Stock, what stock??

[ChrisB]

Im just wondering which of the big shops is gonna fold first because it doesnt take a genius to realise business isnt very good right now.

[kenny d]

I think the manufacturers of helis allow to many shops to sell there helis & spares , I would only have 2 dedicated shops selling their products and a condition of there contract would be they must keep a full range of stock , With only 2 shops selling their spares the shops would have a bigger turnover & make good profit

[garturbo]

Not sure what's going on with some of the big players
Two of the main shops haven't even got any fuel in 20%
��

I can understand not stocking 10 kits of each model etc but gear like fuel and lipos
Come on


Doesn't seem the same problem over seas
And quick shipping

Shops need to get there act together

[John G.]

MartinW,

Maj has a PL8 for sale on here!
Good deal if it is what your after.

[Hei1950]

Leeds Model Shop has Opti fuel 20% SLV in stock at the moment, I was also looking for some.

[cycled]

I think the manufacturers of helis allow to many shops to sell there helis & spares , I would only have 2 dedicated shops selling their products and a condition of there contract would be they must keep a full range of stock , With only 2 shops selling their spares the shops would have a bigger turnover & make good profit

Interestingly, if you look at manufacturer's "where to buy" lists, several of them have more UK retailers listed than most other European countries — but most of the UK retailers have very little stock, if indeed they are still in business at all.

E.g. Scorpion; motors are stocked at a couple of UK retailers but not their latest Tribunus ESCs: Europe - Scorpion Power System

[bigpops]

Interestingly, if you look at manufacturer's "where to buy" lists, several of them have more UK retailers listed than most other European countries — but most of the UK retailers have very little stock, if indeed they are still in business at all.

E.g. Scorpion; motors are stocked at a couple of UK retailers but not their latest Tribunus ESCs: Europe - Scorpion Power System

Yeah, but 3 of those links go nowhere:
revolution models - closed
evorc.com - gone
climb-out.com - gone

Not stocking the Tribunus is a real head scratcher. It probably doesn't help that climb out was supposedly the distributor.
It's the new hotness. A Kosmik beater for less than a Jive Pro 120 or Hobbywing 160A. Shame there's no anti-spark, but nothing's perfect.

The only reason I haven't bought one is that the 200A is total overkill for me. I'm waiting for the 130A HV one.

[Guest]

Even worse if you are a thundertiger owner parts are very hard to get hold of you dont want to crash a raptor or blow up your redline engine, even noticed
os spares are thin on the ground now.

FYI, Graupner has now taken distribution of Thunder Tiger for Europe and will ship to UK, they have most of the parts in stock:-

https://www.graupner.com/Models/Thun...elicopter/?p=1

[cjm180]

i have to agree with an earlier post regarding lipos and such. If the reason is the distributor, then order more in one go if its going to be a long time before re-stock. I say order more because there is not a global shortage is there.

As soon as FL get SAB 6s 3200's in, they are gone. Its a royal pain whats going on and is harming the hobby

[cycled]

The only reason I haven't bought one is that the 200A is total overkill for me. I'm waiting for the 130A HV one.

Agreed, but for a 700 it's really not overweight. I'm waiting for a 100A HV for a 12S 600.

[Rich_H]

I echoed this on my Facebook post last week on which a lot of you commented. The whole R/C Heli market has taken a fairly substantial downturn of late. For how long who knows.

FWIW Raj at Align-trex as been my go-to guy for everything for the last 4 years but the 'out of stock' caption is now al lot more prevalent than it was previously.

Keith Wallinger at 360 technologies I do know is in the process of opening up an internet shop for all ALIGN parts, so lets see what that does for us but im going to struggle ethically to pull my allegiance away from align-trex as Raj and crew has been very supportive over the years.

Rich

[MartinW]

It's been touched on already but I think the biggest "culprit" if you want to call it that is FPV. The world has gone FPV mad. At our club it's not just quad racing, members are sticking cameras on everything pretty much except heli's - quads, planes, cars, gliders. Personally I just don't get it, I can't see the appeal but I seem to be in the minority. Fortunately for me one of the other guys has decided it's more of a pain in the ass than it's worth and he's focusing back on his Heli's and is pushing me (a little) as someone else to fly with.

SO, bottom line, with such a demand for new fads like FPV what can the shops do? Not stock any of it, sit there and miss out? Unlikely. Hopefully all we have to do is sit here and weather the storm, wait for people to get bored with FPV and come back. Problem is, I'm not sure I see that happening. The racing quads are very durable, whereas heli's hitting the deck are not in the slightest so unless you're a very good heli pilot then if it appeals to you, FPV quads is going to be more attractive than the very difficult Heli option.

[EDIT] FWIW, I don't tend to spend a massive amount on the hobby, but when I do, align-trex.co.uk is also the place I go to first when their stuff is in stock. I just ordered last night but less than 50 quids worth this time. In the next 12 months I'm hoping to go Logo at some point and it's a shame that they don't stock that stuff. But then I guess the clue is in the name For my 4 Align's they are my top choice

[Planehazza]

Many guys at my club are going ALIGN entirely now and it's all due to the fact that parts are pretty much always guaranteed.

[bigpops]

I think you're pretty safe for the foreseeable future if you fly Align, SAB or Mikado. Spares are never too difficult to get, even if the UK is completely out of stock of what you need.

[Varelco]

If the hobby is in such a lull then perhaps many of these shops are in survival mode? Whilst an inconvienence and frustration for us its a livelihood for the shop owners...

I have no idea what the supply and demand is for this hobby at the moment but the fact its repeated across practicularly all the retailers suggest something really isnt right.