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Discussion
Formosa where to buy outside USA?
Hi,
I'd like to buy a Formosa but the only place which seems to have stock is GWS USA, and shipping here to sweden is a bruising $58... Does anyone know where I could buy one in Europe? Alternatively does anyone know of any good Formosa substitutes from other manufacturers? Thanks |
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I see. Seems to have been manufactured by Guan Li company in China. One place in Holland looks like it might have stock, but at 90 euros I think I'll pass
http://rc-modelbouwshop.nl/index.php...products_id=15 |
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How about this one?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/32235...235795423.html You'd need a fairly severe case of cataracts to find the colour scheme appealing, but leaving the decals off and doing a custom paint scheme is always an option. The span and shape look very Formosa to me, and the price is good, but the shipping cost is a pain in the butt. |
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If not I cannot purchase the GWS plane from market I would not purchase this. |
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Thanks for your input kinomoto. It came a little too late as I already clicked the "buy" button and eventually it arrived with me. The kit went together very easily although a couple of gotchas to watch out for. The servo tray has the servos positioned horizontally and the elevator servo will obstruct the path of the linkage from the rudder servo. I got around this by mounting one servo above and one below the tray.
Also the manual shows the cage nut for the wing retention on the wrong (lower) side. If you follow that as I stupidly did, the first time you screw the wing on it rips the cage nut out! Easily fixed if you spot it at the right stage. The other thing is the C of G which you mentioned is shown at 115mm back, which is almost at the aileron hinge line! Overall I was impressed with the quality of the kit parts and apart from the above gotchas which most experienced flyers can get around easily enough, it seems amazing value for money. I flew mine at the weekend on an Axi gold line 2212/26 3S 1250mAh lipo setup (12.6A WOT) and loved it. Very swoopy, loves to loop and roll and could handle a breeze without problems. It drops a wing on stall but recovers quite easily without spinning in. A very good practice plane I think. I can't compare it to a Formosa as I never owned one, but for under $40 it's a no brainer if you already have a power set and servos which would suit it. There's a guy selling them on UK eBay for £33 or the Aliexpress guy will ship for a fairly bruising $42. I couldn't ruin it by putting those awful vomit-scheme decals on, so just splashed some acrylic paint onto it. Fun little plane I reckon! |
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I just finished this one I got at the GWS wharehouse moving sale. It's pretty good looking with the stock stickers
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you will notice from the lack of any posts , they are exceedingly rare these days.. in fact you will have more success finding rocking horse poop
I , and many others were in contact with GWS , pleading with them to reintroduce Formosa s , and were always told , "I'll speak with the boss and see what we can do " , well after many years of getting fobbed off , most of us have come to the conclusion they are just NOT going to make any more. A great shame , when I was importing GWS I could have sold hundreds had they been available ... the most frequent question, to me "can you get me a Formosa? |
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Yeah the irony of being successful despite all efforts to the contrary only lasts for a brief time. And the GWS company survived too many years on the popularity of the simplest aircraft of any.. The Slow Stick.lol
I have another Formosa in my bone yard someday I'll have to reserrect it. |
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strangely , last night I managed to bag a formosa on BMFA site , built with a brushless motor 4 servos and electric retracts , for £35 , (costing £15 to get it sent up to Scotland ) seems a bargain, when they were new , 2002 ish they cost £29 with the geared 280 motor
Motor and retracts are apparently in good condition , if so they must alone be worth about £20, I'll find out when it arrives at the end of the week ...might post a picture reputable guy on the site selling it |
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I was always nagging my brother to diversify a bit , but he got tunnel vision on producing them and was only interested in the cashflow coming in at the end of the month after a couple of years , when they sourced a cheaper Malaysian company to produce them they pulled the plug, wrapping us up in legal red tape and unable to pursue them for breach of contract, we went bust, fortunately , it was a limited company It was good while it lasted sounds familiar no? |
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