stunthanger.com
General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Mike Griffin on December 11, 2009, 01:28:57 PM
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There are some people I want to thank before I get into what I have decided to offer.
First of all thank you Sparky for creating and making this forum what it is today because without it many ideas and innovations could not be born and shared.
I do want all of you who replied to me here on the thread and those who replied to me personally through my e mail to know how much I appreciate your ideas and help. Because of the tremendous response I was able to see some common threads and some patterns develop that helped me greatly.
My mission from the start was not to compete with the existing manufacturers and cottage industries that have done so much to promote our hobby and make better and more innovative products available to us. They for the love of the hobby, have not let it die on the vine and control line is growing stronger because of them. I have spent more time than I can remember picking the brains of people like Eric Rule, Allen Brickhaus, Walter Umland, Larry Richards, Tom Morris, Tom Dixon and many more who have unselfishly shared a wealth of knowledge and experience with me. Some of them do not post on forums but without them, the hobby would not be where it is today. When I was forced to retire because of health reasons a few years ago, I wanted to get back into building and flying after a long absence. The first person I talked to was Eric Rule. Eric literally spent HOURS on the phone with me answering every dumb question I had and tutoring me. He doesn’t post but in case he reads this, thank you Eric and my appreciation for you is more than you know. Allen Brickhaus, Larry Richards, Tom Morris, Tom Dixon….thank you for giving me your time and help willingly and unselfishly. And a big thank you to all of you, who have posted over the years and without knowing it, helped me greatly by sharing your experience and trials and tribulations.
Now with that said with my deepest gratitude, here is what I have decided to do. I only will do profile planes at this time because of shipping considerations.
1. I am going to make semi assembled profile kits. Maybe I could call them EZ Assemble Kits. To start with, I think I am going to pick some planes that have been out of production and have not been kitted in a long time. I have gotten some ideas of planes to offer but I would like to hear from you and what you would buy if they were available in a semi-assembled kit. Here are some details of what you can expect in the kit…..
A. FUSELAGES:
The fuselages will have the hardwood mounts and plywood doublers glued in place with epoxy. You will have to drill for the engine you are going to use. The wing holes will be cut and the tail wheel mount applied. You will have to furnish your own tail wheel. The stab and elevator will be pre-hinged and the rudder will be cut to fit. I will finish sand all of these parts smooth although you may want to do some additional sanding of your own. I will also furnish a 1/8th wire gear and mounting brackets.
(finish note) – When I finish a profile fuselage, stab and rudder for painting, I do not use dope. I sand down to a 400-600 grit and brush on two coats of Minwax Polycrylic, sanding between each coat, Then I apply two coats of a slurry of vinyl spackling mixed with water to the consistency of pancake batter, and sand between each coat, spray on primer and sand most of it off, candle the part to the light and fill any dings with squadron putty and sand again then use spray enamel paint heated up very warm for my finish coat. If a customer wanted me to, I could do this up to the primer coat but there would be an additional charge to do it. A Lot of people use dope so this would be a selective option and I would come up with an additional cost to do it.
B. WINGS
All wings would include the following and be shipped knocked down:
1. All ribs cut to size and ready to apply.
2. Any spars needed for construction
3. Leading edges cut to length
4. Trailing edges cut to length.
5. Wing tips cut to shape if applicable
5. 1/16 center sheeting
6. Leading and trailing edge sheeting if applicable
7. Cap strips if applicable
8. Nylon bell crank with lead outs ATTACHED. I use .027 leadouts run through 1/16th copper tubing to prevent the line from cutting into bellcrank.
• In the case where it might be a small plane like a Ringmaster Jr. or other small wing, I might be able to build that wing completely and ship assembled. Check with me before ordering.
I will furnish a very basic assembly guide showing simple step by step assembly.
C. KITS WITH FULLY ASSEMBLED WINGS:
As a special service for those of you who do not like to build, do not have time to build and do not mind paying the shipping, I will offer this service on a per requested basis and prices will be quoted depending on the profile and shipping costs at the time.
D. Shipping:
I will only ship by priority mail. It is the less of all evils. I have had better luck with this method than any other. Normally the price is the best and it gets there in about 3 days. Shipping the kits knocked down will cut way down on shipping and prices will be much more affordable.
Ok guys, that is about all I can think of at this time. Give me some suggestions on profiles you would like to see in an EZ Assemble kit. I know I am opening up myself for a bout a gazillion suggestions but that is OK. If I get enough of two or three recurring planes we will go with that first. Like I said, I have a couple of ideas on a couple of designs but I want to see what you all want first.
Remember if you want something custom done (i.e. Just a wing only or just a fuselage only etc) just let me know and we will see what I can do.
This will probably be the longest post I will ever have on the forums but I wanted to cover all I could in this one post. Once I decide which planes to offer first, I will post in the classifieds.
Thank you
Mike