Scale Models - View Single Post - Buying models unseen

Glider Guider · 14-03-2007

Last weekend I bought a Flair Piper Cub off of Ebay. From the photos it looked fine and I intended to take out the Super Tigre GS 45 and use the aircraft to run in a Saito 45 I also bought recently on Ebay.

They say that the camera never lies, but when I collected the Cub it was in a disastrous condition and totally unsuitable for flight.

Some of the main serious faults that are obvious without removing the covering are:

Fin not glued in place it just pulled out
Hinges not pinned, they also just pull out
Engine mounted under the hardwood bearers thus changing the thrust line and a few degrees of left thrust added to endure a spectacular crash on its first (and likely last) flight
Tailplane cracked across its width at the join with the fuselage

Poor building features were:

Engine fixed with brass nuts and bolts – up to 6 nuts per bolt, and one had not been tightened
The bolts are a bit too large to fit through the holes in the engine mounting lug, so what do you do, get the correct sized bolt – of course not, you drill the holes out to fit the bolt, what else!
One bolt hole drilled in the wrong place, so what do you do to rectify this – obvious, you file out the offending hole in the engine mounting lug!
You need to fit a tailskid but how do you do it? Simple, hold it in place with a slack handful of ¼”staples, how else!

Some photos to illustrate why you have to be very carefull buying from a photo can be found here

This shows the pitfalls of buying a model through any method where you buy before seeing the model, not just Ebay which I use a lot to buy and sell and find very useful.

Am I disappointed? Yes in one way as I’d hoped to have the Cub in the air pretty much straight the way. However I have an aircraft that will be fine when it has had a bit of TLC and a recover, an unrun engine, a GWS Receiver, 4 unused Hitec servos, an unused Ripmax Turbex 2 starter, three brand new Graupner props and an unused Ripmax Glow Stick all for £65 which is, I think, a bargain. Apart from the airframe it’s all going on Ebay this weekend so if it was a good price time will tell.

The warning is that if a novice bought it they could conceivable try to fly it in the state it was in, it would surely have been a very short flight but with the potential to due a lot of damage both physical and to the reputation of aeromodelling. So the motto here, in legalese, is “Caveat emptor” or “let the buyer beware”.

14-03-2007	#1 (permalink)
Glider Guider Scale Model Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Real Name: David My Models: AcroWot, Auster J1, FW 190, various sports models and gliders Visit Glider Guider's Gallery Posts: 78 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Images: 16	Buying models unseen - a salutary tale Last weekend I bought a Flair Piper Cub off of Ebay. From the photos it looked fine and I intended to take out the Super Tigre GS 45 and use the aircraft to run in a Saito 45 I also bought recently on Ebay. They say that the camera never lies, but when I collected the Cub it was in a disastrous condition and totally unsuitable for flight. Some of the main serious faults that are obvious without removing the covering are: Fin not glued in place it just pulled out Hinges not pinned, they also just pull out Engine mounted under the hardwood bearers thus changing the thrust line and a few degrees of left thrust added to endure a spectacular crash on its first (and likely last) flight Tailplane cracked across its width at the join with the fuselage Poor building features were: Engine fixed with brass nuts and bolts – up to 6 nuts per bolt, and one had not been tightened The bolts are a bit too large to fit through the holes in the engine mounting lug, so what do you do, get the correct sized bolt – of course not, you drill the holes out to fit the bolt, what else! One bolt hole drilled in the wrong place, so what do you do to rectify this – obvious, you file out the offending hole in the engine mounting lug! You need to fit a tailskid but how do you do it? Simple, hold it in place with a slack handful of ¼”staples, how else! Some photos to illustrate why you have to be very carefull buying from a photo can be found here This shows the pitfalls of buying a model through any method where you buy before seeing the model, not just Ebay which I use a lot to buy and sell and find very useful. Am I disappointed? Yes in one way as I’d hoped to have the Cub in the air pretty much straight the way. However I have an aircraft that will be fine when it has had a bit of TLC and a recover, an unrun engine, a GWS Receiver, 4 unused Hitec servos, an unused Ripmax Turbex 2 starter, three brand new Graupner props and an unused Ripmax Glow Stick all for £65 which is, I think, a bargain. Apart from the airframe it’s all going on Ebay this weekend so if it was a good price time will tell. The warning is that if a novice bought it they could conceivable try to fly it in the state it was in, it would surely have been a very short flight but with the potential to due a lot of damage both physical and to the reputation of aeromodelling. So the motto here, in legalese, is “Caveat emptor” or “let the buyer beware”. Last edited by Glider Guider; 23-08-2007 at 07:31.