why not ?

[woundedbear]

Hay Guillows why not offer some big say 1/8 scale models of your laser cut kits ? I think a 400 series kit enlarged to twice the present sizes That would be say a P-51 D or a Zero with 55 and 1/2 inch wingstand with vacuum formed parts and vacuumed formed clear canopies and laser cut from 1/8th inch and 3/16th inch all cut from 6 to 9 pound wood. There's a dude here on the forum that's been been blowing up plans even larger than that, but I'm no wish pig just want an airplane that can take some big brushless motors and carry the big lipos to power them. I just want to show up at an radio controlled flying field with something that I can say when asked where'd you get that I can reply with a big smile on my face I built it from a kit ! Where'd you get that piece of foam junk kid ?
Hay what ya say we vote on it guys ? come on everybody we want'em big we want'em big, come on they can't ignore US for ever ! I like'em big really big !

[scigs30]

What you are asking for will serve a small population of the builders out there. I don't see it being worth the time or money for Guillows to invest. There are many short kits out there that should satisfy what you are looking for. I would love for Guillows to put out some laser cut RC kits, but I don't see that happening with a hobby that is swamped with ARFs. Look at the RC kit makers, most of them have stopped making kits since they no longer sell, sad but true. I am a RC kit builder and find my self buying and hoarding kits because I know they wont be around very long. Im just happy Guillows is laser cutting their current kits and using better wood. It is sad that it is cheaper for me to buy an ARF then to buy a kit. I am the builder in my RC club.....what does that tell you? UHG.

[cliffm]

I would sure like to see some of the kits in a scale like woundedbear is talking about. I built the 52" aeronca chief out of the comet kit and it's the best flyer I've had bar none. It carries enough weight to put a decent size motor in and flys beautifully. I took it out in some breezes that were a little too gusty and the fuselage took some very bad damage. The wings survived without much repair needed but I think I'm going to need a new fuselage. My prints have disappeared so it looks like I'll be buying another kit. Comet also has a taylorcraft that's on the same scale and price range.

[woundedbear]

Yes scigs30 a twice as large P-47 would be more expensive but it would give a builder much more enjoyable feeling than a "Ready To Fly", "Almost Ready to Fly", or a Transmitter Ready or a Receiver Ready Foamy. That you could train a chimp to assemble, What about the pride of building your own airplane ? With a 60 and 1/2 inch wingspan just think about the detail you could add to a bigger plane. You could add a second set of wing ribs "they would have to be reshaped though" and build the wing up as symmetrical scale wing. The wing could be designed to be an RC airplane wing from the start, having allowances for ailerons, flaps, and retractable landing gear, right out of the box. No multiple purpose kit but, a designed to be a radio controlled model airplane right out of the box. Of course it would be a, "Guillow's kit" and would use the same kind of build techniques that we've been use to building. It would just be bigger, use more powerful motors and be able to fly better in the breezy conditions !

[NcGunny]

Most shops hate carrying the ARF stuff because it is out of date almost as fast as it.comes in. Its running the course that Nascar did in the mid 90's. Everyone was into buying whether they honestly liked it or not..then it collapsed. I think the best bet is to get into building from plans and modify what you need to W.B. or search ebay and stuff people selling off the big rc kits. I agree that its crazy a ARF kit is way cheaper than a stick kit, I looked at Lowes and a 4x8 sheet of that foam they use is $4.48 here. Thats alot of kits. Topflite has a video of $100.00 rc plane build. Everything from Hobbyking and your in the air. I would definately buy a Me-109 if offered in 50ish WS,unless of course it was so expensive I could build cheaper from plans.

[davidchoate]

Dumas has a series of 40" WS kits designed to be RC. I got the Bird Dog, but have not started it. Its basically a slightly larger version of their 30" Rubber series bit with instructions for servo andd battery placement, recommended motor, & C. Guillows way back in the 80's had a electric RC Aeronca Champ wiy
th like a 80" WS due to the weight of electric stuff then. It was ahead of its time. I have been on a quwst for one ,but so far I havent even found a set of plans anywhere. It seems to Me that a long time ago they offered a lot more in diversity, and new ideas, but now they make a line of so many, and thats that. Even the box sais electric power on some of the 300 kits, and My 700 Fairchild. Have you read the instruction sheet for electric power? I dont even think those motors are in production.

[NcGunny]

Dave just brought up a excellant point. Alot of kits havent been updated with any info in years,those 80's kits with rc info were probably done by a guy there with parts available at that time..i.e. engines,servo's etc.. that stuff used to weigh a ton. Fastforward to today and a beginner I doubt could even get it in the air with todays stuff being so much lighter. But I guess they can always say that the kits are primarily meant for.rubber power 1st, rc is up to the builders discretion. I always.assumed the lack of Guillows rc line was because rubber sold more than rc,but if you hint at rc capable planes they got extra sales even though the rc info was 20+ years old. (Most would consider it a marketing gimmick) just saw a Aeronca on ebay Dave with a 67" WS i believe..very old Guillows kit. Will pm u a link..wow it even has a motor with it. http://m.ebay.com/itm/NIB-Guillows-Aero ... nav=SEARCH

[woundedbear]

I can't believe it a Guillow's kit ! And it comes with an electric motor and looks to have everything needed to make it into a flyer too... Well shut my mouth. I guess it's true nobody wants to build anymore, the RC world belongs to the foamy's now. Talk about having to eat crow...I just don't know what to say...Well I guess that I'm sorry...Shoot I'd still like to enlarge a Guillow's P-47, or I might come up with a design of my own, of course I'd have to keep it simple...Oh wait just 1 minute I still think Guillow's could come up with just 1 of the 1000 series kits like I imagined...A big one, doesn't matter which just 1 to test the waters...or is that cast your bread upon the waters...And see if there are any fish in this here pond, that might bite...Darn I come up with good ideas I'm just about two or three decades behind everyone else...Shoot ! Just put my foot in my mouth...again.

[woundedbear]

I had a chance to look at the 3001 kit on ebay and I have to wonder why did guillow's stop producing this kit ? somebody else has one just like it on ebay for I think a "buy it now" price of $160.00. I'll have to watch and see what it sells for, it looks like the kind of airplane a beginner like myself should start with. A friend of mine stopped by the other day and flew my Flyzone aircore Miss America P-51 D. He had that little airplane up so high, doing loops, snap rolls he even stood it on it's tail to test it's stall characteristics. I just stood there in awe of his ability to make that little 4 channel foamy do whatever he ask it to do. After the battery started running low he brought it in for a ground loop,"the grass was too high to land a plane with such small wheels". I ask him how do you do that with such a out of balance airplane ? His reply was simply "I've only been doing this for my whole life". It just goes to show that there is nothing better than experience. Me, "well I can crash em' better than any man alive". I think that it's harder to fly a real airplane than a radio controlled airplane ! I have flown in a Piper Cub, "Ya know harder than hell to get into but, easier to fly than ridding a bicycle". Well I didn't get it off the ground but I flew it for a few minutes, the guy told me. "if you get into trouble just take your hands off the stick and the rudder and it'll straiten it's self out". "Well if you have enough air in between you and the ground it will," he said. That is the extent of my flying experience, just a few minutes in a Piper Cub. Of course flying in an old Cub is about as raw as flying gets. I flew with a friend of mine's Dad. We had spent almost the whole summer on the lake, and flying back was icing on the cake for me. Well I got to set in the right seat, the last thing his Dad said to me was, "don't touch anything". Then he started his takeoff check list, gave one the engines a few squirts of gas to prime it then, the engine to my right exploded ! For real ! I just about opened the door and jumped out of that thing ! I'll tell ya' there's a big difference between a Cub's 4 banger and a flat 6 ! It felt like the whole airplane was being shook too pieces ! Then he leaned out the throttle some and I started breathing again. Then he started the other engine, I just knew we had been blown to pieces ! Man the power of 2 flat sixes, it was awesome ! Felt like a rat being shook by a tearier, then without saying a word my friend's Dad rolled us onto the grass runway, set the breaks and ran those two flat 6 bangers up, "OH", the exhilaration ! Then he let go of the breaks, and in one breath we were off and climbing up into the darkness, I remember turning back to see my friend, he was laughing his ass off. My eyes must have looked like dinner plates, but I could feel my face, my smile must have been from ear to ear ! My friend's Dad died from alzheimer's back in 2009 and my friend died in 2012. Shit...

[woundedbear]

I have to correct something from my last post, what I meant to say was. I think it's alot harder to fly a, "radio controlled airplane" than it is to fly the real thing ! And if any of you on the forum ever have the chance to ride in a light airplane, and maybe get the chance to fly the airplane a little. Flying on an airliner doesn't count. If you have ever flown in an old Piper Cub, you know what I'm talking about here, flying in a old Cub is about as raw as flying gets. While getting into an old Cub is...Well it's hard, "if not impossible for an old arthritic geezer like myself", but if you ever get the chance to ride along in a Cub by all means try it, "you'll never forget it, or regret it !" ...OH yea ! I am sorry that I started rambling, and getting so sentimental about my old friend Paul, and his Dad, Bobby Lee. I just miss them both.

[scigs30]

160 bucks, that is a lot for RC kit compared to the fact one could buy an ARF with everything ready to go. Sad Sad Sad. I love building RC, you can check out my builds on RCgroups. Most of us there buy short kits from Manzano Laser and other short kit companies. The kit comes with laser cut parts and plans, but there are no manuals but you can follow the builds. Manzano Laser has a 40 inch electric P-47 they sell. I really think RC kits is a thing of the past, just look at Great Planes, Sig and Top flite. They have D/C quite a few kits over the years, so I buy what they have and save them for a later date to build. RC building is still around just not as big and it will always be around. With affordable laser cutting machines there will be small companies producing fun affordable short kits.

[BillParker]

Kit Number: 1001 Wing Span: 30 1/4" Scale: 1/16: Plan Blown to 90" Wingspan...

Guillow's planes have flat bottom wings. It's my understanding that flat bottom wings are a bad thing in the R/C bidness...



What I learned was, if you want a flying big plane, buy a flying big plane...

bp

[David Lewis]

BillParker wrote: Guillow's planes have flat bottom wings. It's my understanding that flat bottom wings are a bad thing in the R/C bidness...

David Lewis wrote: Flat bottom airfoil has a higher max lift coefficient. Semi-symmetrical is good for aerobatics and inverted flight, and may make the airplane steadier in gusty air.

[NcGunny]

Lol..love the plane Dave. I took a Waco glider once and blew the plans up to 80" WS, it was built for my units Captain to give to his grandfather on D-Day anniversary. Me just being a Gunny I agreed hoping for a promotion out of the deal..lol I think I had to go 80" WS due to the Captain having built a detailed Jeep for the inside,which meant I had to make a working plane so he could unload the Jeep. I even used the glider insignia his grandad had been on. It was all I could do not to try and.launch that glider for a test flight. If memory serves me right..that build ate up some serious balsa wood.

[BillParker]

That one is 1/4" pine plywood...