I am hearing that Planes Plus has a substantial number of Eclipse kits that have a problem with the fiberglass and it will be 90 days or more before the next batch of kits will be available. Has anyone tried to order one lately and heard anything about this?

Thanks

Dan Curtis

Hi Patttern flyers

Same story here when I called Planeplus and a 3 months wait.
But I like the style and price of the ARF so I'll save the money until it's ready>

C Lim

Dan
I am thinking Don will address this . but, in the mean time.

Don is working out some issues with CA Models regarding the models.

I have spoken with Don about some items in the past, and he assures me he will demand and expect the best from his suppliers. He and his wife Carla, are working at establishing their business as a top notch importer of fine models. So I cannot fault someone who says there is a backorder of certain items for quality issues. Thats looking after your customer base and their best interest. I wish all suppliers would do this.

Don seems to be a great guy talking with him over the phone, and seems very interested in his cusomers satisfaction. So, If you can, wait for the product to meet his standards, and I think you will get a top notch product in the end. Just might be awhile.


C.Lim has the right idea, "Save UP!" as i believe a comedian named Carrot-top says.

Later

Thanks for the reply GW,

I have read on this forum about how nice the kits are and how pleased the persons that have them have been. One local flyer received his kit about 3 weeks ago and it was very nice, at least on the initial once over and he still seems pleased after beginning construction. A second buyer is told that his kit's shipping date had been delayed due to a vacation period then when inquiring about the status he was then told about the glass problem. With out going into any detail. I have 4 and possibly 5 people that were planning on ordering this kit in the very near future but that now seems to be out of the question.

Sure we can all save or money or spend it elsewhere. The question arose with the somewhat strange circumstances on the reason for the delay and then that makes me wonder if some of the kits that were sent just prior to now are the good or the bad ones and if the ARCs are okay or have the problem too. If the problem is structural or in alignment then by all means hold them back, if it is a small cosmetic problem then one might be given the option of taking one or rejection. Anyway this is all speculation unless, as you mentioned, a spokesman for Planes Plus would happen to fill us in on the situation. Granted we may not be in the need to know status but it would help in planning for the future. Heck as you would know, we in the pattern fraternity are always impatient to get our hands on a promising new design. Lets hope it does not take to long.

Thanks again

Dan

There are a few problems with the kits. First let me preface this by saying the the problems are not insurmountable, just a bit annoying.

My father is retired and to keep him busy sometimes I am able to talk him into building a plane or two for me. Not a bad deal is it? Anyway, he is building an Eclipse right now for me. I visited him about a week ago and we noticed a few problems. Mainly, it seems that the halves of the fuselage were not properly aligned. When you set up the fuse with the wing tube level, the landing gear would not be level in the same plane. Meaning, if you used the cut outs as they are scribed for the gear, they would be off about an eighth of an inch, and due to the angle of the dangle, would translate to the wheels being off about a half inch. Also, while examining the alignment of the fuse, it became apparent that the curvature of the vertical fin was off when comparing both sides. The holes for the stab tube are also not lined up.

Now, these differences are slight, but they are there. If you recognize them early, or are informed about them, it's a non event. Building an airplane of this sort requires quite a bit of the ole' "measure twice cut once" axiom, so most of these errors would be corrected before they become problems.

My real problem with the kits, and I'm building a Widebody 90 myself in the all too rare 'spare time', is the instructions. They really are bad. Now, I realize that I have criticized quite a bit about the quality of the kits here, but I honestly do they they are of high value. However, the instructions are deplorable. The pictures sometimes are helpful, but at least for me they rarely show exactly what you need to see. And when they do, they are blurry. Okay fine, if you are building these kits you should know something about building an airplane, but a little help is nice. If there are dimensions that are important, like the size of an elevator to cut out of a stab, please state those dimensions clearly... My instructions were at best blurry on the pictures, and I could not find the dimensions on the website at the time. Maybe they are there now... I used the TLAR method and it should be fine... but it was frustrating...

As far as the Eclipse goes, the problems we have had with the glass are annoying, but really no big deal, and would not prevent me from recommending the kit. It still is a tremendous value and I can't wait to get mine in the air. But because these kits are great values, and because they fly well, they should at the very least have readable instructions, not in pigeon English, but readable English... at least for those sold in the states that is.

I will buy more CA kits... but it really is a shame that they have such problems... because with these problems fixed they could be a real force in the industry. You just can't beat the price or the quality of the materials...

I'm done ranting... whew!

If those are the problems with the current stock of kits then one must give a tip of the hat to Mr. Kanak on making the decision to take them off the market. The kit does seem to be an excellent value and I will probably be building several of them as soon as the next shipment arrives.

Thanks for all who responded

Dan

This is Don from Planes Plus Inc,
In response to this thread I must say that we have overwhelmed the boys in Argentina with orders.
In just one year I believe we have sold over 1000 airplanes.
And to their credit I will say that there have been only a handful of problems.
When we started to receive the Eclipse and Fantasy Glass fused planes we knew from our over 13 years experience in the business of priding competition Toc and pattern type aircraft
that we would need to inspect each and every kit to be sure that it exceeded my expectations. What we found in the last shipment is that we had some planes with cosmetic flaws due to glass work curing in tightly packed boxes in a very hot container from Buenos Aires to Chicago for 6 weeks.
Our job is to make sure that I get for our customers the very best product that I can from every vendor we deal with. These
planes did not make our criteria, so we rejected them and more are being made to satisfy your needs and our criteria.
I know that makes it a problem for those who wish a plane now, believe me I want to sell them now, but this will allow you to place your orders with confidence, knowing that you will receive a value that far exceeds your buying price.
On the instructions issue, there have been several revisions already and they will continue, this is not an easy task and I believe they are on the right track.
If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Don Kanak
Planes Plus Inc
630-240-1288

Don,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the thread. I had been able to see one of the kits and was very impressed with it, as I stated in an earlier thread. It is comforting to know that you and Marcello are making strong efforts to keep quality a priority.

Looking forward to the new shipment. I will be pretty busy when they get here.

Dan Curtis

Hi dear friends of the thread,
We have always followed your comments and we have seen in the last days some people has said untrue or unreal things. So, we want to response to that. It is true that there was a course of planes that has suffered some little cosmetic damages. Although, this damages have been produced for the high temperatures of the container in a very long trip, our distributor and we have decided not to deliver this planes, so in this way we can keep the quality that characterize our models.
We are working very hard to solve this problem and we are trying to make this shipments to our customers as soon as possible.
For those who have bought and for those who may want to buy in a very near future one of our models, be sure that you will get from us the best predispuse and we are constantly trying to excel ourselves manufacture and quality expectations every day.
Marcelo Colombo & Andrès Andersson.(CA MODEL)

Untrue and Unreal, Where? I have read this thread over and see only one post negative and that was a glass half misalignment issue, one that the modeler overcame. The others were somewhat praising the quality of the kits, and the great customer service and honesty Don is supplying at Planes-Plus. Maybe Im missing something, but this thread is very positive in my opinion.

I said I had some issues with my plane having a tube too short, Don addressed that with a very nice call to my home to ask me how he could make it right. God job Don! , and Don is currently addressing another issue with me regarding the Eclipse. Hoping to hear from him soon on it.

I think as many others do that CA Models has a very good thing going(several good designs on the market here in the US) Growing pains are to be expected, as Don has noted.
Some items will make it through the cracks, some will be problems that cannot be accepted. As long as Don is seeing to the problems as they come along, I see no problem.

When the importer becomes a front for passing on shoddy products , they will be hunting a new line of work soon. I hope Planes Plus will be continuing to import the CA Models line, and maintain the quality standards the pattern community expects.

Hi all,

I started this thread and certainly had no intention of slamming or griping about the Eclipse. Just wanted to see if the problems I was hearing about could be confirmed. I have been very pleased with the response from Mr. Kanak and now hearing from Mr. Colombo I am even more pleased. We as consumers of kits and components in our sport many times have to kind of "take what we can get". It is very refreshing to hear from both the manufacturing end and the distribution end and have them both holding the line on quality. Folks I don't think we can ask for more.

Thank you both. I am looking forward to getting the kits asap.

Dan Curtis