler is not a good deal.

CCDave

My Feedback: (53)

With ARFs you get what you pay for most of the time. These $630.00 50cc ARFs almost always include CF Wing & Stab tubes as well as a high quality hardware pack.

That being said, WildHare makes a really good ARF and when you add all the high end hardware and CF Wing and Stab tube you end up at about $630.

Sure I would love to be able to get a bunch of high end RC stuff at half the price that it currently sells for, but it cost what it cost...

If you can't afford to crash it you shouldn't be flying it...

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Talk about high pricing. Anyone ever sit down and calculated what bottled water sells for per gallon? Well more than the cost of gasoline. Even worse is Kuwait where about a pint of bottled water sells for one Kuwaiti Dinar. One K.D. equals about $3.40 U.S. And everyone thought European gas was expensive...

This has never been a cheap hobby. Neither is golf or building custom cars. Surfing ends up more expensive than most would imagine. End result is everything has a price. It's up to the individual to determine if they want or can afford to participate.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

The engine price is too much I agree, but not the ARF IMO. It would cost me a ton to build a kit...especially including time which I have very little of.