Who's got or getting a Protos Max

[George J]

Broken, damaged or missing parts isn't acceptable with any kit IMO, especially when you've just done £700 on it! Why do the manufacturers find it so hard to get right, QC isn't hard you just have to do it.

I can totally understand why someone like Maj just wouldn't bother and send it straight back, i'd be the same, but when you build and fly that many helicopters its just not worth the hassle of trying to get it sorted and more importantly why should you have to sort it, it's not like we're talking about 10 quid after all.

Some companies manage to get it right, my three CY Raves (well two actually now!) all managed to come with no damage with all the parts (and spares) in the box, its not hard. Even the three Align heli's i've built had all the parts and no damage and as we all know there's bloody millions of those going out the door every day!

[SaneAdam]

Fair enough. Maybe I've just been lucky but of the three logo kits I've built I've never had anything missing.

I could just as easily been unlucky though too.

But 5 times….???? Thunder tiger g4….. Bent shafts and torque tube… incorrect servo horns in kit… also mislabelled.
Thunder Tiger E700… canopy totally destroyed… bent tail output shaft
Goblin 630… do not get me started on this one…. it was a total fu*&*&g mess. Canopy broken, lots of totally useless components that were not fit for purpose.
Gaui x7. Tail output shaft was ribbed…….?? Torque tube was bent like a banana
Rave Ballistic…. Bent shafts with notches all over

I have grown to accept is as part of the fun lol

I may have been unlucky but every time i buy a kit i have to go back to the shop for some replacements…. Apart from when i started and flew Align lol

[Gareth-71]

Hi

Perhaps the Logo is packed perfectly (I've had just about all of them), however they are sometimes not ready for market when they are released on the whole. Issues abound...take for example the static issues early on...
...and I have had parts missing or made incorrectly with Logo's as well.

This is not a dig at Mikado (although I would dearly love to!) or anyone else, the point is that all manufacturers (even high volume car manufacturers) have issues. Ask Toyota about sticky accelerators, or firestone about tyres etc.
Heli manufacturers are small companies (perhaps not one or two like Align) and cannot afford the expensive and time consuming QC procedures that would reduce or eliminate these issues, and it is not easy.
For example, even if they checked every part in the kit against what the packer actually packaged, then who is going to pay for this time? Us of coarse!

I wonder how many of the critics actually knows how hard it is to design, develop, produce, package, ship, market and service a product from the ground up? Not easy, I can tell you! Not easy by half!

At the end of the day, in my view, if you can sort the issues quickly, for free and hassle free then that is as good as we should expect. If we start to expect iPhone type QC then we will pay a premium for it without actually getting a better model.

As always, the consumer demands everything for nothing....and the industry tries its hardest to respond....

[philipjdall]

Wait, so you are saying this is a perfectly acceptable way to launch your flagship model? Whilst no kit is without it's faults this one just has one too many for me.

If it were a roaring success perhaps fast lads wouldn't still have so much stock. Just saying.

[Gareth-71]

Hi

Yes I am

I have one, and it is perfectly acceptable to me!

Are you really gauging the success of a product by how much stock a retailer has?
Crikey, I am going to limit the stock availability of my products to all of my dealers if this is the case! I can't wait to see how much more successful we will soon be.

And, frankly, I care less about its success, if I like, I like it. If I don't it gets hung up - regardless of general opinion.

[philipjdall]

Lol not really... Just making a point that's all.

I think you ought to care about its success as a certain amount of popularity is required to keep manufacturers in business

[Gareth-71]

Yes, you have a point there

I'll post back on here once I have flown mine with an opinion...

[philipjdall]

Yeah a flight report is what we really want!

[SaneAdam]

Yes, you have a point there

I'll post back on here once I have flown mine with an opinion...

Nice one That is indeed what i am interested in. Looking forward to hearing what you think.

[George J]

I could just as easily been unlucky though too.

But 5 times….???? Thunder tiger g4….. Bent shafts and torque tube… incorrect servo horns in kit… also mislabelled.
Thunder Tiger E700… canopy totally destroyed… bent tail output shaft
Goblin 630… do not get me started on this one…. it was a total fu*&*&g mess. Canopy broken, lots of totally useless components that were not fit for purpose.
Gaui x7. Tail output shaft was ribbed…….?? Torque tube was bent like a banana
Rave Ballistic…. Bent shafts with notches all over

I have grown to accept is as part of the fun lol

I may have been unlucky but every time i buy a kit i have to go back to the shop for some replacements…. Apart from when i started and flew Align lol

Thats a lot of bent shafts you've had, art arf!!

Pretty unlucky with all that, not good though.

[SaneAdam]

Thats a lot of bent shafts you've had, art arf!!

Pretty unlucky with all that, not good though.

It is not good at all i agree. But i can't say it bothered me that much. Certainly not enough to make me think bad of any of the manufacturers overall.

[maddog7]

At the end of the day, in my view, if you can sort the issues quickly, for free and hassle free then that is as good as we should expect. If we start to expect iPhone type QC then we will pay a premium for it without actually getting a better model.

As always, the consumer demands everything for nothing....and the industry tries its hardest to respond....

Take a look at the timespan of threads on the MSH Brain over on HF, it took them way too long to sort out their issues. The product was brought to market before it was finished, end of.

Nobody can tell yet if the Max will be any different.
Ya'll recall Bert putting his name to the Brain and the subsequent "hot potato" situation it caused for him?

""If we start to expect iPhone type QC then we will pay a premium for it without actually getting a better model""

I'm sorry but when you buy a toy helicopter expensive enough to feed a family in a country of poverty for a year you don't expect it to be missing anything at all, especially attention to detail.

I had a Brain go bang recently (sh1t happens I know, it wasnt the failure I was worried about) it was bought from one of the biggest and I think most respected retailers and I was still chasing them 3 months later for it's replacement!

"hmm it's still with MSH at the minute Sir"
"they sent them out last week they said, so should be with you soon"
"Sorry still not here yet"

Eventually the retailer just replaced it from their stock.

I think Maj was bang on with his decision and we'll have to see how everyone else's goes over the coming months......


D

[AcidDrink]

At the end of the day, in my view, if you can sort the issues quickly, for free and hassle free then that is as good as we should expect. If we start to expect iPhone type QC then we will pay a premium for it without actually getting a better model.

As always, the consumer demands everything for nothing....and the industry tries its hardest to respond....

Pay premium? We already do. This whole hobby is a total rip off, selling kits and hardware which costs next to nothing to make for super high prices. Almost a grand for a couple of nuts and bolts and bit of CNC cut carbon fibre sheets. A couple of hundred for a couple of FETs sealed in plastic.
I am aware that it's very niche market and companies have to have very high margins. But at the same time I demand very high quality for the money I pay. No excuses. It can be done, Henseleit and to (acceptable level) Mikado can make kits which are very high quality. Anything less than this I'll send back for refund and never buy from that company again. No replacement parts, no waiting for version 2, replace it with perfect kit or money back, period. If I ever run out of quality companies, I'll stop flying.
More so, if I hear any bad reviews/experiences from people I respect, this is automatically no sale for me unless there is very clear and visible improvement.

[SaneAdam]

More so, if I hear any bad reviews/experiences from people I respect, this is automatically no sale for me unless there is very clear and visible improvement.

I totally agree. So far there has not been a bad word said about the max from what i have seen though….. apart from how it is shipped. But i don't see this as much of an issue and certainly not a reflection on how the model performs.

[Gareth-71]

Pay premium? We already do. This whole hobby is a total rip off, selling kits and hardware which costs next to nothing to make for super high prices. Almost a grand for a couple of nuts and bolts and bit of CNC cut carbon fibre sheets. A couple of hundred for a couple of FETs sealed in plastic.
I am aware that it's very niche market and companies have to have very high margins. But at the same time I demand very high quality for the money I pay. No excuses. It can be done, Henseleit and to (acceptable level) Mikado can make kits which are very high quality. Anything less than this I'll send back for refund and never buy from that company again. No replacement parts, no waiting for version 2, replace it with perfect kit or money back, period. If I ever run out of quality companies, I'll stop flying.
More so, if I hear any bad reviews/experiences from people I respect, this is automatically no sale for me unless there is very clear and visible improvement.

LOL, Right 'O

Anyway, I said I would do a report, so here it is:

It flies GREAT!

Gareth