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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have to second Dave Lockhart's mention of Dick
Hanson Models. The best flying planes I ever owned or flew came from him. I
currently own and fly 3 of his designs, a modified EMC per Dave Lockhart,
an Elan and a 26% Dalotel. I've had numerous others and they were great flying
planes. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm happy with my Litco Alpha 4.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>OS makes the best 2 strokes IMHO.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>S&W fuels</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>B&D retracts ( my Elan and Dalotel have
retracts )</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Futaba </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Central Hobbies</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Radio South</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>ES Composites</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With the exception of 2, they are all US based
companies. Hmmm, wonder why</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed M.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=DaveL322@comcast.net
href="mailto:DaveL322@comcast.net">DaveL322@comcast.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">discussion@nsrca.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 02, 2005 1:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Composite-ARF Impact
question</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I always loved the offerings from Hanson (Dick and his son Gy) and
probably have more flights and success with Hanson stuff than anything
else. The EMC (now available, I think, from Rich Lee) was way ahead of
its time, and with a few simple mods will still fly with the current day
stuff.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In almost 20 years of pattern flying, 2004 was the first time my planes
were not of US origin. I am currently flying a pair of Vivats - full
composite (FG / balsa / FG) with substantial amounts of prefab. I
closely inspected 2 before shelling out the dough for mine, and have closely
inspected several others since. The entire structure is extremely rigid
and the flying weight is 9.75 lbs. The flight performance and
craftsmanship are the best I've seen. It is obviously a very well
refined design and has proven to be very durable (500 flights and
counting). It isn't cheap, but for the level of quality, I wouldn't
expect it to be cheap. Independant of cost, I think the value of the
plane is good.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Dave Lockhart</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:DaveL322@comcast.net">DaveL322@comcast.net</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>
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<DIV>
<DIV>Mark there are several threads that have quite a following on RCU about
another pitfall of the IMPACT. The egg shell fuselage, unsupported, is prone
to compression buckles and broken tails. I have written quite a bit on this
subject, allerting all who will listen.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The fix is fairly simple at the factory but much more difficult in the
finished part that you get in the kit. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Yes, CARF did a reat job reducing the price of a nice looking airplane,
but the quality has suffered, in my opinion</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>MattK</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 2/2/2005 8:51:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,
edbon85@charter.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>The
American kit manufacturers haven't learned the secret. The more one pays
<BR>for an item, the harder one will defend it and overlook it's
deficiencies. <BR>We had an abundance of American cottage industry kits
manufacturers AND <BR>designers, we drove them out of business with the
plane of the week <BR>mentality.<BR>Ed M.<BR>----- Original Message -----
<BR>From: "Mark Hunt" <flyintexan@houston.rr.com><BR>To:
<discussion@nsrca.org><BR>Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 8:05
AM<BR>Subject: Re: Composite-ARF Impact question<BR><BR><BR>> I'm gonna
say it.....just can't hold back.....if an Aires fuse was like <BR>>
this we'd be hearing all about how hard it is to find a quality pattern
<BR>> kit in the US. Drives me nuts that so many people have been
fixing this <BR>> without so much as ! one bad word about this
company.....<BR>><BR>><BR>> there...I feel
better.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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