rrTV-PHOTO   New HD TV
HOME   rrTV-PHOTO   GALLERIES   MY GALLERY   HELP-FAQ
myHOME PM pmRR MEMBERS 704 ONLINE 42 EVENTS SEARCH REGISTER  START HERE
 
1 page275 viewsPOST REPLY
E-flite . Futaba-RC . Next D

.
.
Century Hawk - Falcon - Raven - Predator > Is Century dropping the Hawk?!?
 
 
JustPlaneChris
Heliman
Location: Austin,TX - USA

Okay, this doesn't give me warm fuzzies. I was looking through the Hawk parts list at Tower Hobbies adding things to my wishlist, and kept finding items marked "Discontinued", including the canopy, hardware pack, engine mount, and some of the head parts!

What's the deal? Is this just Tower dropping the line, or is there something darker at work here?

-Chris
05-01-2008 04:33 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Eury
Elite Veteran
Location: Ankeny, IA, USA.

I'd bet it's just Tower, they used to have a lot more Century stuff, now most of it is marked discontinued. They have just stopped carrying it.


Nick Crego
As I wind on down the road...
05-01-2008 05:03 PM
 
 
JustPlaneChris
Heliman
Location: Austin,TX - USA

I hope that's all it is. Heli-World is also out of stock on the canopy, so I dropped them an email asking when they'd get some in, and casually mentioned the 'discontinued' thing and asked if the Hawk was being dropped. We'll see what they say!

-Chris
05-01-2008 05:15 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
oldfart
Elite Veteran
Location: Vancouver, Canada

Century has no say in what a client carries in stock. So they cannot force Tower to stock any items.

As Tower is more into airplanes and cars, I ma sure they do not understand the importance of keeping well stocked in parts for helis.

That is why I think it always best to shop at retailers who take their heli customers seriously, even if their prices may be a bit higher.

There are many of them spread across Canada and the USA (and other countries for that matter), so I always recommend heli-flyers support them.

Chris

I am sure you will always be able to get the parts you want for your Hawk from a number of these more specialized shops.

And the bigger the "pipeline" of these shops are, the better chance one has of getting any parts they need. Sometimes the manufacturer may be out of them, but there may still be a number of them somewhere in the "pipeline" of their network of hobby shops that sell their product.
05-01-2008 06:00 PM
 
 
JustPlaneChris
Heliman
Location: Austin,TX - USA

I usually get my heli parts at a dedicated heli shop, but since I was planning to buy a field box and ground support stuff from Tower (to take advantage of their discount coupons) I figured I'd throw a few spares into my cart too. Overall, I really am not fond of Tower. They ship SLOW! But sometimes they have coupons or sales that make it worth the hassle.
05-01-2008 06:33 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Lefty and Leroy
Senior Heliman
Location: Temple, Texas

Quote 
I usually get my heli parts at a dedicated heli shop,

Oh really. Where is this “dedicated heli shop” in the Austin area? Texas is a big state so I’ll give you a 200 mile radius.

Thanks for the update,
-Jim
05-01-2008 07:11 PM
 
 
oldfart
Elite Veteran
Location: Vancouver, Canada

L&L

Let see, Tower Hobbies is a lot further then 200 miles from anywhere in Texas.

But you can go to Ron Lund's HeliProz South in Corpus Christi - they do nothing but helicopters, and stock Century parts and kits.

Heck if one are comparing the distance of Tower to some rather well stocked heli shops that carry Century, on can even go to Heli-World in California...that is probably closer.

Heck comparing Tower's distance from areas of Texas, one may even find some shops in Canada that stock century heli parts as close.
05-01-2008 07:29 PM
 
 
Dilbeck
Veteran
Location: Springdale Arkansas

Since we got Old Fart on the line what Century Parts do you stock? Maybe I would prefer to purchase from you...Clint.

If it doesn't fly sell it!
05-01-2008 07:50 PM
 
 
Century Heli
Senior Heliman
Location: CA. USA

We have not and do not plan to discontinue to the Hawk.

Tower has stated that after analyzing sales on some of the replacement parts, they decided to discontinue parts that were sold in low volume. If they get requests for these discontinued items, they would make them active and keep them in stock.
05-01-2008 08:04 PM
 
 
oldfart
Elite Veteran
Location: Vancouver, Canada

My Company is the exclusive wholesale distributor for Century Products in Canada (along with a number of other brands of items related to R/C helis). We stock all of the parts for the product we wholesale.

We do not sell directly to the public, but directly to hobby shops in our country, who sell to the public.

If we would sell directly to the public, it would not take long before any of the Canadian Hobby Shops that buy from us would stop doing so, as they would not want to compete with us, the distributor. (That may well be one of the reasons why there are relatively few retailers in the US that are reasonably well stocked in Century kits and parts, as they probably are not comfortable competing with Heli-World.... but that is another discussion)

I monitor such forums as this, and try to give intelligent answers to Centurions where I can As I feel it is important for the good of the brand. I just wish Century themselves would have someone who could and would do so. It would save me a lot of time.

That being said - if you cannot find what you need in the US, you are always welcome to order from one of the hobby shops who buy from us.
05-01-2008 09:06 PM
 
 
SuperSixTwo
Senior Heliman
Location: Lockwood, NV

I have Tower here in Reno .... We drive to Sacramento to get parts at a LHS.
Nuff said about tower.
05-01-2008 09:07 PM
 
 
Eury
Elite Veteran
Location: Ankeny, IA, USA.

Quote 
I have Tower here in Reno

Is there an actual Tower retail location there? I was stuck in Champaign IL for a week for some flight training, and was disappointed that at the time there were no real retail hobby shops, and Horizon, Great Planes, and Tower were all based there. Huge disappointment. I understand that Advantage Hobby is now in Champaign, but at the time, there was nothing.


Nick Crego
As I wind on down the road...
05-01-2008 09:29 PM
 
 
JustPlaneChris
Heliman
Location: Austin,TX - USA

Quote 
We have not and do not plan to discontinue to the Hawk.

THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate you clearing that up. I feel better now.

Quote 
Oh really. Where is this “dedicated heli shop” in the Austin area? Texas is a big state so I’ll give you a 200 mile radius.
Hah! I wish there was one in Austin. We don't even have a decent "mom and pop" hobby shop in Austin, only a couple of chain stores. Closest good hobby shop is in Round Rock. I was referring to Ron's HeliProz South in Corpus, which typically gets parts to me next day! Can't beat that.

-Chris
05-01-2008 10:07 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
1 page275 viewsPOST REPLY
Fast Lad Performance . Ace Hobby . Esprit Model

.
.
Century Hawk - Falcon - Raven - Predator > Is Century dropping the Hawk?!?
  UPDATE SCREEN   PRINT TOPIC Advertisers 

Subscribe to This Topic

Thursday, July 24 - 7:22 pm - Copyright © 2000 - 2008 runryder.com | email | link to rr | runryder needs cookie