Hi Mr. Moritz,
I am sorry to hear that you are so unhappy with your CL ARFs. Like most things in life, happiness is directly related to the gap between our expectations and our reality.
In keeping with Mr. P's VG question that started this thread: I think many people asked too much from the 1st generation of CL ARF/ARCs that came in at a very low price point.
Todays CL flyers that started in CL and never left for the Dark Arts, have a long history of building their own planes and most have developed a high level of skill that produces beautiful, straight, and long lasting planes. These planes are worth a lot of $$$. The CL kits have crept up in price to $100 / $250. Scratch builders can build for less, but put in a lot of $weat equity. When you add paint, time/labor, good controls, etc. you end up with a great plane that is worth several hundred $$$ You would have to pay $500 to $1,000 if you had someone, Morris etc, make it for you. This gives us some idea of our HB CL planes real value.
Now, when this CL person buys one of the 1st generation CL ARFs, he compares it to the only thing he knows; hi$ near perfect Home Built CL plane. The $89 ARF comes up short. "BIG" gap in expectations = BIG unhappiness. No surprise here.
If it were not for GP bringing out the FS and Nobler ARFs, I would have never come back to CL, and I have many friends who have said the same thing. I knew these were 1st generation ARFs, and that at this very low price they would need a little help to come up to modern flight standards. An eve. of reading Sparky's excellent Forum was all it took to find the few mods needed. A call to Jim (please see my post #14 below) for controls, a few pieces of balsa and ply, a little CA, a plastic RC tank, and I was up and flying.
My FS and Nobler have not had any of the problems you mentioned. And my excellent Brodak P-40 ECL has over 150 trouble free flights on it, with no signs of wear and tear, and except for a CF PR, ball joint rod ends and clear nail polish seals, it is built STOCK. It even flew well enough to get me a trophy at a major contest. I expect hundreds more flights on it as well.
BTW: I would call the Brodak ARFs almost 2nd generation, especially the Strega with the Morris controls. I think we will see more and more CL ARFs like this. Just look at Steve Moon's excellent "component", ready to assemble and paint, G. Nobler with Morris like controls for $200. This may be the beginning of the 3rd generation. I think the mfg. (Brodak and others) now understand that CL modelers (especially us "Retreads") are willing to pay more to get an ARC/ARF that can be made to fly well, and last a long time, by using the equipment that comes in the box.
I came from a world where ARFs are better than the vast majority of model builders could ever make a plane. They are built perfectly straight in accurate jigs, they are painted and covered by professionals, and are lighter/stronger than any but the very best modelers could ever make them. My "Extreme Flight" ARF YAK-54 pattern plane is as perfectly built and finished as most of the top CL planes I have seen. These excellent Dark Arts ARFs are several generations down the evolutionary path toward perfection, a path that our CL ARFs are just starting down.
My point is that the CL ARC/ARFs will continue to improve, and the gap between your expectations and your reality will narrow, and thus your HAPPINESS will increase!
Regards,