Well, I got this a an x-mas gift...(I asked for it) and overall, it's a real beauty to look at.
Everyone at my club was impressed by it's looks.
As the assembler of the plane, I have some real reservations, but am holding back on my final assessment until I fly her (This comming weekend).[&:]
Take a look! [8D]
I installed Spring air retracts (same as he cermark F-16's) the nosewheel doesn't fullt retract, but it's better than not at all I guess.
main wheels look good.
I have a feeling the wing tanks may have too much drag, so i'll probably take them off.
She has an OS 55AX in her...And I'm hoping that'll be anough to get her really moving.
I spoke with another RCU member who used the same, but he wasn't all that impressed thus far.
I've owned a VMAR plane before and recall the quality didn't seem all that good, but I was sucked into the unusal A-4's good looks.
This plane seemed to be the same quality...basicly, very brittle (both wood and plastic parts) and I'm afraid it maybe a short lived ARF.
For the Price of $249.00 I guess I got a little less than what I expexted.[X(]
As I said, we'll see after her first few flights.
I taxid the plane at our annual "numb thumbs" day on Jan 1, and club members were impressed by it looks and operating wing tip lights.
She's a real beauty, but requires very gentle handling inthe hangar.
Hope you like it!

More pics of her all together.
I was going to do a build thread, but I'm not feeling like I'm gonna do it anymore.
Overall synopsis...harware is poor quality, wood is brittle/ weak
The engine compartment requires a lil work to get her in (fit) and mods req'd for needle valve... Alsdo use epoxy/alcahol mix to re-fuelproof engine compartment. Area for the control arm needs work if you choose to use fixed gear, so that it will turn.
Fixed nosewheel wire should be trimmed if you use it.
Obviously the retracts (nosewheel in particular) was a lil' more difficult to do, but if you've used an air system before and have ever built a plane or two, this one shouln't be too hard.
I still am having a problem of my elevator controll rods getting pinched in the exit passage to the elevator, but otherwise she's 99% RTF now.
I've set the throws, got the CG just right; and am now just waiting for the weather to get better.

Looks great! It looks like all the VAMR planes would be much better as electric conversion planes since you wouldn't have a big muffler hanging from the plane. What's the final weight of the A4?

Took the drop tanks off for the 1st flight, switched the prop to an APC.
He it goes: She didn't want to track down the paved runway very straight...constantly made corrections as it gained speed plan swung a lil' too far to the rt. and I began to pull back, the nose cleared the 2"grass on the rt edge of the runway, but the rt main wheel didn't and the Landing gear was pulled (along with the gear rail) out of the brittle and fragile wing at a 45 deg. angle, but the plane had otherwise taken off.[:@]
Although it has retracts in it, I left them down as a result of the TO damage.
At this point I proceeded to put it into the club pattern, and get her trimmed out, it needed a few clicks of aileron and elevator trim and seemed to track through the air very nicely. I did some high altitude stalls which didn't seem bad, and even put it into a spin. did a few low passes and flyby's getting used to the feel of her. It was surprisingly fast which I liked with the OS55AX and 12x7APC combo[8D]
I then began to practice a simulated landing at a 40' height, I slowed the plane down and at 1/4 throttle, it stalled and felt & looked much uglier than when I was at higher altitudes, so I powered up to recover. [&:]The plane was now stable and at abt. 50 yards out, 20' AGL and midfield when it deadsticked, I dropped the nose and headed for the field she dropped like a stone (not a good gliding plane). I hoped to make it to the runway given how the plane's quality owned up to the grass on TO. I tried to keep airspeed up to maintain a bit of flairinmg ability at the last moment...I found the elevator to be very ineffective in a glide though. Flairing at the lastminute, in a nose high attitude, the plane hit the grass about 5' short of the runway, ripped the other main wheel out and bounced forward onto the runway where it stopped after skidding about 1 foot.[]
rt aileron ripped out, Rt wing split, both main gear ripped out of wing, fuse cracked vertically behind trailing edge of Rt wing, vertical and horizontal tailplane are loose, most plastic parts including canopy, tailhook, wing tips, tailcone(although this part was also damaged in shipping) cracked or hasd parts simply break off.[&:]
And I have the whole thing on Video!!
I'll let you know when it gets posted.
All in all, it is fixable, but most people might consider tossing the wing.
Most smart people would recommend throwing the whole thing away, but once in the air, it did fly nicely.
Overall, the plane is brittle and fragile as I suspected. This is not a beginners ARF, though it's built like one.

The rating I would give this plane out of 10 is 4.
Looks are pretty darn good for this arf, I'd give them an 8 or 9. Flying characteristics are a strong 9, but everything else about it's quality and constuction pulls the average WAAAAAY down.
This is not meant as a bash to VMAR, but it is what it is.

On a positive note, though the wing and fuse damage is substantial, I will repair this baby, and she will fly again!

No Flaps

What brand of air retracts are you using,, im wanting to put some on my vmar f4 and those look very good,, looks like they fit very well,,

I ordered them from Cermark...They are the ones used in the F-16 & F18.
New main gear wires will be required.

Does cermark include the gear wires?

wow just as expected , I was going to sink the $399 out for the F18 , thanks for the honest post , looks like Vmar is still no-mar in my book

A few other guys have said they liked the plane that i talked to hear on RCU.
I was disapointed though.
Model Airplane News gave the VMAR F-18 a nice write up(but I don't think it can take retracts).
In my opinion, if I were going to buy an F-18 I'd go with Cermark...But that's my humble opinion.[8D]

agree , Ceremark is on the mark , for the same money the quality is so much better

Cermark offers the retract set for $96, No Flaps does that price include the gear wires, i could not seem to get that out of the girl that i just talked to at cermark,,.

It's the best secret deal out there...It includes everything you need., tank, lines, valve, retracts, wires & wheels.
Just bend & cut the main retracts as needbe to fit in the retract bay.

That really is a hell of a deal then!

Shhhhh ! It is by far, the best deal.[8D]
Same goes for their Spitfire...If you need 2 mail wheels and full air system for a warbird, it's the way to go.

So Frankenstied does live! [8D]
I have rebuilt my A4 and it's alive!
The oplane no longer has retracts as a result of extensive wing surgery, it's very lumpy in places and is covered in patches and tape.
But just like an italian woman, she really looks good from a distance.
Most were impressed by the looks in the air and on the ground, too bad the gear wouldn't retract.
I find myself wondering what type of flying i'll actually dfo with this plane...It's too bad no one else at my field doesn't have one as i think it would look even better as a pair going by.
I flew it 2x this past Saturday...Very squirrelly on high rates.

what....no video yet?????

I've got some video of the plane taxiiing, but i'm too ignorant to figure out how to put it on u tube.
There was a guy videoing the plane on it's maiden, but he never posted it...Maybe this nxt wkend I can get someone who knows what they're doing oit there.

Watch out for the elevator when on high rates,, this little plane will snap out on you and go into a uncontrollable spin,, had one, been there,,, otherwise its a cool little plane...

Virtual Model Airplane Ripoff = VMAR[:@]

I got one of the new vmar su-27 prop jets a couple of weeks ago, and so far so good,, its really a nice arf. it even has a scale working airbrake on top of the fuse. the plane itself is very scale, for a propjet! lazer cut and very well made...

Please start a threat on that...I'd like to see it and hear all about it.

I got one of just a couple that are in the western hemisphere at this time,, richmond rc will be selling them this spring or summer, i have a vmax.91 on it, and it needs every bit of it, i would not put anything smaller,, all in all its a pretty well thought out plane,, it does have the retract bay cutouts but i dont have retracts on it yet,,, you can see pics of this plane on a vietnam rc web site,, the site name is vietpilots.com its all in vietnemese so you will just have to click around the pic area till you find it,, several other planes on there too, from different makers,, i also have their f4 phantom and it has the cermark retracts on it, its one of my favorites to take to the field.

Here's the uploaded video on U tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EswzreMtqmU

that's it??? the long awaited video.....lol
now that's a video where you should dub some jet engine sounds in can't wait to see it flying.

Yepper, I really should have prefaced the video, with "don't get your hopes up" 1st ...Ha!
I'd get some video of the plane flying, but i've tried to hold the camera before while flying with near disasterous consequences.
I'll let you guys know when I get someone to be co-pilot.