i think my last 4 planes were purchased from BH.. no problems at all !

Banana Hobby has a Facebook page..if your into the Facebook thing. get on there and start asking questions !

Period i know somebody who flys up there in southern Ca the same site Pete maidans and does his demos of his foam F-22 RAPTOR and other super weapons he calls them.He does not fly or maidan his planes with the stock electronics your going to get with the kit hes going to send u, my friend who ive known for ten years says he flew like the big F-22 raptor with digital hitec servos,top of the line ESC and motor in fact he used eflite delta 32 ducted fan units if im not mistaken my friend said so its Extremely wrong for him to turn around and sell the same airframe with alibaba electronics and label it as the F-22 RAPTOR super weapon selling it for $300,showing a demo like that is wrong in fact its false advertising so its not peoples fault when they purchase a $300 dollar plane and get something that Banana hobbys has demoed showed u then sent u junk forget that Pete is bad for a RC period and should feel ashamed for his super weapons he calls them and sells them for well over $300 with a demo, people with sense and rc experience can easily be fooled so the whole your stupid if u make a mistake and by a plane from him does not add up ive seen people with years of experience at clubs get fooled cuz of his fake demos and thats my problem, so the guys who say its your own fault for buying at BH hobbies are wrong perfectly smart people can be fooled by his demos. Then they hand Pete $380 dollars for junk. Again Pete what u do is morally wrong. I HATE the attidudes on here where people are like your fault for buying from him haha when even a seasoned flyer can watch his demos and be fooled.

...

Then they hand Pete $380 dollars for junk. Again Pete what u do is morally wrong.

Ummm.... You ARE aware that Pete is just the demo pilot, right? I think the most recent quote I saw put BH at like 20 employees.

...

My issue with BH and I'd have to get something in writing is that they show you the images of their products but are scant on electronic details. This is so people will have to call in. I want to know the model I'm buying has brand X or Y esc. Not that it comes equipped. This way when you get your plane and it doesn't perform like in the videos you can then take them to court, or not depending on the situation.

In a sense it's your own fault for not researching deeper and asking them more questions when you make your purchases. Look at HH, you know exactly what electronics you are paying for.

For the models I'm interested in on their site I can not complain about getting cut rate electronics. Still doesn't detract from the fact that their models look good.

I recently oredered some parts from BH on July 6. They shipped on Jul 9 and arrived at the wrong destination on Jul 10. Someplace in CA, far away from NJ. Nobody is disputing that I did not recieve my parts. I contacted them on July 20, four days after the parts were supposed to arrive. The UPS tracking site showed the last activity with the package 10 days prior. BH first statement to me was that the package is still "in transit." Well, I asked, how long is it expected to be "in transit" and why is it no longer moving? Next answer: Well, it is UPS problem. No, not quiet. I ordered from BH and they have taken my money and I don't have the parts. BH asked me "Have you contacted UPS?" No, I said, I contacted you, as the company that I purchased the parts from. The next step was to put a tracer on the package. I got word form UPS that the trace is completed and they had issued a claim back to BH. I called them and they told me that they had no further info and that I needed to contact UPS. The info that the trace was completed was right on the UPS tracking website. I finaly asked them to just resend my items. I told them that I don't care where the package is or who might have it. I don't have it and I have paid for the items. I am currently waiting for a supervisor/manager to call me back. I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting for them.

Um...I've watched several of his demos on different models, and he tells you (if you listen) that he's not using a stock radio, or I would imagine anything else. These planes are a starting point, and like anything else, it can be improved upon. Nothing to do with R.C., but I once spent 2000 dollars on a Gibson Les Paul guitar, and out-of-box that thing was unplayable at best...it needed a complete setup, neck adjustment, fretwork, etc., after that, it was an awesome guitar. My point here is, Pete DOES say (for the most part) if he's using something that isn't from the factory. Nitroplanes Tony(s) do the same exact thing, thing I like about the Tonys is if they don't like something about a given model, they'll tell you, unlike Pete.

there is good reason hearsay is inadmissible in court. it's always a friend of a friend's uncle's buddy that has seen or done that. i've never heard of anybody saying that they have personally seen pete do anything wrong. did your "friend" see any cameras when he was using a delta v 32? if pete was filming the f22 as all stock to sell on the internet, why would he show anybody that he was using a delta v 32? the edf is deep inside the plane and your friend would have to pick up the plane and look inside. or does he have x ray glasses? nitroplanes, there biggest direct competitor, also flys at the same location. i'm sure they would call out BS if they saw pete committing fraud. pete flys at a very public club. it would be very easy for pete to just drive out to the desert to film any fraudulently set up planes.
even if pete installed a delta v 32 into an f22, if there arent any cameras filming video of flight footage that r intended to advertise stock flight, who cares wht he does to his private planes? if they were just still shots, does it really matter what elecs he uses as photographs just showcase the looks of an airplane, not the performance? it would be the same if he took snap shots of a plane hung up on strings. would u call foul if he took static pix of a strung up f22?

banana hobby is the walmart of the rc industry. walmart sells name brand stuff and also some crap. banana hobby's starmax is crap but the fms line is top tier. it really is up the consumer to do their own research of good products vs crap as evrey retailer in every business sector will carry at least a few bad products. ferraris can catch fire. ford can make an excellent f150 but they also made the pinto. etc.
as for all the complaints about banana hobby, sure lots of them r true but they r a high volume retailer and for every 1 complaint, there r a 1000 happy customers. go to a walmart and there maybe 10 ppl in a line up at the customer service desk but here may be 500 ppl still shopping.
nobody will dispute that walmart is constantly expanding. they r expanding because the happy customers far out number the dissatisfied.
banana hobby just moved into a larger warehouse so they must be doing something right.

i have made a few purchases from banana hobby and my only complaint was that i had to pay taxes once (as compared to hobbyking with the not so honest customs declarations).

nobody should complain about what pete looks like. he is fashionable and trendy. this is how the cool young ppl dress today. he is obviously marketing toward a younger crowd as compared to the kit builders of yesteryear. i hate to generalize but very few ppl would consider the typical balsa kit builder fit for the cover of gq or even rolling stone magazine nor would they be considered fit for any mainstream reality tv show. anybody that disagrees is outside of the current fashion trends

Originally Posted by Drewkc

Period i know somebody who flys up there in southern Ca the same site Pete maidans and does his demos of his foam F-22 RAPTOR and other super weapons he calls them.He does not fly or maidan his planes with the stock electronics your going to get with the kit hes going to send u, my friend who ive known for ten years says he flew like the big F-22 raptor with digital hitec servos,top of the line ESC and motor in fact he used eflite delta 32 ducted fan units if im not mistaken my friend said so its Extremely wrong for him to turn around and sell the same airframe with alibaba electronics and label it as the F-22 RAPTOR super weapon selling it for $300,showing a demo like that is wrong in fact its false advertising so its not peoples fault when they purchase a $300 dollar plane and get something that Banana hobbys has demoed showed u then sent u junk forget that Pete is bad for a RC period and should feel ashamed for his super weapons he calls them and sells them for well over $300 with a demo, people with sense and rc experience can easily be fooled so the whole your stupid if u make a mistake and by a plane from him does not add up ive seen people with years of experience at clubs get fooled cuz of his fake demos and thats my problem, so the guys who say its your own fault for buying at BH hobbies are wrong perfectly smart people can be fooled by his demos. Then they hand Pete $380 dollars for junk. Again Pete what u do is morally wrong. I HATE the attidudes on here where people are like your fault for buying from him haha when even a seasoned flyer can watch his demos and be fooled.

Please, please, for the love of god. USE SOME PROPER PUNCTUATION!!!!

Originally Posted by scottieusa

Please, please, for the love of god. USE SOME PROPER PUNCTUATION!!!!

Yeah, the prosecution comes out hot and continually fails to land a blow for points. It's been impressively committed emptiness so far. When you deliver a punch with conviction you better land it or you get hurt yourself. Prosecution is zero for three and the drama continues.

Yet another Banana Hobby rant...I clock them arriving at a minimum of one per week and they all post it like it is breaking news...

I own a pretty good number of BH models and I like them a lot for what they are. Inexpensive interesting foamies. Not all BH models are created equal, because BH does not manufacture anything....period. They sell stuff from several different manufacturers: LX, Freewing, Starmax, etc.

As far as all demo models in the videos using non stock equipment, I have found that the models I have bought perform exactly like the models in the BH videos I have seen. This would apply to the models I have listed below. I will say I have not bought any of the EDF models listed as the "Ultimate Weapon" series (Not "super weapon"..the drew guy that needs to learn some communication skills should at least get the description of the product right.)

I never buy the RTF models with radio systems, chargers and stock lipos. I usually use Spektrum in the ARF PnP models I buy.

LX SR-17: Perfectly decent model. Zero equipment issues. Lots of flights.

Starmax A-10 with retracts. One issue with a broken actuator on a main gear retract and one with a broken nose gear strut (they overground the steel music wire connection between the strut and the retracts) after a few flights. Took about 30 minutes total to fix. Zero issues with the electronics and very good performance on the stock servos and power system electronics. For about 130 plus shipping, I do not mind 30 minutes of minor repair work.

50mm T-33 (Sky Angel) Other than a poorly fitting canopy, zero issues. Nice performance. Zero electronics issues.

Starmax 79" B-17. Other than replacing the stock uBEC (well known issue), zero problems and lots of great flights. This big B-17 is a great bargain when on sale for 199.90 to 265.00 with free shipping. At that price, I do not mind replacing the stock uBEC at all. Zero electroncis issues (I never tried to use the known substandard uBEC) I liked the B-17 so much, I bought a spare one for a rainy day when on sale for 199.90.

Starmax 1.6m A-1 Skyraider. First model that I ever bough from BH with issues out of the box. It was missing the prop adapter and had a defective 80 amp ESC. All due to Freewing, not to BH. BH had replacement parts in my hands about 11 days later. Already had it flying with a spare ESC and a different prop adapter that I had in the spares box, so no delay in getting to enjoy the model. Great flying model that I have 25-30 flights on.

Freewing SU-35. Awesome flying model. Flies out of the box EXACTLY like the one in Pete's video on stock servos, motors and ESCs.. It did suffer an electronic failure on the ground after a few weeks. BH has the needed replacements in route to me now. No complaints.

64mm Saab Gripen (forget who makes that one) Perfectly decent model with nice performance on stock equipment. Did arrive with a broken thrust vector control arm. Fixed it in 15 minutes with stuff from the spare parts drawer. Willing to do that for a nice model that cost only 88 bucks PnP.

So, I have to call BS on the posters claiming that non of the models are stock in the videos and that they are all junk. My experience proves otherwise.

I do think the very new beginner should probably pick another source with faster ad better support. You do need some experience to sort out what to me are minor issues. To the beginner, many of these would be major show stopping issues.

The only thing BH does that I consider wrong is promoting advanced scale and EDF arfs for the beginner in the hobby. A silly way to market.

I will also say that BH customer service has treated me right on more than one occasion. They are not as fast and efficient in this area as HH and Great Planes, but they are getting better, IMO.

Comparing performance to price, I have found the BH models that I have bought to be pretty darn good, even with a few minor issues now and then.

I’ve had no problems with my BH model, shipment was quick, packaging was double wrapped and arrived in perfect condition.

In fact, my model actually flew better than my initial expectations!

Here are my comments on post #5094.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...28276&page=340


John

I guess the bottom line is that BH has some decent stuff at low prices. Customer service does not seem to be the top priority, but, I think the odds are that you will get what you ordered in decent shape. It is somewhat unfortunate that the customer service end of things is not better. That being said, I will order from them in the future of they have what I am looking for at the lowest price.