I recently bought 2 of the Cedar Hobbies Twin Stik planes, after they arrived I opened the boxes checked for any damage and put them away for a while.. I started working on them about a 3 weeks ago now and they are the worst built planes I have ever ran across. The nacels on both planes are glued at strange angles mostly up and in. 1 section of the planes wing was so badly manufactured that I doubt it will actually fly.(Twisted badly). Along with 5 or 6 other smaller problems....

As far as there customer service is concerned it just plain sucks, I have sent a total of 4 emails in the last 3 weeks and have not even received a response. I even went so far as to call and just sit on hold till I hang up..They where great when I was buying the plane. But i guess they cannot handle a dissatisfied customer

Dear Sir,

I am very sorry to hear that you are not pleased with our products. You can contact us at 832-202-7343 and we will be pleased to help you. We do not put customers on hold ever. We have one single line and we handle each customer as they call. If we do not answer the phone please leave a message, as this is the only way that we know you have called. If I remember correctly, you bought these airplanes at a great discount as you stated to me that you were a dealer and wanted to resell these. These products that you bought were purchased about 5 to 6 months ago. We always strive to please our customers and always are open for suggestions. You may contact me at your convenience by phone or at [email protected].

Thank you,
Neil

WingSpam:

I can not say you are the one filled with excreta, but the TwinStick itself is definitely not a POS.

I and several others in my area have the TwinStick, it is an excellent sport twin, doing everything expected of it and doing it very well.

There are several other Cedar Hobbies ARFs here, all have been well made with no problems. No problems with either the planes or with service from Neil or Cedar hobbies.

I strongly suspect there is something you are leaving out of the account of your difficulties.

Bill.

I do not understand why people complain about the quality of ARFs or the people that sell them. They are just ARFs, not custom built aircraft or aircraft of great value.

I'll tell you why they complain. People that are accustomed to "quality" ARF's are unhappy when they get a "POS" and then get lied to by the distributor!

There seem to be a few satisfied customers that are more concerned with belitteling an unsatisfied customer than actually listening and helping solve problems. I also had problems with the quality of an ARF from this company. When I posted about it, I was berated, belitteled and threatened with bodily harm! Prior to posting, I contacted the distributor and was promised a new plane. It never came and all future attempts to contact them were rejected. I finally gave the plane(?) to another modeler with a warning regarding its problems. He put it together and on the first flight it came apart in the air resulting in the loss of a new receiver, 3 servo's and damage to both engines!

I guess that some of us are just "spoiled" by reputable companies and will not tolerate junk!

I have dealt with Neil at Cedar Hobbies and have been very pleased. I think he is a very nice guy to deal with. There are several of his ARFs in my area and people are very happy with them.

Pete
Modeltronics

gunfighter says "When I posted about it, I was berated, belitteled and threatened with bodily harm"
You know, I know the moderator of this forum Robbie personally, and I can assure you he would not tollerate ANY such actions...Believe me.
For the rest of you..enclosed is my TwinStick at over 120 flights and a lot with the three engine modifiations. Not endorsed by the manufacturer which is Neil over at Cedar Hobbies. He IS NOT a distributor, he owns the factory.
I too put mine together and it has NOT fallen apart on the first or any subsequent flights. OK OK,,I have torn the landing gear off, but had help...Where is Terror Dacytl? There are many ways to construct anyone's arf. A first flight failure as described? Wonder how it was built?
Mine, in addition to an unauthorized third engine, it has the outboard engines mixed to the rudder for extremely fast, (And stressful) spins and knife edge, ailerons mixed to the elevator for tighter turns, and a bunch of weight added to balance that "necessary" extra engine. Note, if you do the rudder to engine mix..and use it for tight spins, do not reduce the inboard engine by more than 50% or the resulting speed of spin will suck the fuel from the engine going backwards in the spin and getting out of a 120 RPM spin with one engine,,will get the pulse rate up!
Also, set the throttle kill to kill the outer ones and taxi back on the small single. Yes, it will fly...barely..on that engine..Don't hit throttle kill in the air!!! I have even with witnesses, done a single small engine take off..ok ok..not over 3' high!!!
Have fun.
Twinman

I have delt with Cedar Hobbies with excellent results. I've two of their models...and the Twin Stick too. My Twin Stick is not only well built...but the covering was perfect. I've called these folks and talked to them on the phone. I've e-mailed them...and have received answers with in a few days. Their prices are good, their kits well built, and though not perfect...good as you will get anywhere. I have no idea why Wingspam has issues with Cedar Hobbies...I've always been treated well and have received good customer service from them. I did mention that I was making my kit a three engine model...and Niel tossed in a third engine mount for free. Nice touch...and a nice company.
Soft landings always,
Bobby of Maui

Is it always winter up there...looks like snow...

I still say that it was already coming out of the spin when I said:

"Here take this thing back."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

Now for the gear question at hand

I was at the sticks when it lost the gear, [8D]but who loosened the gear on the landing before me[8D]

See ya at the field Sat Morning TM

I gave some instruction to your boss/flight trainee yesterday and with his Zero G on those mild throws I think that he will surprise you and still want to hand you the TX, but the neck strap will make that a little hard so good luck.

Mike will surprise you since he has basically jumped from a trainer to the Zero G (3D profile on steroids) [8D] in one swell foop [8D]

See ya at the field whenever

Yeah, but a single engine plane...What is the use?
Tee Hee

When you buy an arf you expect good quality and you spend good money for them and they are making arf's now that are top quality, i bought a phoenix from cedar hobbies and it is of great quality and i have had no problems with anything in the kit and i got it in record time and i did not even have to iron anything on it as of yet and i can tell it is going to be a great flying twin, i would buy any of there products,

Hay Pilot727,
Are you going to install retracts on your model ? If a kit ever screamed out for retracts, this is the airframe that does. I sent Cedar a letter requesting to know if it was possible to buy the same kit un-covered, and with four engine pods...no word yet, but they are looking at it for me. It's a very nice twin...it is a great deal for the money. I would love to install four .32's in one...and I've four .32's that need a home. I'm also ordering a four engine sync...just in case I can get the kit as reqested. If not...I'll just buy the twin version and make my own outboard engine nacelles. I love kit bashing ARF models.
Soft landings always,
Bobby of Maui

Bob
Are you talking about the phoenix, if so, no i am not going to put retracts on it although it would look neat and these days they are making nice retracts but they are not cheap but i am using two ys-110 for power, i know that it will hold two 91 fs so i am going to beef it up and i am just a sport pilot, i wont need much power with these engines, just half throttle will probably be enough but doing a nice loop a little extra power will be there if i need it, they run so nice and with headers they sound nice also, i just flew my cap for the first time w/ys-160 and i did not like it at first the elevator is so touchy but after putting some time and fuel through it i am now getting used to it and it is a nice flying plane i just had to get used to it as i guess anyone needs to when flying a new plane, even though i have been flying for several years i let my good friend take it up and trim it out for me only needed two clicks up, also i learned alot about the plane by watching him fly it, now i have to take the giles 202 up for her maiden flight if we ever get some nice weather

I have the B-17 made by CedarHobbies. Its a very well built plane, nicely covered if you keep it the stock olive drab and easy to put together and strong(if you stick with somewhat close to the recommended engines and such). I am still working on this plane(was not able to purchase all the motors and other stuff due to wife's sickness and hospital stay). Mine is alos being done as an electric conversion as well as with retracts for which this plane is NOT designed for. Even with all my modifications, the plane is solid. Only now am I starting to get breathing room financially to get the parts needed to finish this plane. Anyhow, the build quality is good and Neil is easy to deal with. I cannot imagine that they would send out a plane so badly warped like was stated initially. More then likely, the storage location used by the customer was not ideal and may have been quite humid and hot.

Dont throw them boxes away guys until you have checked your plane out good, i bought an arf from yellow aircraft and they make great planes, im not a builder but when i gave my plane to my friend, it looked ok to me, he called me back within minutes and told me to come over, i never looked into the wings at the ribs, one of the wings ribs were all crushed and i had thrown the box in the dumpster and the box had a large crease in it, i went right home and got it out of the dumpster, it was not yellow aircrafts fault but ups, they do tend to throw these light boxes around, i have seen it, anyways ups went good for it cause i had the box to show them, i had no problem at all but if i had not had that box i would of had to buy another wing myself.