Hi Dick,

Thanks for the news update. Fortunately for us, John is a very resourceful guy. I'm confident he will find another supplier in a timely manner. It is a shame to lose a supplier that was constantly improving and building very good ARFs/ARCs for us, but as we all know this is not unusual to lose a good supplier in the business world. We have been very lucky to have had a relatively long stable period in CL ARF production. My guess is that this is just a bump in the road for CL ARF/ARC production. I know in the RC world we have had similar bumps and we have overcome them. 

We all owe John a great deal of gratitude for his dedication to bringing us so many good CL products, including quality CL ARFs/ARCs. His continued efforts on our behalf have helped move the CL hobby into the modern world with modern ARF/ARCs, let's hope this forward progress continues,

Regards,       

We certainly are fortunate to have John and his dedication to our hobby.

I wonder if he could ever move ARF/ARC manufacturing in house.  I understand he has quite a facility.

That is an excellent question Dick. ..... I, and I'm sure many others, wish this could happen. But sadly, my guess is that the answer is no.

I pose this question to my college students every semester. The discussion ends up highlighting all the reasons why we are sending our jobs off-shore. >30% of all our mfg. jobs have been moved off shore in the past 10 years. Sadly, this is a systemic problem that will not be resolved soon. My guess is that John would like to mfg. them here if it was at all possible, but forces beyond his control make it impossible for him to do so.

In the 1990s a friend started manufacturing Scale 35% ARC RC planes in Phoenix AZ. He really wanted to keep making them in this country. But after < yr. he had to move his production to a family members small factory in Mexico. He still could not make a profit there so after < yr. he had to move his production to China.

With the above said, we do have a small cottage industry that produces excellent ARCs/ARFs here in our country. These are mostly custom made planes. These perfectly built component aircraft (ARCs?) have been flown by many of the top CLPA pilots in the nation for decades. They are not mass produced and therefore cost $1,000+ and UP (some over $3000). The waiting list is long for the small # of planes. After pricing one of these planes it helped me see what a fantastic bargain John's latest CLPA ARC/ARFs are at a cost of only $200 to $250.

Comments are always welcome on this forum, but if you want to comment on this potentially heated issue PLEASE do what Dick did and keep it on the narrow point of CL ARF/ARCs mfg.. There are plenty of Political and Business Forums where we all can discuss the wider topic of our nations problem with sending jobs off-shore. Thank you in Advance.   

Regards,   

I agree with you Dick. I too would be happy to pay more for a "Made in USA" CL ARF/ARC.

The price would most likely go up from $200 to $400+. There are many obstacles to trying to sell them at $400+, one being that the majority of the CL market has not been known for a willingness to pay high prices for items. It would be a real challenge to gear up production here. But it sure would be nice to see someone try to buck the trend and mfg. them successfully here in the USA!   

As I mentioned before, John is very resourceful and I am confident that if there are enough CL orders he will be able to find another supplier that will keep his prices competitive. 

Regards, 

Well, they could try to have them made in Mexico. No joke. Shipping would be cheaper too. I'd rather the money go to Mexico than China any day. 

Hi Ty,

Please see my post #3 above. Sad but true.

Consider how long it takes to build a CL plane that any of us are happy with.   Multiply that time by $12/hr (cost of a basicly unskilled employee including training and benifits).   I would bet the cost would be closer to $1000 for a 60 size stunter built here.
Bob Furr