It has come to my attention that Sig is low on much of their popular inventory of ARFs and kits. Are they surviving or is there writing on the wall. They've been such an integral part of modeling, I can't believe they would be on their way out. Have they made some bad decisions/deals or am I being paraniod? What do you think? Should we start buying up kits or am I being a fear mongerer?

peace

It seems the writing is on the wall. But don't worry, they won't completely disappear.

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">i think, if anything, they will end up like carl goldberg and get absorbed by another company like great planes has done. </span>

If you talk to Bob you will get a lot of excuses for they way things are.  What Bob has said that I believe is that for the time being they have stopped even trying to sell ARF's do to pirating.  I went to there fly-ing this year and it was very disappointing.  At the plant, Mike Lee is missing in action.  There seems to be some misinformation at the plant as to wither he is visting family or just plane gone for good

Whatever, it is sad because they had several great kits that I still wanted to build..

From what is written on the internet (so it must all be true) they've had various problems with the ARF manufacturer. Quality issues, cash flow, etc; and supposedly they do not know IF they will ever have any more ARFs.
There has been a lot written about the wind turbine companies buying up the balsa supply for their blades, making it hard for the kit companies to get good wood at a good price.
Another rumor is that Mrs Sig sold the company and the new owners are not doing very well.
I hope a lot of it is just rumor.

And we can see how well that worked out for CG kits.

Sig makes my favorite kits. If they have to downsize, lose the ARFs and stick with the kit building crowd.

This is true. I went to the sig fun fly, hey held it a Hazel (previous owner of sig) flying field and her house. I was talking to her and she said shes mad at how they are running the company. She said they are pocketing most of the money, and putting none into the business. We need sig.

And the Laniar line is still alive and well, how many Stinger kits would you like?

Don

I stopped by Sig to get some things today and they were locked up, only one car in the lot. So I called later and the woman that asnwered said they are now only open Mon-Thur . She was just there to answer the phone. Sounds like they are still out of a lot of the kits. Hope to get back by next week to see if they have what I need .

Although i dont think they took good care of me for my last purchase, i would hate to see sig go away. they have been in business for so long and become such an icon for the industry it would be a shame to see them go under. The truth is, sig still makes some of the best kits available.
dan

UPS just delivered a SIG Hog Bipe to my front door. Apparently the kits are being held up because the supplier that makes the ABS plastic wheel pants and head rest is behind.

I just told them to send the kit without the pants and head rest. Sig gave me a little discount and shipped the model to me.

I agree with all about wanting to build more sig kits! I hope it is just bad timing with various suppliers.

peace

Buy SIG kits! Worth every penny and their support is unfathomable! I buy my dopes, thinners etc. there, too.

I feel like I'd better buy every Sig kit I can before they're gone! Sig is the company that turned me on to kit building, I sure would hate to see them go.

I have a NIB Kobra kit, a NIB Dornier DO 217 kit, a NIB Kougar wing kit and a stack of NIB Herr kits I got from Sig. I was thinking about selling off some of them. This thread changed my mind. I'll be hanging onto them now!


Joe

Yep, and THEN they will disappear! <G>

Nothing lasts forever - nothing...


Ed Cregger

I'll wait a little while and then I'll sell off my Sig kits. I have the Astro Hog and the Astro Biplane. I won't be selling them cheap, so no one need contact me that is looking for a deal. I'll sell them when I can get more than I paid for them. Which shouldn't be long, from the sound of things.

Things haven't been the same at Sig since after Hazel stopped running things, although I did receive good service from the new folks when I did do business with them.

I never was a Sig kit fan, not my cup of tea, but I did like their other products, such as their wood and their glow fuel. Yes, their service was always top shelf too.

I too would lament Sig's passing.


Ed Cregger

Well in the last month I bought a 1/5 Sig Piper Cub and a couple of months before that an Astro Hog. Looks like I better get down to my LHS and pick up that LT-25 I've been eyeing or perhaps a Kobra.
John

I just made a SIG purchase and will receive the items soon! Christmas in September- weeeee! 1/4 Cub kit, 1/6 Cub kit, Koverall, Stix-it, dope, sanding sealer and spare wood. Joy, joy! I love Cubs!

I had one once 1/6 scale and sold it..........if I buy another, where do I get the dummy engine??

Soooooooooooo, I just called SIG to check on the availability of the 1/6 scale cub........after reading this thread I got jazzed on this kit and I failed to score on a Four Star 60........but I digress.........they said that they did not have this kit but expect it to be out the first part of Nov..........man you are really hurtin' if you want to buy a SIG kit anymore. []

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">be very happy if you get the cub by Nov. i ordered an SMP way back in the middle of Jan., and it took until the end of July to get to my house. i guess they had problems getting balsa. now i ask how long the wait is going to be before ordering anything from them. i still will, if i'm able to wait for a few months. with the SMP, i had to e-mail them a few times about the date changing for them to ship it. i kept getting pushed back farther and farther. finally i had to tell them i was going to cancel if they didn't ship it, and low and beholdthe next day it shipped. sounds shady to me... but i do like the old school design and build with all the sticks. looking at other kits with all the sheeting and such are kind of blah now, after building a stick plane.

i did however order a set of plans for a kadet MKII a few days ago and they sent them out that day and arrived at my house a SMOKIN' 2 days later. i asked them how business was going and mentioned MY concerns with waiting times and if they were looking at reducing stock in the kit department, as is happeningwith the BARF's (HAHA another one bites the dust!!!)and they said they had no intentions of the likes. take what you want from that, but i'm going to save everything i get from them for later building needs. plans, templates, instructions,etc... maybe even order plan sets for other kits so i have them incase the bomb shell does crack.</span>

They are getting kits out however - better a wait than no kits at all. I waited for the Astro Hog and received it. Too many manufactures are out of business totally.
John

Hate to see them go out of business. They make a good kit and have always been good to me. They shipped me an Astro-Hog when I was in Europe which was darned near impossible due to size restrictions over there. They repacked the kit in a smaller carton and all went well.

I've got 3 of their kits in the workshop, each a future project as a backup of some old favorites I fly all the time..... A-Hog, Hog Bipe and Spacewalker. Hang in there Sig!