MarkB

Has anyone in the UK purchased a model from Valenta models: http://www.valentamodel.cz/index-aj.htm Any recommendations for UK model shops which distribute/stock Valenta models. I am interested in trying to obtain a Valenta Volcano or Valenta Sabre - I have e-mailed Valenta directly a few times but no response, and also tried to contact a few of the German suppliers listed on the Valenta website - but no response as yet. Many thanks in advance for your reply. Mark

Dear all, I had hoped to purchase a mini-Epsilon from the Staufenbiel website. Allthough the model was showing as not available at the time of my on-line order, in the order instructions I asked Staufenbiel to advise me of an approximate date the model would return to stock. At the time of ordering Staufenbiel debited my account. Weeks went by, followed by 3 e-mails, only finally getting a response after using a new ticketing system on the web-site which is hidden away. The response was that Stuafenbiel have no idea when this model will be back in stock. In fact when I checked there only very few gliders models actually in stock on the Staufebiel/Horizon Hobby Europe website. Has anyone else had this issue? Does anyone know why customer service is so woeful? And why there are very few models actually showing as available for delivery? Many thanks for any responses.   Mark Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 26/08/2017 13:52:33

Dear all, I recently purchased the PNP version of the Radian Pro from Gliders on the basis it would be quick to put together - which it is. Instructions are good and there is a low parts count for assembly of the basic airframe. The motor/ESC is all fitted plus the 4 x servos in the wings. All control linkages / horns are prefitted and just need connecting and adjustment. However, as quite a few posts in other threads have commented, space is tight in both a cockpit radio bay (containing battery/ESC/Rx battery) and in the radio bay underneath the fuselage. Presumably this is to ensure the foam fuselage sides are strong/rigid enough - so I avoided the temptation to hollow out of the radio bays. It takes certainly takes some thought and time to fit the battteries/RX/servo leads etc. Then there is additional time to get the flying surfaces operating correctly and TX programming. I'm getting back into this hobby and certainly didn't manage to do this in the 30 minutes some people have quoted in other threads. I would say it's worth taking some time to get the radio installation right, so I would allow 4-6 hours depending on your experience level. I didn't want the expense of purchasing the suggested E-flite 3S 1300Mah battery so used a 3S 2200Mah battery (to power the pre-installed motor) that I had already - this just fits into the cockpit radio bay with the ESC piggybacked on top - and will give additional endurance. I also want the Rx powered independently of the motor, so have opted to fit a 1200Mah RX battery in the cockpit radio bay. I'm using Spektrum DX8 and its supplied AR8000 receiver. The smaller box of this receiver is mounted on top of the fuselage - this is good so one can see a solid orange binding light and the two antennae can be fully extended. The main RX box is pushed right up inside the radio bay underneath the fuselage - all servo leads need attaching first. This means it is well protected from water and the servo leads don't interfere with the elevator/rudder servos. This model will not have the wings removed for transport. I'm not sure about foam models yet (they didn't exist when I first started this hobby), but the wings seem strong and quite flexible (just like real gliders). However, I have real concerns about the strength and lack of rigidity where the fuselage meets the tailplane. There is a single strip of reinforcement running along the centreline underneath the fuselage. This doesn't provide any torsional rigidity to the tail surfaces. I intend to strengthen the fuselage and make it more rigid and I'm using two 1 mm ply strips (30 cm long x 1 cm wide), which will be epoxied along the outside of the fuselage - one on each side at a 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position when looking along the length of the fuselage. I hope to complete this modification and complete set up in the next few weeks - as work committments allow. Any one else have any thoughts on fuselage strength / rigidity of the Radion Pro? I'm used to the rigidity of balsa/ply models such as Chris Foss's phase 6, so I am perhaps being over cautious?