>Right on!!! Tell them about the cost of your Proctor Albatros kit; it should
>make that $40 kit sound pretty good :-)
>Cheers --- Larry
Yeah the Albatros was expensive and so was the Jenny, but I got really lucky. I
was in the right place in the right time. Also, as is so rarely the case at these
brief moments of opportunity, I had just suffered a slight windfall that allowed
me to indulge.
For those R/C nuts who love old aircraft, I can only recommend the Proctor kits
with 110% of my soul. After closely inspecting/fondling my 2 kits, I must say I
think they are severely undervalued. I realize that doesn't bring the price
down much but they are worth the sacrifice if you can swing it and they have a
plane you want to model. To reinforce this point and gloat just a little more
on my good modeling fortune, my girlfriend bought me the Balsa USA Sopwith Pup
for Xmas. Let's just say, there is a reason the captions in the mags all say
the nice 1/3 scale Pups *started* with this kit. It is what it is and a good
deal at that, but... Having seen the Proctor Jenny for a bit over twice the
price, it is without a doubt a much better value. It was the revelation of
seeing the Jenny that pushed me into the D-Va as well. Again, I was not disappointed.
As for my Formula for Cost Justification above, how long does it take to build a
really nice R/C kit? 100, 200, 500 hours and more for a "real" scale model. Is
that time we enjoy spending building and value as entertainment/therapy? I know
I do and I don't get enough of that time. It is true, we all have to draw the
line somewhere, I just have a tough time finding the pencil when exquisite
aircraft are in the equation.
As for Proctor Updates here is a bit of fuel for the fires of lust and desire.
1: They are currently testing a prototype Fokker D-VII, (another personal
favorite). Expectations were exceeded. I did not ask the scale or cost. (did I
just draw a line?)
2: As mentioned in another post, they are redrawing the Jenny plans. This is to
keep such a historically significant aircraft (for the US) airborne. They
intend to reflect their hardware which is not quite true to scale. The original
plans were drawn to scale and some builders found that a bit confusing.
3: I do not know if the D-Va will be redrawn.
4: Tip of the Day - If you do not need a set of plans, they will still sell you
a complete kit for the Jenny or the D-Va right now. It is the plans and draftsman
that carry the liability concerns not the kit. Proctor feels sufficiently
protected by their existing policy. See #5.
(Tom Rataski, something to think about)
5: I can not offer plans to those looking for a back door as detailed in #4.
(copyright laws and liability rear their ugly heads)
(actually I don't care about liability, I just told Proctor I wouldn't, Sorry)
(visitors to San Francisco are more than welcome to view the kits and plans)
Thayer Syme