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ARTF or Not as the case may be


Ian Bagshaw
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Hi,

Finally returned to the hobby I have enjoyed for 40 odd years now, Thought I'd start with a trainer as I haven't flown for 10 years, ARTF is a very new concept for me having built most of my planes from scratch.

Is it normal for the kit to not fit together as smoothly as shown in the instructions? and to have a few minor parts missing i.e. Pushrods. Also to require major surgery to enable the tail to be at 90% to the fin.

It was under a £100 so did I just get unlucky? And would the build quality will be better the more I spend?

Still very much looking forward to flying it

IB

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Welcome back Ian!

I'm afraid to report that, in my experience, ARTF is a bit of a stretch of the imagination! Quality does vary in both design and parts but there always seems to be quite a bit of extra work to do. They are still quicker than building from a kit or plan though and you will probably find good pointers on the web from other people's build of your particular model.

This forum should provide plenty of solutions if you have specific problems

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Ian

If your building standards are as good as my own, the ARTF route is probably an excellent idea.smiley

A consequence of this is that the model will probably fly a lot truer than if I had built it.embarrassed

Totally agree with Masher, there are many variations of the quality and standards with respect to suppliers.

It would be nice to know whose kit and the model name.

I fly a few ARTF models, one manufacturer who stands out with me are Parkzone, all seem to handle like trainers, what ever they are supposed to be. I have built and flown other makes, where each time it takes to the air, I do internalise, how it will return to the ground.

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Thanks for the advice, The model in question is your standard high wing 64" trainer probably not fair of me to name a manufacturer in case it was just a rogue one, I used to build F3A from scratch so there is probably some OCD on my part.

I will report back on how it fly's

Ian

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Ian, I'd say if anything is majorly adrift and / or you have multiple annoyances, then take it back to the retailer and ask them to exchange it for a better example.

When I returned to the hobby I was initially dead set on a plan build, and laughed like a drain when it was suggested I needed an artf. I then looked at the artf price, v the cost of starting totally from scratch, and performed a rapid about turn. Next weekend saw me with an Irvine Tutor, which was excellent (as are some other similar offerings)

Strength of u/c mountings and security of hinge fixings are areas that are - in general - quite often mentioned in less than favourable light. Also, many of us routinely swap out some or all of the supplied hardware and fittings for our own personal preferences. However, in general artfs are "a good thing" and there's no reason to accept a substandard one

Edited By IanN on 07/01/2015 15:49:53

Edited By IanN on 07/01/2015 15:50:21

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Welcome Mr.Ian , you are very well noticed the state of the marketing standards and quality control (ARTF) .This ''phenomenon'' is a little out of our control, because the RC models ,equipment and  kit come from Far East mainly..... But nothing for it because,these things are also less expensive.
When you get the whole picture of their trading methods, will be easier ....and also there are experts on the  our forum  face 1

All the best

Jo

 

Edited By Josip Vrandecic -Mes on 07/01/2015 20:37:38

Edited By Josip Vrandecic -Mes on 07/01/2015 20:38:56

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