racer8297

My Feedback: (13)

Wojtek,

I feel your pain. I had many issues (as did others) with my Skymaster/Xtreme-Jets Dragon. Shipping damage, poor wing repair done at the SM/XJ factory (after a couple of flights a crack in the wing developed. Split S went to fix it and found a huge area of damage that was filled with some type of glue making an inferior attempt at a repair), lack of hard points for control horns, lost canopy (which SM replaced in a week) which was due to an impropely glued windshield so high pressure air got in and blew the canopy off, cracked windshield and improperly glued aluminum wing tabs. It's a shame.

Luckily you caught your problems before it blew up in mid air! And hopefully your information will save someone elses airplane!

Jim

STKNRUD

There is a rule on RCU that prohibits other mfg reps from commenting on another's products. Seems like sometimes that should be true for even the reps of the products in question....bias is bias regardless of which side it comes from.

George

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

My friend i will never get you wrong and i always listen your opinion since you have earn my respect with your "knowhow" in the past!

they only reason i asked people not to post for a while is that skymaster will be harder to help the customer if the post keep groing (pages)
and we cant keep up while comniunicating to help a customer!

i ask some "space" for a while only as a favor for a better comniunication /keep truck between skymaster and owner posts
this way customer got a new set of wings and we didnt deal with loads of feedback at a time..

i would never ask for anyone to stop posting coments about a product!
REMEMBER posting coments specialy poor ones about a product only help our hobby to get better!


as for the "G" forces please corect me if im wrong but even the 8Gs are not right away and probably you disrcibe a loop
not like a 2t =two stroke engine that can cause 8G acceleration?

Nothing is perfect so do i...spesialy when i spent 20minutes reading dictionary to post something and be with my friends

There is no excuse for the product even if it was an old one!
Skymaster does get better while time pass and for that the records and the qc control will be reviewed !
we (dealers) are the first to demant + push for more and better and we try to help

Again sorry if i expressed my self in a wrong way.I am pleased Wojtek got his wings and feels the nee to play with his toy again

Best Regards
George

wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

I'm already getting adequate help through Jeff at RCI ... i only came on here to share my experiences .. I do so both good an bad. That is pretty much the main idea behind these types of forums and boards to begin with I do appreciate your concern for me being taken care of as a customer however George !, many thanks [8D]

~V~

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

lol
never sed otherwise bro! this crap shouldnt reach Vo's hands in the very first place!
and when you receive that crap you just DONT go on with building and try to fix it up !
things are simple!drop your skymaster dealer an email and he will take care of you!
no one force you to keep the crap! sh$t hapens and probably you will receive one but we are here to fix the mistake!

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

yes sir.. Mr. king of RCU/skymaster problems sir

Couch Potato

Hey Woj,

Is this a case of "Wun Wing Lo" ? [:@]

I hope SM stand by their product and make you happy.

groovy67

My Feedback: (1)

If there's a problem with it,send it back.If the product is not up to standards,don't buy it.A lot of Chinese made products are not the best quality and most people understand this.ESM have the most horrible control linkages and I saw a decal that said "not sure what this is supposed to say" when all it was was a "no step" decal.Sometimes you just get a bad one once in a while.
If quality is what you want,IMO, get a Yellow Aircraft or build one from plans.Skymaster has some nice looking planes but looks do not insure quality.
Like they say,If you want it done right,do it yourself. If not,deal with it!
I agree that for the money you spend on something like this,you expect it to be right.Once enough people have issues and stop buying their product,they will produce better quality planes(maybe).Too bad America doesn't have more companies making models.But if they did,I think the quality would be better because we ***** about the slightest details.They might also be more expensive,but we would cry about that,too...lol.
I hope you get your problem resolved with SM and and have no more issues.But remember....USA bearings are made from better steel than Chinese bearings...and thats a fact! Maybe the same for models.....

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

o well !seems also you missed the "for a while" that i sed!
anyway thank you for the understanding Thomas !
since woj got new wings on the way everybody you can now throw your boots!
[8D]

Carsten Groen

I have (had, just sold it) a large Viperjet from SM, I had a bad landing (entirely my own fault), and damaged the wood thats holding the main gear.
A very good friend of mine, which is also a very experienced builder did the "rebuild" of the wings. In order to do so, he opened up the wings, and found some "funny" things...
Not too easy to see on the pictures, but no glue on the top skin between the spar, and the spar stops 5 mm from the other spar, no contact what so ever.
In my non-experienced eyes, this is not too good (if it's fatal or not, I don't know, but surely not ideal..) ?!
I sent pictures to SM, and was offered two new wings at a discount...
My friend beefed the area up, so it's better than new (!), but if he hadn't opened the wings, don't know if this could/would have been a problem eventually in flight?

(oh, the two alu tabs that are supposed to keep the wings attached to the fuselage was also pulled loose, luckily (!) before the first flight !)

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Wow, those pictures above are a serious structural problem. That should NEVER be built that way.

What I don't understand is how can SM send a piece of garbage to a customer. Obviously no one at SM did a quality control inspection on the jet before it was shipped. So, I ask, "Why didn't anyone check?" The problems Wojtek found are pretty obvious. And for so many problems on one jet I have to ask, "Didn't anyone teach the builder at SM how to do a proper job?" $5,000 is a lot of money, and these 'poor construction' issues should not exist at that price. No one should accept this. This is not the first or tenth time someone had these issues with SM, so this IS a serious problem, as well as a safety problem for anyone who is in the area when these jets fly at 200+ mph.

I'm glad to hear that RCI will help Wojtek get new parts, but the delay SM caused with their lack of quality is not acceptable.

As for George Papagiannis (Exclusive SkyMaster Dealer for Greece), I'm glad you are concerned with the replacement of the product. But your mis-statements about g forces, stress, wing loads, and saying that Wojtek should not have discovered that the formers break off the fiberglass fuselage with just a light tug, is crazy. I'm damn glad Wojtek checked for, and noticed all that. Otherwise his jet would have come apart in the sky and destroyed all the equipment in a crash that could have resulted in property damage or physical harm to someone. Sorry George Papagiannis, but your statements are all wrong. You are mis-informed or misguided about g forces, wing loading and structural stress loads. Also, this forum is for EVERYONE. Please don't try to silence anyone with inaccurate statements. Wojtek and his SM rep were obviously in communication prior to, and outside of this forum. Wojtek was making everyone aware of the issues ... He was not attempting to resolve the issues with SM or his rep on this forum.

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

Hello Airplanes400

Thank you for your coment!
About wing loading "101"
Back to fragile fiberglass tube that is in the wings and the fuse(where the metal wing tube runs)

Please can i have your opinion:do you think if that this fiberglass parts
they where made out of aluminium too would contribute more by helping in the wing loading?

regards
George

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Am I wrong in saying I read somewhere that Anton inspects each and every jet before it leaves the factory?

Dave

SAP_2000

George. As a faithfull long time Skymaster customer I mean this in the best way: You are not doing Skymaster any favors with your replies everytime someone has a problem with a SM product.

I have been reading theese SM threads and have to say I am shocked to see some of theese quality issues. I do check and very often improve things on my SM planes during assembly. Not a problem with some loose fuse spars or engine rails that are easy fixes, but there are some places like inside the wings that are impossible to check without opening the whole wing. The pics of the wing Carsten showed is just horrible. Discount on new wings is just comic [&o]
Same with Woj's wing LE opening. Things like that can be catastrofic to your $10k investment and possibly someones health.

After seeing pics and threads like this, I am starting to wonder what the hidden structural parts look like on my 24 kg (wet) 1/6 F-16, my new large Hawk and the L-39.
QC is one thing, but it would take so little to things like this right at the factory in the first place. Not putting glue on wing ribs before joining to wing halves is next to unforgivable. A worker who does not understand that, should not be working in a jet factory.

Bottom line is that the issues we have seen on SM planes needs to be seriously addressed and dealth with right now so they will not happend again in the future. SM make some very nice scale planes with the best gear and finnish you can get, but that does not help if we keep seeing stuff like this.

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

There is no way to look in the wing and check it and there is where trust for the brand comes.
Be sure SkyMaster even if they are away for the JP they have been informed and will check the qc.
As for the MB339 wings ...i would like to know too what year this model came out from the pipe line .

Staale nothing is perfect..but since you are not new around
you must have noticed the progress in this products lets say with 6 years before.

Skymaster take onboard this promblems ,learn and get better every time.

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

Dave
Anton is at JP packing mode and dont know if he will be around to reply you right away

PaulD

My Feedback: (39)

From my understanding the factory is in China and Anton is based in Taiwan. If this is the case that would be pretty difficult to do.

When building my Viper, I did find similar structural issues and the wings had to be cut open to fix. The jet was lost under conditions that should not have caused a loss of control, however, the airframe was so badly damaged from the crash and resulting fire I've got nothing conclusive to go on. I suspect something was seriously failed and am generally very disheartened with the outcome.

There are very few manufacturers I would trust at this point...

PaulD

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

When you see the kind of work SM does, such as the pictures below from this and other threads, there is no way you can trust SM to do quality work. This is the work of a total hack, and an amateur. Someone who builds jets should be a professional with many years of experience, and the knowledge to do the proper job. This is clearly not the work of someone with experience, or training.

Many people who buy these ARF jets want an experienced and knowledgeable person to complete it. But, considering the poor quality of work that went in to the jet from SM, it would be like paying someone $1500 who has never assembled and finished a jet before.

When you have a company that builds jets, these problems should never exist. When a company (or an individual) is building jets, they should have achieved a level of expertise. This appears not to be the case with SM. It's just sloppy work, and not the work of experience. Secondly, since the ribs don't mate with the spars, this shows poor engineering.

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

The real scary thing is that SM is considered the best of the "Mainland" companies (SM, FEJ and FB).

If it ain't Comp-ARF or BVM...forget it.

Beave

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

This is why I build my own. I use Yellow Aircraft, BVM, or Jet Hangar Hobbies. Never tried Comp - ARF yet.

KFX450

My Feedback: (30)

SM quality problems........JR 2.4 lockouts......Im picking up my finished viper2m on a 2.4 system...First turbine, should I just give up now????? I'm getting depressed reading these threads

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Maybe you could consider selling your Viper jet (with radio) to a JR or SM rep?

FILE IFR

George is gonna flip his lid when he sees those pics posted above. [:@]

... I'm not hanging around to watch either.

SAP_2000

That is great news for future customers, but what about the hundreds of kits sold to existing customers before this date? How do they know their planes don't have issuses like this that cannot be seen inside the wings etc?

Yes George. A huge progress for sure.
A lot has happened over the years with the gears, finnish and prefabrication since I had my ViperJet (SM/Cermark) and a early F-15 many years ago.
That is also what scears and surprises me. After so many years and planes, SM really should not be doing mistakes like this. 5-6 years ago maybe, but not now with all the experience they have.

SM can do much better than this! Leave mistakes like this for the other Chinese mfgs. Let SM be the premium brand with top quality from A to Z and let the others pump out the junk.
It will pay of in the long run. The other alternative is to pump out as many jets as possible and beat FEJ on the price.

See you at JP?

trioval00

My Feedback: (17)

I am also a long time Skymaster owner. My first SM was the first generation Hawk,this was a great kit, then about a year ago I bought a SM L-39. test flew it about 2 weeks before Liberty Bell Jet rally and had hopes to fly it there. but spent most of 2 days at the event just going over everything. as I was going over the retracts, I noticed the rails had very little glue on the one wing, and on the other wing where there was glue, it was hit and miss most with the glue, glue was just on the rails and missed the formers. also inside the fuse on the formers, there were alot of missed spots. so all is fixed and fly's great.

only other issue I have and it is still going on, is that when I got the kit, ( I bought from another modeler, not from a dealer) the clear canopy was smeared and I let it go, but then I put the jet in the cradle and it cracked.

so I sent an e-mail to SM and weeks later did go anywhere, then after I spoke with BVM at Liberty Bell Jet Rally, I was told to call the office, I did, still no canopy, I e-mailed BVM they had to contact SM again, and they have not sent my canopy, or even processed my order YET, 6 Weeks.... I have another Jet rally in 3 weeks and I guess I will not have the canopy I need to fly.........

Mark