I heard a rumor recently and just checked their website. Sadly, they have closed up shop.
Thanks Lee and all the folks at Piedmont for faithfully serving the pattern community for more than a decade!!

I heard that the motivating force was the recent arrival of a container full of Brios - almost half of which were seriously damaged.

-Will

Very sad to hear.
I'd bought a couple of models from them in the past, a Hydeout and a Focus 1.
Lee was always very pleasant to talk with.

It happened a little over a month ago if I remember correctly..
Pretty sad. There aren't any 2m kits available if you've had to look around as I have.. Well, unless you don't live in the us.. LOL

Hmmmmmmmmm Better not tell Aeroslave.com that then. It might hurt their feelings.

Well, from what I've heard, and it is a nice plane, the symphonies are a little heavy. Not really suitable for electric and 11 lbs.
Although they say it is. I could be wrong and I'm not bashing. And also, what like $850 + shipping. Seems pricy for a kit to me.
What's the availability of them?
I haven't been sold on them as the fuse is too big for me. Still a nice plane
Chris

Check out http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3640864/tm.htm. Mike Hester's Black Magic looks very appealing. If I didn't have so many other planes & projects already, I would be doing one or two of these by now. He makes a short kit available. Another source is Aeroworks http://www.aero-works.net/store/sear...?CategoryID=16. Check out the CA Models Genesis, Fantasy, Epsilon, Exlipse.

LAst time I checked they did have any Eclipses, or the Fantasy

I heard that Cameron Smiths was an exceptional flyer and 10lb. 10 oz for electric is pretty good.[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3568317/anchors_4222179/mpage_2/key_cameron/anchor/tm.htm#4222179[/link]
Steve Maxwell

I talked to aeroworks last week and they have no 2m kits. Story I got is they are done with the genesis, as is central. And they only import c.a's stuff once a year. And it's a long time off according to the lady I spoke with. She said she wasn't sure if they were going to bring anymore eclipse of fantasy in..
As for the black magic, I'd have to see one fly to know if it was competitive or not. As far as I know there are none out here on the west coast, or I would have seen one at the contests.
Is pattern dying?? I don't think so, but it sure doesn't look good with attendances lower at our last two contests...
We need some more importers to import the kits..
I just can't pay 3000 or more for an arf, when I can buy a 40 percent plane for 2000.. Or a 33 percent for 1000.
It's just silly!!
Chris

Read what Jason Shulman says about the Black Magic here:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_36...13/key_/tm.htm

He flew both Mike's fuel powered one and Emory's electric. Reviews don't get much more glowing!

Jon Lowe

Steve,

I attended the Pensacola meet this year and can confirm Cameron' Symphony on E performed very well. Handled P07 very nicely particularly the horizontal 8.

As I was told one of the mods to help make weight was Cameron had a set of wing cores cut and sheeted by a friend. The new completely finished wings yielded weights as I recall lighter than the ruff sheeted stocks wings from Aeroslave. Sorry I do not recall the the weights Cameron quoted.

I Judged two of Cameron's flights that weekend in Pensacola. I felt the aircraft lacked the ability to properly snap consistently and predictably. Perhaps the setup needs further tweaking or the wing loading is to light. Keep in mind Harrison designed the Symphony for Glow which when fueled the flying weight can be 12+lbs. With E your max weight can be 1-1.5lbs lighter.

In my mind lighter is not always better.

They've only been available as short kits for a few months now, and it takes a little time to build them. I know of a few in that area, but have no idea when any of them will be flying. Right now, my 2 are the only ones that I know of that are flying. Supposedly there will be another ready for the Nats, and Emory just has to install the equipment in his second one. Late this year there should be quite a few flying.

It's competetive....and then some. Everyone I have let fly them has been extremely happy with the way it flies. You have to fly it to appreciate it. You'd be hard pressed to find a better plane, in any form or price range. But then I designed it and I sell it, so I am pretty biased. Ask someone else who's flown it.

But, it's just an old wood roach, how competetive could it be?

-Mike

yeah wish someone had the rights to the Focus or the Temptation, I still believe they would sell if you kept the price down

That has also crossed my mind!!
A focus 3 design also..
A wide body design.


The black magic looks like an interesting plane Mike and I know you worked hard on it. I hope you didn't take my comment the wrong way. I'll probably look at your thread on it.
I just hate building wood fuse's. Looks good though.
Chris

Nahh Chris, I didn't take it that way. And I'm not trying to sell you a plane.

It's just hard to express that it does fly very well if there's not enough of them out there flying. And not to mention that I am seriously out of practice and can't really do it justice in competition. It's frustrating, but there are a good many out there being built. So, either latet his season or early next one there should be quite a few out there flying.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck, 2 planes? Ouch. I better knock on wood, I'm going back to Andersonville this weekend...better get out the plane repellant!

Yeah it sucks that Peidmont folded. They had some good planes over the years, and pretty darn good prices. But there are planes out there, you just have to look a little harder than I like.

-Mike

Hi Mike

I wouldn't be surprised to see Piedmont Models reorg under a different banner and bring airplanes out again in the near future. I personally believe they'd have a great thing if they made the Focus 2 in a kit,arc,arf form. One can only hope.

Yeah, I've had bad luck since I went electric!! Anyone that says electric isn't expensive, tell them to see me. LOL

If I hadn't already built two, now going on three planes this year already, I'd be willing to buy a black magic Mike. And still may. It it was a little more of an arc, I'd really be interested. I'm just tired of the building phase at this point. I'm building a Pac Patriot Electric. Only because I've had it at ARC stage for about 6 or 7 years at least. I''ll most likely just sell it to someone who wants to get into electrics as a RTF though. Probably not too competetive in Masters out here, but, it'll get my equipment back in the air for hardly no money. And who knows, I don't think there is another electric patriot out there. It may be ok for masters.
I'll be getting a icepoint and most likely an evolution in a few weeks. Thank god they are arf's. I'm ready for an arf at this point.. My wife and daughter only know me as the guy in the garage!!

It really is upsetting that piedmont went out.. I know many would buy another focus. Especially, a black magic focus!!!!
Any interest in doing it as an arf kit? Or is that not an option in your future?
Chris

I just got a pair of Prestige's from Wistmodel (Poland). Not cheap at $1850, but a very good value for what you get. One of them is flying and it's a very good airplane. Wistmodel also makes the Vivat, from which the Prestige is evolved. If you want something from Wistmodel, you have to get in line early. They can only import a limited number each year. Start thinking about next year now...

Well, lots of things are in the works. That's all I can say here, but I have heard rumors about Peidmont resurfacing in another form....

Email me at [email protected] I'd like to hear about your electric experience.

-Mike

It doesn’t seem like it should be a problem if pattern flyers built their aircraft from kits, plans or created their own designs. That’s how world champ Ralph Brooke did it between his dental patient appointments. Needless to say being a dentist, his work was flawless along with his flying. I often wondered if he scheduled fewer patients when he was doing a build.

What year was that? This is a different world now. I just built 2 for a dentist because he doesn't have the time, and am going to build him 2 more

-Mike

Do you think your dentist will become a world champ soon?

Do you think you will?

And you didn't answer the question, what year.....?

-Mike

I am currently flying an insight and have a special ersion hitting te boards in about 2-3 weeks. i wil start a build thread as soon as i get ahead of it enough to keep up with picures and questions..

then.. i might wait for NATS to finish and then get started.

Mike, i hoe to meet you at Nats and challenge you by boucing ideas and theories and all that great stuff we think about after a few beers eh!!!!

Chuck

I'll be there, you buy the first round, I'll buy the second!!

-Mike