Actually several things have caused the lack of woody kit availability, one of them is time spent in the internet, better known as " I don't have time to build".
The ARF thing, like most everything else in life, has it's good side and bad sides. One of the good sides is the knowledge/talent/desire to build your own is not required anymore to go flying. This could really be a boon to increasing the numbers into RC Soaring, but it hasn't. Take a look at my web site http://www.skybench.com , there is enough material, photos, contests, Wood Crafters event, etc. to keep interested persons occupied for hours. Oooops, there goes the building time. We are not just about Nostalgia sailplanes. :) My Bird series is a very competitive RES design disguised as an oldie. Enjoy the hobby, however you approach it. Ray Hayes Home of Wood Crafters and OLY ll ARF's ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Lachowski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Scott and Jennifer Martin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <soaring@airage.com> Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 9:31 PM Subject: Re: [RCSE] Lamenting the lack of available sailplane builder's kits > I don't think this is unique to sailplanes. In all areas, most of what > you get is ARF. Overseas labor is so cheap, you get complete models for > the price of making a kit in the US. And the vast majority of pilots > don't have any time to build anyway. > > You can find a few kits at polecataero. And skybench has plenty if you > like nostalgia. But designing a high performance full house model in > wood went away 10 years ago. You can find fuselages out there and there > are some good bagging videos if you want to scratch build. Check out > the Charles River RC site and pick any one of Mark Drela's designs and > build it. You won't be disappointed. Just don't try to improve on the > structure or materials selection. > > Maybe a little building will come back with the current exchange rate > for the Euro. That has bumped up the price of the imports a lot. Gone > are the days of a $600 fully molded model. > > Scott and Jennifer Martin wrote: > > Can someone point me in the direction of some good sailplane kits? I > > don't mean floaters. I mean good, high-quality wood kits, with maybe a > > fiberglass fuse, for high-performance full-house sailplanes. > > > > I ask this question because I can't find any such kits anywhere. Does > > anyone make them? > > > > I prefer to build my own aircraft; no ARFs or ARCs for me. I'm > > currently building an Alcyone 3M and a two-meter Prophet, both of which > > are from kits that I acquired some years ago. The Alcyone 3M was in > > production when I got the kit as a gift, and my guess is the particular > > Prophet kit I have was kitted in the 1980s; I acquired it from someone > > who sold me a pair of Prophet kits: one a 2m, and the other a 2.5m. > > Neither the Alcyone series nor the Prophet series of kits is in > > production today, and that disappoints me. When I started building RC > > sailplanes in the mid-1980s, builders' kits abounded. Nowadays, if it's > > in a box, it's probably an ARF or ARC. I have plenty of sets of > > full-sized plans to keep me busy scratch-building for a few years, given > > my slow rate of production. But it sure would be nice to see something > > like Harley's Genie in a builder's kit (I plan to build one from > > scratch, given that I already have a set of cores for it). Do any of > > you remember the Sailfish or Heat Seeker or Jouster or Runaway? You can > > get the plans for these sailplanes, but you can't get them in kits. > > > > What has happened to the kit market? Are there no profits in the kit > > business. Or am I just looking in the wrong places? > > > > Scott Martin > > Chandler, Ariz. > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
