Does the Grand Esprit have any worth?

[Tailslide UK]

This may be slightly OT, but I would like some advice before posting in FS/W.

About 25 years ago I bought a Airtronics Grand Esprit kit. It has not been opened for all this time until yesterday when I was going through some old crates. It all looks fine with no deterioration in the wood quality, but the plans are a bit yellow due to age.

Since moving to the UK from Nebraska, I have moved more towards slope and 3D than TD and have no use for this kit. I remember it being quite a graceful lady in the day and it seems a shame for it to lay around and not be built.

I have searched the forumns to try and establish a value for the kit with no luck. Does anyone out there have a feel for what a fair asking price would be?

I am not posting here to sell! I am asking for information on value. I will post the kit in the appropriate place once I have this information. Please don't get us both in trouble with the moderator by posting or PM'ing offers!

Thank you in advance for your help.

[TheNightowl]

I can tell you there is A Grand Espirit short kit for sale right now on Ebay with an asking price of $245 US, and it has not had any takers at that price.

Nightowl

[StevenatorLTFO]

You shouldn't have any trouble getting 300 - 400 hundred out of it, although I did a search on ebay, and there was one that ended with no bids, at 290 plus postage... Maybe they have cooled off a touch.

Its a beautiful old classic though!! Somebody is sure to want it.

[Tailslide UK]

Wow! That is a shock. I was wondering if it would be worth the $40 it will cost to ship it back to the States to someone. I almost took it to the tip (dump) with a bunch of other stuff last night.

Glad I asked. I really hate e-bay after a number of really bad experiences (non - airplane stuff). The RC community for the most part is pretty decent worldwide though.

Thanks again.

[jtlsf5]

A GS kit recently sold on Flea Bay for a really unbelievable amount. Hard to tell if it was a scam or just some idiot that had more money than intelligence. This went for well over double what they are commanding in the sane world.

Steve is in the ballpark. They are going in 300 dollar range under normal circumstances. I have one still flying, its a wonderful plane to fly kept within its structural limits. I had a kit I sold to a friend for a reasonable price, knowing he valued the plane and was not just investing in a commodity, as some who buy and sell these classic kits do.

I really don't like seeing the prices for these types of planes taken to such idiotic levels, all in the name of someone trying to make money on it. This is a hobby, not a commodities business. These planes were designed to fly and provide enjoyment, not become the pawn of "knowledgeable" money grubbers.

End of rant.

JT

[vintagesailplnr]

The GS that sold for $600 plus was a SUPER ESPRIT, maybe 17 kits cut by airtronics. WS 174+ inches. That was a good price considering the regular GS goes for $250 - 390. ($245 is a very strange, considering the original asking price on Ebay was $195 then $295 and now $245!?!?)

However, a GS kit wiith added 48" strip wood and a 4-5" extension on the tail boom, a few extra inner panel ribs will give you the SUPER ESPRIT.

Has any one check the cost of good clean balsa, good clean lite ply, wing rods, canopies, laser cutting, boxes to ship the kit in, etc. ($350 for a NIB GS or $200+ for an NIB Aquila Grande!) starts to look pretty good when you consider your time and money to get all of the other items.
JLE

[StevenatorLTFO]

Jim has a great point, if you wanted to build one from scratch, you would have a good chunk of change in it, and the fun task of getting all the ribs shaped. Personally, I think 300 would be a more then fair price if I was on the buying end of the deal, I wouldn't flinch at 300. I'm kind of on the cheap end of the scale, I'm sure somebody would pony up with more dollars then that, hence my 3 - 4 hundred dollar guess.

Glad you didn't make landfill out of it :D

Steve

[Tailslide UK]

A GS kit recently sold on Flea Bay for a really unbelievable amount. Hard to tell if it was a scam or just some idiot that had more money than intelligence. This went for well over double what they are commanding in the sane world.

Steve is in the ballpark. They are going in 300 dollar range under normal circumstances. I have one still flying, its a wonderful plane to fly kept within its structural limits. I had a kit I sold to a friend for a reasonable price, knowing he valued the plane and was not just investing in a commodity, as some who buy and sell these classic kits do.

I really don't like seeing the prices for these types of planes taken to such idiotic levels, all in the name of someone trying to make money on it. This is a hobby, not a commodities business. These planes were designed to fly and provide enjoyment, not become the pawn of "knowledgeable" money grubbers.

End of rant.

JT

Amen to that rant. If I could be 100% sure (don't see how) I would only sell it to someone who would promise to build and fly it. I am not trying to make a profit. For me it's more like finding a good home for it at a fair market price. If I want to turn a profit on something, I will day trade commodities. That' what they are there for.

That said, the figures you are quoting are a real shock. However, your point is taken about scratch building it. There are a LOT of bits in that box!

Thanks again for the input. I will post a message here when it goes on the FS/W side.

Cheers,
Paul

[TheNightowl]

Now, I'm a bit of a kit collector myself. But I have no intention of selling any that I have. Not until I'm in the nursing home and they won't let me keep them under my bed, that is.

I don't buy a kit just for the collector's value; I have never bought a kit of a plane I didn't intend to build. But I will buy a kit, scratch build the plane from the plans and leave the kit whole, in the hopes that it WILL appreciate in value and I can leave something that my kids or grandkids might get some benefit from. That said, I probably have less than 2-dozen kits all told. I am Definitely a plans collector, but there again, not as any kind of "investment." I just like to look at the plans. I will buy plans for planes I've no intention of building to see how something was designed, how a variable incidence tail was built, or a variable pitch prop. Some of them are way down on my "to build" list, but, as I say, from time to time, I just take them out and look at them and study them. A friend of mine frequently says "Plans are how modelers talk to one another," and I agree.

Nightowl

[schrederman]

These guys are pullin' your chain... I'll send you my address and you can send that ol' worthless thang to me... ;)

Jack

[StevenatorLTFO]

LOL Jack, too funny :D

[Gary Binnie]

Just did a search and saw on another forum that one went for $370 in 2006.

BMFA classifieds might be a good place to advertise the kit.

The problem in the UK perhaps is that people will not know what it is, seems to be a sought after kit.

I have several Balsacraft Spitfires in my loft, they retailed for about £45 but go for £100+ on the rare occasions that they appear for sale.

How about one pound sterling per inch wingspan?!

The Cambrian Elan kit I just built was £80 (built up 100" span).

Cheers

Gary