• Short Answer : No.
• Long Answer :
  • We are a small company and craft these kits out of our homes. That means we are NOT paying overseas 3rd world laborers a fraction of US minimum wage to produce planes which we would then need to import. Some regard that practice as "exploitation." The facts are those 3rd world workers are glad to have the jobs, simply because they have a lower standard of living than equivalent workers here in the States.
  • Since we have day jobs, we operate TufFlight Models as a fun way to partake in the hobby we love. We wish to not incur the headaches which accompany international business ventures, and often cutthroat business practices. We have been asked to do "custom builds" for (exorbitant) fees but have resisted this venture. We simply can't make time for a building service and still have time for everything else.
  • Superior by Design: While we do compete with offerings from larger companies, mass produced designs have not equalled the flight performance or durability that results from the "no compromise" approaches we employ. We consistently utilize optimum materials in key design areas, state of the art adhesives, novel construction methods and machining techniques.
  • We Fly What We offer-- You can't get a better testament than that. We've enjoyed this hobby since the late '80s and have a lot of experience in many areas of design and flight performance. We've also built (and crashed) a lot of airplanes. This is more than a business to us. Ask any of our customers. We're continually doing research and development to explore new ideas and improve our kits. We enjoy this process which has been key to our longevity (we incorporated in January 2000).

  We realize there are very high quality ARFs being offered at bargain prices.

  Our customers realize these benefits:

  1. A good kit will always perform better than an ARF : (corollary : if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself)
     • No Compromises : ARF designs with parts "stamped" or "molded" for subsequent quick assembly cannot achieve what a kit having a more involved building sequence enjoys. Mass production is geared toward quick assembly. That means design priority for ARFs is often NOT optimized for flight or durability.
     • Optimum technique : Semi skilled unenthusiastic factory laborers cannot consistently achieve what well informed passionate hobbyists (YOU!) create with our superior designs and guidance.
     • Thorough Instruction Manuals : What if you're "not a good builder?" Our instructions are VERY complete with hundreds of pictures which break down assembly steps into manageable tasks that can be completed by virtually anyone. Our latest kit manuals are available as downloadable PDF files with color pictures.
     • Novel Technology Our assembly methods are so innovative that "classical" knowledge in kit building is often not that helpful anyway, as seasoned builders must often "unlearn" what they think they know when faced with building a kit employing TufFlight technology. We hear this all the time from current customers offering advice for "mods" or building tips in the online forums. Without fail, they say "follow the manual." So relax, you're in good hands!
  2. Knowledge gained in building makes (minor) repairs simple. As the saying goes:
     • "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for one day.
     • ..............Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

     When an ARF breaks, often the easy choice is to BUY ANOTHER-- even though a simple repair may be begging to be done. Since the ARF buyer often doesn't realize the underlying structure, crash damage repairs are a big mystery and the willingness to repair is squelched by a lack of knowledge for a plan of attack or supply of materials. You don't have that problem with TufFlight kits. EPP is very durable, repairs easily and since you built it, you know exactly what it takes to fix it quickly.

  3. Greater satisfaction in modeling achievement. Enjoy your hobby as your creation takes flight.
  4. A good Investment : Realization that building time invested will result in a plane which outlasts many fragile ARFs. We want you to be outside flying. Not in the endless and expensive buy/fly/crash/buy scenario all too common with ARFs today.

If you want your plane to loop tighter, try adding some washout. Here's how:

Apply twist to the wing so that the wing panel tip is twisted down at the LE and the TE twists up. Take a covering iron and iron out wrinkles that appear in the covering while holding the twist -- especially from the center of the panel to the outer third section. Don't heat the other wing half yet. Remove heat and smooth covering while it cools. Don't forget the wing bottom covering either. Now repeat for other wing half.

Fly the plane and make sure you have not introduced roll trim imbalance. If so, then twist again and heat only one wing panel to add more wash out to the panel that produces the correct roll direction to even out the aileron trim. Fly again to check roll trim and then check how tightly you can loop without snapping. Within a few iterations you'll have a tighter looping plane.

1. Not enough 3M77 spray used to adhere covering.
2. Incorrect hinge and/or TE shape causing flutter.

What you're seeing is the onset of full wing flutter. If left unchecked, the hinges will probably separate, and you may break something which will leave the plane uncontrollable. Land the plane immediately, and examine the hinges for tightness and make sure they pivot only along the thin hingeline, and the covering is not lifting away. If it is, you'll need to re-iron it down or maybe replace the covering if it's fuel soaked. If our hinging directions are followed, with strips of covering to locate the hinges, it's nearly impossible for the hinges to come unstuck. What may have happened is some 3M77 may have been applied between the covering in the stages where the covering is supposed to stick to itself. We do outline where it's important to guard against 3M77 getting where it's not supposed to be, so please follow the instructions and detailed pictures. If done correctly, you will have no problems.

Mark has several Predators that have absolutely no high speed "red line" and he often will perform a "flutter check" by entering a dive at full speed to see if his plane flutters as part of his maiden trim flight. Some actually do start to oscillate, but many do not. By all means, if you detect flutter, be wary of this speed and don't attempt to exceed it. If you did a good hinge job, you won't need to worry about flutter separating them.

In combat, it's very rare to need to do full speed dives anyway, because everyone is constantly looping and turning. If someone is diving, they are running away! Perhaps the only time you'll need to really dive your plane during combat is just after the "begin combat" signal is given, after you've been waiting for all planes to get airborne. After this, you'll be doing lots of "furball flying" in which case you'll be turning tight, and the plane will be slower.

If you're worried about flutter, be sure to use a very wet joint on the main brace assembly (don't let it dry!) don't cut any lightening holes, be sure to sand the TE and elevon shapes we outline, use plenty of 3M77 for the covering, and be careful to follow our directions when hinging and you'll have no trouble.

Version 5.0 of the Predator uses a main brace doubler, and longer front brace than previous versions. The resulting wing is noticeably stiffer, and this makes building skill less critical -- so you won't need to worry about this problem any longer.

To bend the mounts back into a straight position, simply dis-assemble them from the plane and engine, then bend them back using a vise and pliers. You can do this at the field with two sets of pliers also.

Note: The engine angle is really not all that critical, as you should be able to fly your plane well even with engine offsets of 10 degrees or more. Joe has personally survived several mid air collisions during combat that has broken one bolt, leaving the engine cocked to the left or right, at a strange up or down angle, and continued to fly the entire round! Of course, the plane was not optimum in this condition, but this illustrates that even thrust angles of 30 degrees left up or down can be handled in flight.

The best choice to save weight in a 5 cell pack is a "2/3 AA battery often called "AAC" battery. You can solder your own cells together, or if you prefer, Electro Dynamic (734-422-5420) offers this pack (6V, 350 mAH) ready to use. Its model number is 5N-350AAC for $18. It has five cells and has the same height as the 270 mAH packs we recommend for the Panther and Predator. Be sure to charge your pack every 2 or 3 flights as we're saving weight here, and you do get less air time with 5 cells.

Incidentally, this is really THE ONLY way we know to break one of our airplanes which has been built correctly. It's next to impossible to render one of our designs unrepairable at the field with a plane vs tree, plane vs ground type of impact. It takes two planes for this type of impact damage, and the "T-Bone" collision finds the only achilles heel. (no plane out there can survive this type of collision, BTW). Some "T-Bone" impact damage can be repaired with splints of plastic or thin plywood gooped in place across the separation.

Also note : If you have the "single elevator" version (with no transmitter elevon mix used), 30 to 45 degrees of elevator travel may be used for the elevator. Adjust aileron travel to your taste.