Been thinking of selling wren pred

[DDragon]

Hey guys,
Been kicking around the idea of selling the wren pred and all parts. I have a lot of extras including extra grips and 820 blades.

Anyway, my biggest concern is shipping? How do you guys ship helicopters of this weight and value? I live near Toronto Canada, even considered meeting someone half way if they were close enough, but I figure if I dismantle and ship in two boxes via ups or FedEx that would work best.

What do you think?

Also thought of selling for around $5000. I have way more then that invested, but I don't know what a fair price would be.

I still have the trex744 to play with. So I'm stilling in the turbine game. But I want to get my truck lifted and some bigger tires

What you think?


Any typos are the product of my stupid iPad self correction feature.

[hawkman71]

I used DHL to freight my Pred/wren back to the UK, cant remember the price now but could have afforded to pack more items to make up the weight difference I was paying for its the dimension/weight game that these agencys use.

Could have packed the Heli down even more to reduce the dimensions a bit but wanted plenty of bubble wrap etc to protect the contents.

Dont mention 'gas turbine' on the decleration either...'model helicopter' or whatever should suffice. I almost got caught out by this, mention Gas on some item to freight...specially airfreight and see what happens

[DDragon]

Good point. Model helicopter it is. After draining the tanks it may be a good to put the whole thing in a zip lock bag or similar. I'd remove the tail and ship separately of course.


Any typos are the product of my stupid iPad self correction feature.

[helibeli]

If someone from the UK buys it from you,point out that they will have to pay 20% vat on it even though it's second hand.I was caught out by this when i received a demand for £550 from HM customs one month after the purchase,which nearly gave me a heart attack.The carriage charges from the Falklands was £350.

[Skiddz]

When I shipped mine to IRCHA in 2009, I pulled the head/mainshaft and tail. Main "carcass: went in one box, boom, head and main blades went in another.

As far as the fuel issue, I purged the propane canister and emptied the fuel tanks. I put some denatured alcohol into each tank, replaced the stoppers and blew into the vent line to force DA up the fuel tubing and then let it all air out for the day. Didn't even have any fuel smell to it when it was boxed up.

FWIW a Pentair pool pump box is the perfect size for the main airframe of a Bergen Intrepid. I lined mine with 1/4" Luan ply for some added protection.

[hawkman71]

I removed the fuel tank and washed it out with warm soapy water and rinsed it, Gas canister (the onboard one) I removed the top and let it vent for a few days. Didnt smell at all.
I left the mast in place which made for a taller box than I liked, but I wanted to keep the reassembly simple. I did remove the rotorhead. I stowed the blades/boom etc between the skids of the heli. I lashed the skids to the base with plastic cable ties. The base being 12mm ply (from memory). Once all packed up and bubblewrapped the idea was to have a box that could be stored on any of its sides without damage to the heli..

lets face it, how many times have you been on a plane, taxying to of from the ramp...to pass a freighter...where you can see the handlers merrily throwing boxes etc onto conveyors. Freight can get roughly treated, so pack your heli to suit!

[Cletus]

IRCHA 2010 and 2011 mine shipped to and from with empty main tanks, empty propane tank and the UAT was 1/2 full if I remember correctly. I did not wash out the tanks. It went FedEx without fuss.

[DDragon]

The big thing I'm worried about are the boxes getting thrown around. It surprises me that people will spend big money on something like this but cheap out when it comes to shipping.

Had that happen a few years ago, then killed the deal because the guy didn't want to spend the money on proper shipping.

Any typos are the product of my stupid iPad self correction feature.

[Skiddz]

The beating the boxes take is why I lined all my boxes with 1/4" Luan plywood. Extra level of durability.