just a food for thought

[whitmanink]

companys are all about money , is this correct to assume? if so the bottom dollar is the bottom dollar, so why don't an after market company like lynx or so on make clone parts for MA helis? they would reap the benefits by far , and everyone would win? maybe theres something im missing , or maybe its time to fire up the cnc machine and make some money

[Rudy]

Reason . . . . You said it, these aftermarket company's are in business to make money. They make parts for popular models that sell alot. Simple fact right before MA closed there were not a lot of Whiplash's flying. Now that they are closed that number has dropped by atleast half. I will bet that by the end of the summer that number will be cut in half again.

Why spend the time and money to tool up parts to support a ever decreasing user base.

[whitmanink]

well that blows, I flew the whiplash 700e and loved it , I wanted that before any other heli for my first 700 class , they seem so well built, and fly top notch, now I cant even fathom getting one , maybe if I also had a 3d printer id get one, then I print the parts that arnt metal and cnc the ones that were,

[Rudy]

There are lots of really nice helicopter kits out there.

Check out Synergy, great company and great product.

[whitmanink]

to be honest my second choice is Mikado, then goblin , but I really wanted a MA

[Mercuriell]

Have you looked a Kasama helis? His first heli was an X-cell and there are quite a few similarities in design and the quality is comparable. The Faifa is equivalent to the Whippie E

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by whitmanink

to be honest my second choice is Mikado, then goblin , but I really wanted a MA

If you really want a Whiplash I "might" be willing to let go of my Gasser . . . . . I'm not that far from you.

[3drcbuilder]

One of the problems may be that a lot of the MA designs were Patented. Which means that the part can not be duplicated by another manufacture without permission for the original owner of the patent. Rights to reproduce a part usually have to be purchased.

One helicopter design may have numerous patents involved. Most of the aftermarket company's beat this by fabricating an improved part that differs from the original part to the point that it does not infringe on the original patent. Also that upgrade can be patented.

But there has to be enough of a market out the for the production of the part to be profitable. Miniature Aircraft is what many considered to be a niche company in that it made a high quality product but in small numbers. So, there's not enough of them out there for an aftermarket company to make the part and make a profit.

About the only way a company could do anything with Miniature Aircraft would be to buy the rights to the entire line, take it to China and reproduce it and do it in such a manner that the price would be competitive in the current market.

But, there are plenty of helicopter designs out there to fill the void left by Miniature Aircraft. So the helicopters that are out there are doomed to become Closet Queen and conversation Items and sold off in pieces till there just not out there anymore.