jbeech
rrAdvertiser
Location: Sanford, FL (Orlando area)
| Marty, you're a great guy and that's a very generous offer, but you'd end up doing Dan a disservice. Let me explain.
We ceased offering the full ARF models because too many customers didn't know how to repair their models once they crashed and thereby quit the sport, which is a terrible thing. At one time we offered both an ARF, and a full on kit. We discovered the retention rates for owners who purchased kits was more than double that of ARF customers. Once we figured out what was going on we've had a far greater success rate, i.e. in keeping our customers in the sport.
The semi-ARF is what resulted, i.e. as a convenience, which results in more enjoyment in the building by taking the proecss down fomr 20 hours to less than 10. As aresult, all modelers benefit because we do the tough stuff, which might require tools many customers wouldn't have, i.e. pressing the bearings onto the pinion shaft, and the bearings into the clutch bell so they are perfectly square since few folks have a small press. Similarly, we epoxy in the clutch liner as a convenience, assemble the head and seesaw and washout arms because they have many small parts, which must be in the proper order and rarely require disassembly. yet the head must be disassembled by the cutomer to learn how to grease it because this will be something they do pretty often since spindle shafts are sacrificial parts and they need to see how it was assembled in the first place.
Anyway, along the way we discovered the manufacturing costs between the semi-ARF and the full-on, or pure, kit was miniscule because it was about the same cost for us to sort, bag, and tag parts vs. our employees preassembling the asme parts. So we elected to go in the semi-ARF direction because it offers the best of both worlds and thus, both the Tiger MkII and the Pantera are offered as a semi-ARF only. Thecost savings fomr offering a ARF is passed along to you as well, which is why I can run these specials occassionally.
Dan, I suggest you read the first few pages of the Pantera manual where I explain and show the principal of the semi-ARF (with pictures showing what's been preassembed for you as well as what needs to be disassembled to be greased before use).
Not only is building your own model fun, but it assures you the knowledge you can tackle any repair no matter how badly you stuff it into terra firma. Believe me in this if nothing else. I like to sell helis, but I actually love to graduate you further into the sport as a complete modeler who has experienced success with our products.
Finally, one last point. There are some of our dealers who specialize in total customer service. I.e. as a service, they will assemble, test fly, and even make repairs for customers! Naturally, dealers offering this level of service are few and far between; cherish them when you find them!
Regards,
John Beech - GM (and janitor)
Audacity Models |
