[bbbair]

I bought a plane from a fellow two years ago – he was upset at the low prices offered for used AC, but the plane looked good and we were able to come to a reasonable agreement. Now, I’m going to tell you why you can never get what you think a plane is worth (unless Trevor built it! )

The Plane is a 50cc Extra and has a Pull - Pull system on the rudder – which I just discovered broken.

I ran down to the LHS to buy replacement Cables and discovered that there are TWO sizes of Cables, one set for AC BELOW .91 size and a heavier set for AC ABOVE .91. The price per set $6 for the ‘Light’ set and $16 for the ‘Heavy’, not much compared to the price of the AC…

Guess which size was on my 50cc Plane? (the UNDER .91 size)

OK no harm done; So I replaced BOTH Cables and I am now up to strength on my Rudder control, but I wanted to know what REALLY caused the Cable to separate from the Rudder clevis.

I looked at the ‘OLD’ cable that ‘Let Go’ under a strong magnifying glass… OWW!

The cable is a steel multi strand twisted wire coated in a vynal sheath – breaking strength…possibly 6-8 pounds and it had NOT broken! :
The sheath had been stripped back and the wire had been soldered into the Rigging Coupler. The solder had not adhered to the Cable (Cold Solder Joint) and so the cable ‘Just Pulled Out’ of the Solder. – it was just a matter of time.

The Heavy Duty Replacement System that I installed (by Dubro) features a Friction lock with a compression collar and then I put a piece of glue lined heat shrink tubing over the collar – that system is NOT going to separate!

The lesson here for buyers, you never really KNOW the quality of the AC you are buying (unless Trevor made it) so look at EVERYTHING.

The lesson here for sellers, I DO NOT really KNOW the quality of your work, so I want to get a good price on the deal to compensate for any problems that I MIGHT encounter…

Rant over – let’s go flying.

[Max]

I love the ones who come to me for help with their helicopters they bought here/Kijiji/Craigslist/from a "friend"

They tell me the seller says "the heli flies perfect", but they could not get it to fly.

• One guy had a plain swash TX that is supposed to fly a CCPM heli- I KNOW that never flew like that, but guy tells me the seller swore it flew
• One guy had sub-micro servos on a heli that needed mini servos. The servos couldn't even move the flybar at speed. WTH?!!!
• A couple of guys with fried electronics. On one, the Gyro was toast. On 2 others, the RX was toast. "Seller tells me it flies perfect"...Uh-huh...
• I've helped several guys with helis that were set up for 6D. "Seller tells me it flies perfect".Yeah. Not 3D, 6D! Meaning the controls were Fookkucked soo much that even Alan Szabo couldn't fly it! "Seller tells me it flies perfect"....
• And of course, the dozens and dozens of guys that come to me with a "Seller tells me it flies perfect" heli with bent main shaft, bent feathering spindle, bent flybar rod, bent tail shaft, bent frame..etc..etc..etc... "Seller tells me it flies perfect"..Yeah, right...

I always warn heli buyers when buying used... it very rare you get a great used heli. Most are damaged, then hastily repaired (if at all) so that they can be sold off to some un-suspecting sucker.

Okay, my turn to stop ranting

[Dave Holmes]

That's why my wife has been told that should I walk in front of a bus, don't expect to get much more than ten bucks for my garage full of planes. Once it's out of the hobby shop it is a pig in a poke.

[hayabusafmw]

I bought my first helicopter from KIJIJI it was a CX2 i didn't know squat about them
The guy came in a bmw brand new shinny he didn't look like the kind of guy needing to sale a 100$ heli at all

He told me he swears on his orphan children that the heli was very good working condition that he had flown it just the other day but he couldn't make it fly because it was nightime when we met.

Then next thing i know he wanted me to sign a release paper so i couldn't bring him to small claim court??? cause someone had done it to him?!!?

Well... what the hell this is fishy i tried to back out but the guy dropped the price so i told myself worse case scenario i'm left with a remote & spektrum receiver
guess what? i was left with a remote and receiver

that was pretty much the last time i got myself a used heli

[strikemaster]

My first and only used aircraft set the basic rule -- fly it in front of me and I'll buy it. George mushed it in on the demo flight, and punched holes in the covering plus a broken elevator, and I said, fix it or no deal. He fixed it, got a reasonable price, and the plane flew very well until I deadsticked into the middle of a wheat field. One boulder in the entire field and guess where it was? Yep!

That's why I buy kits.

[tporter416]

My favourite is the heli that has "never been crashed", if you fly Heli's you know that they have ben crashed. All of my Heli's have been crashed at least once. WRT the signing a release paper, that is a bit extreme. When I sold one of my two mcpx's, one flew well and one I learned on and was beat up. I shipped the one in good condition and still fly the beat up one, couldn't let it go, was too attached to the heli that thought me to fly, also thought selling a heli that had been through so much was not fair... No need to get a release if you sell something as advertised, isn't that easier?

Tom

[Dennis Pedersen]

There is always the option of build it yourself and you know what you have ?

[HOMEFLYR]

I won't pay more than 1/2 price for anything used...period ! There's always a problem of some sort to be found after you get it . Now try and get parts ? o oh , the part you need is now obsolete.
Try getting the same value for a family car you bought last month..lol. you'll lose 6 k dollars on it's value in as little as a week...lol...that's a fact !
Any one that pays more than 1/2 the original value , for a used plane is a fool .

[itizme]

I'd love to tell you the horror stories of the items I have bought HOWEVER everything I have purchased here was at least as described or better and at a price I could easily live with. The exception was except one item from elsewhere and the purchase was my stupidity, never ever buy a used motor unless you know for a fact that the pilot isn't a complete aho and a thief, I mean unless you hear it running. That being said I have 3 used motors that are all in excellent shape that I bought in some manor here on RCC, the dud was from KIJIJI from some jerk that flies at the Humber club.

I wish I'd listened to my inner voice more. When I started out in Dec '10 I bought my first ARF new, it even included a Tx, the sticker shock stung. Before I even flew the ARF, it was suggested I build a kit. Sage advice, 'cause if your going to play this game your gonna have to fix one sooner or later. Then I bought something (even though my pride didn't like it) a Radian glider. All of this before I'd even tried flyin'.

The glider taught me to fly the wing. A great thing to know for those pesky dead stick landings. The new powered planes were (and still have the original trainer I built) a intro to "flight with some speed". Its a guy thing right? The need for some speed!

So now I have some tools, now I gotta learn how to use 'em. You guessed it, once you start hangin' with the bigger boys with fancier toys..... well you guys know how that goes. But this is where my inner voice starts to get going. I started buying other peoples used stuff. Being a farmer, and having bought used equipment before, I figured my equation for buying used toy airplane stuff would work. Not so much! I believe the bad deals out-weight the good deals by a factor of 3-1.

I am proud to say that any major (engines, Transmitters, quality servos, air frames) new stuff I've bought are still serving me well. The used stuff, well, it practically all done!

If anyone asks me, I always strongly recommend they buy the best they can afford, and I don't mean used. Wait! If you have a little patience, that next new toy or accessory is only a little while off, maybe even the next pay cheque away. If you buy a used Tx and it crashes a new plane, it smarts. Used electronics are risky. Used planes and helis, well there's always a story for why they're for sale. If your well versed (seasoned vet) in what and how to look at the stuff, you can avoid a lot of bad deals. If your ego is out-weighing your abilities (experience) your gonna get burned. Trust me, BTDT!

Peoples ethics isn't what it used to be 20 years ago. If the guy won't tell you his last name, walk away! Even the hobby shops are in on the game, used to be you wanted people to return to your business. Now it seems they have developed a "one sale" approach. Make your killing on the one sale and so what if the customer ever comes back.

Of course, there are exceptions to what I've just typed. But not many!