Disappointing ARF Covering

I have two ARF airplanes and I have been disappointed to find they are not MonoKote or other heat shrink/heat fused covering. The covering reminds me of the plastic coated contact paper that is sticky on one side. You cannot heat shrink and repair this stuff.

Leafing through catalogs I find that there are very few ARFs that cite a heat shrink covering. Also there are very few that are "Ready to Cover."

I like the convenience of ARF, but I'm not happy with the covering situation. Any thoughts?

Reply to
Marlowe
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Marlowe I have had several ARFs and had the same complaint, that stuff is dreadful. I notice that a few advertise they are covered with real heat shrink covering. The new EasySport for example specifically says momocote in their advertising. Ed

Reply to
Ed Smega

Make sure you find out what kind of covering is on the plane BEFORE you purchase it. If it's not in the add ask, if they won't tell you, DO NOT buy it. It's that simple. Copper

Reply to
WMHJ

I've had ARF's with that kind of covering. Good enough to fly with, but since I fly off of a grass field, It is constantly getting holes in it. After it gets bad enough, you end up having to strip all the covering off and apply a new covering of your choice, wherther it be coverite, monocote, ultracote, or towercote. I have found that towers econocote does not stay adhered very well. About the only thing you could repair the arf covering with is contact paper found at walmart, but that wouldn't be permanent.

Reply to
Vance Howard

It's a shame we don't seem to have a GP/Hobbico presence in the group anymore... I STILL think Hobbico's missing the boat BIGTIME by not offering the "Avistar" in a "bare-bones" (ARC) configuration...

They'd sell a TON of um. There's a lotta non-builders the don't want "cookie-cutter" models, as evidenced by the amount of gfx I produce for ARF owners...

Cheers,

Bill

Reply to
Bill Fulmer

Surely, you can't be serious....................And stop calling me Shirley..

Reply to
Vincent Vega

Gimme a vector, Victor.

-- KayCee Foamie Kit Basher

*remove REMOVE to reply*

Reply to
KayCee

Welcome to the real world.

I have purchased such ARFs for airplanes I didn't expect to last long. They repair reasonably well with transparent packing tape. The most recent case is the Thunder Tiger fun-fly plane (I forgot the name). I bought two of them, and seriously demolished two of them before the covering gave out. However, I did learn how to fly these airplanes.

I wouldm never buy one for an airplane I expected to last. The only coverings I will accept are Monokote and UltraCoat (Oracover).

-- Mike Norton

Reply to
Mike Norton

Copper- Right answer. If people would quit buying that junk, it wouldn't be very long before it disappeared from the market. And good riddance. I'd especially like to see companies with other products that are good to very good, like Thundertiger, leave that stuff to trash bags. I'm sure they've worked hard to develop a good reputation for quality products, and it's puzzling that they would allow it be dragged down by something like shoddy shelf-paper covered ARFs.

Abel

Reply to
Abel Pranger

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