Dodgson models are not vintage collectables after all

[Dave Moore]

I always got the feeling that Bob Dodgson models were regarded with the same reverence as classic cars and that like classic cars, anything related to a Dodgson model would be sought after by soaring enthusiasts the same way parts for classic cars are sought after by enthusisasts of classic cars.

Apparently I have a lot to learn in my investment habits. I bought two used Dodgson Saber fuselages and wing sets with the plan of refurbishing and putting a classic back in the air. When I discovered the wings were beyond my ability to repair, I put the fuselages on eBay, thinking there would surely be someone out there willing to pay a reasonable price for a piece of soaring history.

Sure they are both used, and have some cracks, but they're Dodgson, not some junk. But, based on the fact that the maximum bid is only $10.50 right now, I guess even a Dodgson fuselage is just an old fuselage.

I'm committed to selling these. So even though I consider the price is an insult to the history of the model, I'll honor the bids. It's going to cost more to ship than the selling price!

Thoughts?

PS If you are intereseted, the auctions are open until about 8:00 pm Pacifc.

[charlie hepler]

It could be the shipping charges keeping the price low? With 3 hrs left who knows you may be suprized? :)

[Ercoupe Ed]

I looked at them myself, and considering all I would need is new wings and tail feathers ( I have a Tekoa Feather Cut foam cutter, so making wings is no problem. I was just debating if I'd have time to rebuild two more airplanes.
I have 6 under construction now.

Good luck!
Ed

[DLD]

Dave,

Don't assume that just because the Dodgson stuff isn't getting bid up on ebay that it isn't a classic. There may be other factors at work here. I know that there are many Dodgson faithful out there, and his kits still bring high prices. I am not a "Dodgson faithful", but we were competitors for a while, and I know him personally. He made quality kits of sailplanes that were ahead of their time. He was a believer that his customers would want to build their planes, and resisted the ARF or pre-sheeted kits that became popular in the late 80s. His Maestro kits are very good built up sailplanes, and the Camano, Windsong, and Lovesong kits are very popular. The Saber was one his last kits, and hence may not share the popularity of some of the older ones.

David Layne

[AirBornOne]

...The Pivot sold for $140.00,the Camano for $190.27.
Looks like pretty good value to me.
The $18.25 shipping for your fuse would have scared me off,I've shipped complete kits to WA for close to that.
Personally-I would have learned to fix the the wings.Fix up the fuses and fly some history.Then sell it off.
What did you expect to get for the fuses?
Also consider these were customer built not Dogeson built,they do look pretty rough.
Still got the wings?I'll be fixing the unflown *song wings that FedEx snapped in two,might need something to practice on.
Skies.
Jay.

[lenci1938e]

Dave,

I think you may have been a little optimistic about how much your Saber fuses would bring on ebay. I see one sold for $50. I think that is pretty good price considing it was used. That price combined with the $18 for shipping brings the total to the buyer at $68. This is not much less than Bob sold a brand new one for in the mid 90's. I am probably one of the most faithful Dodgson flyers out there. Bob gave me all his tooling, plans and design rights about 4 years ago to do as I see fit, he was DONE with R/C sailplanes. I believe there is a market for the reintroduction of these gliders but I do not believe it is great. Let's face it, Dodgson airplanes never had the mass appeal, or mass production, as say the Airtronics, Craft-Air, or Marks Models designs. He was a one man show cranking out maybe 300-400 kits a year, in the Windsong heyday, out of his garage when Airtronics would probably do production runs of at least 1000, I am guessing, at a time of each design. His airplanes, although they performed excellent, also were not the easiest to build and had many design innovations that scared people off. He was ahead of his time for many years and fear of the unknown, I believe, kept many people from experiencing multi channel performance in the early days of soaring. It was much easier to stick to an Aquila or Sagitta than experience the performance gain available with separate flaps and ailerons. Now almost all of the gliders out there are flaps and aileron ships. Another thing to keep in mind about the Saber fuse is that although it is NOT the TACO SHELL design of the Windsong, it was one of his less popular airplanes; Introduced I believe around 1990, when the Falcon 880 was all the rage.

As far as collectibility, I think NIB Dodgson kits do pretty well. I almost always see them going for more than they did when Bob was selling them and at the time they were considered fairly expensive kits. A Camano kit was sold for about $160 when a Sagitta 900 was around $95. I also believe that most people want a complete airplane and not parts. With people’s time being so valuable now a days they would rather trade dollars for a complete kit than spend time putting together a glider from pieces.

Just in the last week I have lost out on an Anthem that sold within hours on RCSE and a Camano 100 that I bid $187 on ebay. I believe that I have the largest Dodgson Design kit collection in the world with over 25 DD kits in my shop. I have one of almost everything Bob kitted over his 25 year career but I have paid top dollar for almost everyone one of those kits. To me they are very collectable, to others not so much. I still am on a quest to fill some of the holes in my collection.

Shawn Lenci
Escalon, CA

[John O'Sullivan]

I first became acquainted with Bob Dodgesons designs in 1974 at the Irish R/C glider Nationals when one of the fliers from Belfast,Lawrence Rooney, blew everyone away with his Todi. He had a fewweeks before smoked everyone with an 18 second speed run in F3B at the British Nationals. I don't know how his 1/8" sheet balsa tailplane took the punishment. In 1975 and later 1970's Irish contests, the Maestro became the model to beat.
Bob Dodgeson was light years ahead of North American Sailplane design, incorporating European technology with innovative mechanical function mixing.
When I returned to Canada in 1979, flying all my all sheet glassed surfaces sailplanes they were a bit of a novelty compared to the "Gas bag floaters" flown here at the time.
Bob rarely got the well deserved recognition for his well thought out designs and innovative mechanical mixing ideas (long before the introduction of computer mixing) on the North American Continent (being overshadowed by the simpler well marketed Sagitta and similar designs) , but his efforts were without doubt of tremendous significance.
In his own way he contributed almost as much to North American glider development as the very highly significant contributions by Mark Drela to today's glider development.

Bob, If you are out there, give us a shout, we owe much to you.

John O'Sullivan

[Dave Moore]

Shawn,

The fuse that sold for $50 was one of mine. You may notice that the other fuse sold for $8.50. The two gentlemen who bought the fuses seemed glad to get them.

[Peterbwood]

I have just been given a maestro glider, which looks fantastic, but without a tail. Can someone tell me more details.

The glider seems in good condition, but I do not have a c of G. I was guessing 25% of chord. But not sure movements of rudder and elevator.

Peter

[Wrench]

I've been looking for a nib Maestro kit for years now. I'll find one someday. Along with many other kits of his.

[Ercoupe Ed]

Keep an eye on Ebay, occassionally one comes up for sale.

[PeterH]

Question for Dodgson pilots:

I have a NIB WeeGilante kit, and plans/cores/obechi for VeeGilante wings.

Do we have any pireps on the VeeGilante, which I think is the last thing Bob kitted?

Thanks very much.