- This topic has 11 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 7 months ago by
Warren B. Musselman.
Warren B. Musselman.-
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John A. Wilke
While I understand what you’re saying, I am bummed to hear the news. Having bought 4 PR kits from you already and loving every one of them I expect to look for more in the future. Maybe someone else local will pick them up.
John A. Wilke
Thanks Bret! PR is… notoriously hard to deal with. The quality is superb, but the customer service is lacking. In the end, I didn’t have time to lean on them as much as I had to.
In short, the “juice wasn’t worth the squeeze”, if you know what I mean.
Warren B. Musselman
I’ve come to the conclusion that Curtis is incorrigible. Not a single attempt at an order has come through in any kind of reasonable time frame. Nearly every one required multiple phone calls – some bordering on very nasty. A damn shame.
Does this mean 3DR is going into hiatus?
John A. Wilke
Does this mean 3DR is going into hiatus?
3DR will morph into something different… No more PR kits, but I’ll likely do more of my own kits in the future. The KestreL was (is?) a blast. I may still source some of the parts from PR, but it makes sense for me to do the assembly and bagging and sourcing. Plus, it is worth knowing the KestreL have five subcontractors (several in this club!) and that really made for a nice kit. I couldn’t have sourced it totally from PR.
3DR will still sell Kevlar. I’m going to take on a larger online presence there. The nice thing about Kevlar is that I have *excellent* connections with DuPont due to my day job. As you probably know, DuPont is the key manufacturer of Kevlar. Order processing for Kevlar is a lot easier, too – Kevlar takes less room, and I can talk Mrs. W into filling orders for me when I’m away
I’ll still be at launches – when I can attend. Lots and lots of travel in the queue. In the end, PR was voted off the proverbial island for a lot of reasons…
Steve Jensen
Can we get a source that is less of a gamble(r)?
A lot of us liked the PR kits, but if PR is too much of a CF to deal with, where else can we get fiberglass tubing?
I bought a chunk from Hawk Mountain, liked the PR stuff better.
Adrian
Maybe a better alternative is to roll your own. Dry carbon fiber is really pretty cheap, and there’s lots of information out there on how to do it. 38mm mandrels are available from McMasater-Carr, though I haven’t looked into the larger sizes.
Warren B. Musselman
Rolling tubes isn’t so hard. Rolling GOOD tubes, especially larger than 54mm is very difficult.
I was hoping John that you would be a reliable source for PF tubing – I need about 7′ of 4″ carbon and 1′ of carbon coupler. You wouldn’t happen to have same still sitting in stock would you?
John A. Wilke
I can get another order placed with Performance, though Curtis is away for a week now – vacation. My last shipment from him was short a couple items, so I will have at least one more shipment.
Carbon tubing is astoundingly expensive from him. A 48″x98mm stick is $192, and the coupler is $52 😯 Let me know if you want anything, and I’ll toss it onto my order.
I should’ve told everyone that I have a pretty decent supply of airframe and couplers and a few cones in addition to the kits that I listed. I have several Intimidator 4’s in stock for anyone who wants to do their L3 on the cheap!
Steve Jensen
I take it that it’s from a source other than PR? If so, this is great. I will be ordering more bits and pieces from 3Dogs for certain.
Warren B. Musselman
Actually John, I’d be just as happy with convolute-wound glass. Two 48″ x 4″ sticks and 12″ of coupler. How much for that?
John A. Wilke
Warren B. Musselman
Steve Jensen
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