FLY EAGLE JET

Announcement:
About the incident on the F14. First of all, everyone at FEJ isconcerned about safety. We do testing on all our aircraft over and over. We arestill constantly upgrading what we have. This is not to say any are bad, wejust want to make them better.
Our F14 has been flying for years with both fiberglass and honeycomb. This isthe only one this has happened to like this. We have over 100 flights on ourown honeycomb F14 and no issues like this at all. It is very unfortunate and weare very sorry for the loss, but do not believe the issue will ever be solvedfor sure. This is sad and a loss for all involved.
We do care and like all manufacturers want to be safe. However,after 25 flights it is hard to determine what happened here. Also, we used tohelp customers to re-built their next model if they want another one, no matterwhat happened, just trying to save some money for customers. For this case, itis hard to find the right answer. In the concern of safety for all and with all of the opinionshere, we can work plywood and carbon fiber bulkheads when people want. We hopethat everyone will understand that we do care and want to make the bestaircraft we can.
Again, we are sorryabout this F14 lost. Now, we are having someone to examine the videos again,(no youtube in China, got video from other way) just try to find out anypossibility to cause this model crash. Since there were some possibilities tocause this model crash, we need a little more time to find out the rightanswer. <o></o>

FLY EAGLE JET<o></o>

stevekott

Yeah and that is precisely the wrong thing to do. They are probably a little shell shocked and don't know what to do. If they were smart they would give you some love, make you a happy camper and think about their future sales instead of their past sales. Maybe they are afraid if they cop to anything they are opening a can of worms. What they haven't figured out yet is that if they made you happy you have the potential to sell a lot more of their jets in their future. I hope they figure that out and I wish you the best of luck.

E.N.T.

My Feedback: (1)

Why this guy from FEJ didn't respond earlier? That's an irresponsible
conduct from the company that wants to stay in business after being
banged up from this group of jet flyiers. And very serious guys trying
to fly on the safe side of radio control in order to stay away from
any kind of trouble.
It would have been VERY wise to have responded as they should.
As for my part I haven't bought any FEJ product, and now with this
situation I will NOT consider it.
And I hope the moderator does not delete my post.

ENT

DrScoles

My Feedback: (18)

This is a chance for FEJ to do an extreme makeover. Come clean, restitution, become more transparent and restore faith. Wait, am I talking about the federal government or a toy maker???

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

Thaaats why! There is no YouTube in China!

Dantley, apologize please and have this thread deleted.

AndyAndrews

FEJ, whoever you are that responded, here is how you solve the issue that you think is so complicated. First, you replace Dantleys F-14 along with the turbines. You then, instead of asking your customers if they "want it", change the flawed designs you are using on the stabs and the bulkheads away from how you are doing it now and use ply and carbon. Pretty simple and straight forward.

Moreover, start paying attention to other construction details like making sure your employees even use glue... I mean sheesh does this ever end?

Lastley, LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!! They keep telling you what you are doing wrong and you ignore them and even blame them when your stuff fails!

FCruz

My Feedback: (12)

James, I think we can all agree that all manufacturers have had issues in one way or another in respects to structual failure or just crapping design flaws, I know of several F-16's that had their Verticals blow off, some made it back, and some are RIP !!! But the point is to learn, correct the mistakes, and face-up to whatever consequences the manufacturer makes along the way and most of all STAND behind your product NO MATTER WHAT !!!. and "IF" this means having to compensate someone for a design flaw on the part of the designer then so be it.... That is what show commitment and integrity in people.

I own 2 of FEJ F-14's, F-18 and an F-86, I can tell you that I have had to re-do the stabs on the F-86 due to Flutter (FEJ joining Pins had play) that almost caused it to go in as my F-14 did (but not to flutter). Simply do the Math, by shying away, Ignoring the issue at hand or hoping it goes away this has and will hurt you financially. I have nothing to gain here exept knowing that the Manufacturer that I bought my Jets from STANDS behind there product. In closing I say, Do the right thing and work out this mess that will end up hurting your business as well as those associated with FEJ. I'm not here to bash FEJ rather to bring focus to the real purpose of this thread. Once again this is nothing personal!!!


Regards,

F.Cruz

speed is life

Mr. FEJ:
Really? Testing over and over? Like what, the videos that you have posted of the easy race track patterns at medium speeds?
Do you "test fly" or really do "flight test" to find out real world limits? I believe this group knows the answer.

Right now you have approximately 0% corporate credibility.

-Mike

jetpilot

My Feedback: (48)

Wow! Finally a step in the right direction!
Hopefully this will be a start to open communication.

I am certain that the way they are designing the stabs on every jet is the root cause.
If we can help them get this corrected then i think problems start fading.
If a 8711 can't keep a stab from fluttering without rigging the linkage to the most extreme methods then the stab is designed incorrectly.
I flew a AD F16 circa 1999 with full flying stabs with 8411 with plastic horns and nothing special linkage setup. Even linkage on last hole. Never a hint at a flutter.
Redesign the stabs! There are guys here that can do for you!

Thanks for finally responding. I guess better late than never but always better never late.
Don't wait for another 25 pages either.
Get on this and in a timely fashion.
Scott

Shaun Evans

TESTING???

That's a laugh. I've built a few ARF's for guys (not naming specific makes) where it was abundantly clear that the MFGR hadn't tried to ASSEMBLE one, let alone test it! Had they attempted to put one of their own ARFs together, they'd have discovered that Reciprocity Theory about two objects (like a stab servo and a vertical fin post) occupying the same space at the same time. I built one particular F-15 where this was endemic to the point of out-loud laughter. It was shocking how the gear retracted into the fuel tanks and the bypass wouldn't accommodate the recommended engine, blah blah blah. I wasn't the least big shocked that the tail flapped and blew off the MiG I flew, given how much monkey-business was going on in there.

jetpilot

My Feedback: (48)

Good point. Testing for durability, no just ability to get airborne. Do some real test!
How about one test to destruction?
Find out how how close to normal flying that is. I bet its way closer than you think!
Scott

cjgillette

My Feedback: (15)

And that's exactly why they didn't respond before. There's no winning with you guys. Witch hunt gone bad. Flame on. You guys just lost every last bit of credibility you had. Which wasn't much to begin with considering the lynch mob mentality that developed here. Dantley, sorry for your loss. Your thread had all the right intentions but is now something entirely different. There are some very intelligent, well-considered opinions expressed here, but they are completely overshadowed by the overzealous posers who have leapt on the bandwagon with nary a thought. Go ahead, vilify me as I'm sure you will - coming from the likes of you. I couldn't care less.

Unsub'd.

C

rcjets_63

My Feedback: (4)

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, the claims you make in your response are not backed up by facts nor by your actions. For example:

You claim: "This is the only one this has happened to like this."
Fact: Your F-14's have previously experienced flutter in the horizontal stabs. At least a hundred modellers saw it at BITW when Ali was flying. Fortunately it occured immediately after takeoff and, thanks to the slow airspeed and Ali's exceptional skills, he managed to get the airplane back on the ground more or less in one piece. Other modellers have reported on this thread that they have experienced severe flutter and structural damage on other FEJ planes especially the F-18.

You claim: "We have over 100 flights on our own honeycomb F14 and no issues like this at all."
Fact: According to an eye witness who has been in your factory, you have a room full of crashed F-14's. Are we to believe that they all crashed due to pilot error with no structural or flutter issues? If so, I recommend you find new factory pilots.

Perhaps in your 100+ flights, you have always flown racetrack pattern and some low G maneuvers. I have looked at many FEJ F-14 videos on YouTube and your website and I have yet to see a video of this plane doing any medium to high G maneuver. Why is it that there isn't a single video of this model (which has been available for years) doing a loop?

You claim: "We do care and like all manufacturers want to be safe."
Fact: There is no evidence of this. What changes were made after Andy Andrews compiled a list of 30+ FEJ jets lost due to pipe failures? Why are airplanes leaving your factory with missing glue joints as shown in the cutaway photos on this thread? Why is it that when Jeremy sent you a list of critical changes required to the Liberty sport jet, your response was "thank you for your work, the factory is to busy with new design for scale models to be concerned with these issues right now"

You claim: "after 25 flights it is hard to determine what happened here."
Fact: It may be hard for you to determine. However, the experts here (two professors of aerospace engineering as well as several professional aerospace engineers) have already determined that the cause was flutter/structural failure.

You claim: "we can work plywood and carbon fiber bulkheads when people want."
Fact: That's true. However, unless the customer specifically asks for plywood, you will supply unsafe aircraft with honeycomb formers. This is not safe and therefore is not acceptable.

You claim: "We hope that everyone will understand that we do care and want to make the best aircraft we can."
Fact: No, we do not understand.

We want you to make safe models. We want you to test them thoroughly at high G's and not just take them for a lap around the track. We want you to take issues seriously and correct problems. We hope you can do this and we are prepared to help.

If you either can't or won't be safe, please stop making models.

Regards,

Jim

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

I've made my mistake in this game. It cost me $5,475.

I kinda felt it was a bit too early to jump on the Tomcat wagon. Oh well, it cost my buddy Dantley WAY more.

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

Don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord/allah/darwin split ya.

DiscoWings

My Feedback: (76)

wait what now? F-18 flutter or F-14??

dubd

While I am glad to see a public response, this is the exact same thing they told me last week...

rcjets_63

My Feedback: (4)

[]

rcjets_63

My Feedback: (4)

Flutter in Lukey's big FEJ F-18 has also been reported in this thread by Boli. Additionally, I have personally witnessed flutter two years ago in one of their first F-18's in the country. Apparently, little has changed in two years.

Regards,

Jim

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Ravill,
If your interested, ill go through your entire F14 and gut it/replace any questionable materials/structures, just pay for materials... That is if its even possible or economically feasible to do!

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

A cut and paste response? If so, that really shows how much the care!

I wonder if FEJ has seen the poll where 30+ people have voted they would never by a FeJ model due to the recent and paste problems with their models.. Thats allot of money if you figure $5,000 usd average per person

stevegauth30

whats next? fun causes cancer and low birth weight? cmon, we all know when we go to the field that the little rich kid with the 100 inch arf swinging a 27 inchblade might fly right into the back of your head. if your that worried then maybe you need a new hobby. i would trust a most likley well seasoned jet pilot over a kid with a whirley bird any day, but no ones trying to ban those.

seflyer

My Feedback: (12)

painful and pitiful response to the situation. I purchased a 1/7.5 A-10 last year and was not at all happy with the construction that I found when it arrived, alas a month overdue. the factory elected to build a new plane to rectify the situation, it has just as many problems as the first and some new ones, it was a desert camo that they repainted to the arctic scheme, total crap. service was good until I complained of the issues with the second which was almost 8 months to the date of original purchase. the first plane had no glue on one wing spar to skin and I was told it was not a problem as that part was not structural as it was an aft spar. I finally returned the first kit and was called a thief for not returning all of the parts such as the hardware kit, both of which were incomplete and I still had to buy some as it did not all fit as well. as for the turbo fans, I had to make 2 complete fans with acceptable run out that did not shake like crazy when spun out of the 4 that I had, I stated I would return all of the parts when I completed the build and that was not acceptable. never been screwed so bad in my life. never again. Raffy, maybe we can start a museum with our unairworthy planes. the box is how part of the second A-10 arrived damaged in shipment, Raffy can verify this as they sent it to him instead of me. all I got was we built you another plane what else do you want? how about an undamaged aircraft for 5 grand.

the last pic shows the inside of the wheel well on the second airplane I received, apparent did not build it just for me but repainted a Desert camo job, hopefully the excess paint adds strength.

Kevin

AndyAndrews

Holy Crap Batman!!!

AndyAndrews

This isn't over yet fan boy. If you hadn't noticed Dantley is leading the pack in this boycott. "Nary a thought", yeah right, people have bent over backwards trying to show others the design flaws. They have been patient with FEJ but to no end. The time for talk is over and the time for action is now. If FEJ wants to reverse itself and make things right then folks will forgive and forget. But until that day they will continue to feel the displeasure of their customers, past and present, in this Boycott.