Hobbico files for bankruptcy - what now?

[doctormike]

My latest from T.H. is there Ryan STA. A beautiful, well made ARF kit. I almost always buy electrics for my ARF's from MRC. I sure hope T.H. is in business till the new electric Bird of Time is released! Doc

[Loneflier]

I saw that one, it looks like a sweet glider! I am also looking forward to the new Cherokee that they are advertising as available in February. I am thinking I will go with the ARF instead of the RxR version since I am not sure what motor comes with the RxR version, plus, I have a couple of 10 sized electric motors that should work fine with it.

Just out of curiosity, which motor/esc combo did you pick for your Ryan? I haven't even started mine yet, but looking forward to it, and from the reviews, it looks like a great flyer.

I'm hoping the weather will break a bit today and I can actually get some flight time in. Temperatures here have been below freezing for several days, and strong winds too. They are predicting upper 40's with 6-16mph SW winds today. Not ideal, but tomorrow another deep freeze comes in, along with snow, and strong winds again.

[doctormike]

Good news! Hobbico and Tower are not going out of business. Hobbico is going through a chapter 11 restructuring. They are actually planning to increase there line of planes. Doc

[OV10]

Doc.....What have you read that is different than what was published in the 1/10 bankruptcy article that Marc provided a link to.
The second paragraph in very clear terms said " In a statement, Hobbico said that it plans to sell the company and will continue operating throughout the bankruptcy process."
Selling out, in my mind is going out of business. :Confused:

[doctormike]

I got this straight from the horses mouth...I emailed TH . There rep. emailed me back, saying they are, in no uncertain terms, staying in business, and explained the whole thing. There seems to be a contradiction here. :Confused:Doc

[Loneflier]

That is good news indeed! Thanks for the update! Now if they would just get that Cherokee in stock! :)

[Capt. Crunch]

I dunno. Its not looking good for Tower. Most of their stuff is marked back ordered or NLA. I hope they make it through this or at least find a buyer. I have gotten a lot of stuff from them in the last couple yrs from planes to parts and I would hate to see them go.

[dkalwishky]

Just out of curiosity, which motor/esc combo did you pick for your Ryan? I haven't even started mine yet, but looking forward to it, and from the reviews, it looks like a great flyer.

I used Freewing 9G servos, a Rimfire .32 motor and a 3S 3300 Admiral battery. It's a really nice flying plane.

One thing to note is because of the stiff gear the plane will bounce down the runway with poor landing technique. My best landings with it are wheel landings. Also when taking off it's best to advance the throttle slowly, get the tail up and then go to full throttle, that'll prevent ground loops.

[Loneflier]

I used Freewing 9G servos, a Rimfire .32 motor and a 3S 3300 Admiral battery. It's a really nice flying plane.

One thing to note is because of the stiff gear the plane will bounce down the runway with poor landing technique. My best landings with it are wheel landings. Also when taking off it's best to advance the throttle slowly, get the tail up and then go to full throttle, that'll prevent ground loops.

Thanks for the reply. I have a couple of other projects going, so I still haven't started this one, but hope to soon. I had read about the stiff gear and tendency to bounce and thought I might get some Dave Brown tires to go on it. I am used to warbirds and tail draggers, so will be ready with rudder on takeoffs. Thanks again!

[doctormike]

I use Dubro low bounce wheels. My planes don't bounce at all. They really work! Doc

[DriverBill351]

This is the first I have heard of the Tower/Hobbico issues. Is there anything more current on this?

[xviper]

Talked to my local hobby shop owner, from whom I just ordered a Bird of Time. She said that Hobbico has applied for protection against creditors and will get rid of some of their divisions. On the most part, Hobbico will still continue and sell their more successful lines.

[rifleman_btx]

That's a good thing... as long as those divisions keep going and are not ditched by the buyers

[Dewey H Lee]

Man this is the first i have heard also. I know for guys who dont care about nitro or just balsa planes you could care less. But the ones of us who still like nitro gas and balsa planes this is quite a blow. Tower has been the best resources for balsa kits and nitro/gas engines on the market . Other than Motion RC i dare anyone to tell me that the costomer service is anyless than what you get from Motion. Any and all problems ive ever had with anything ive ordered from them has been handled with the same professional manner that Motion has. YOU tell me another company for the balsa/nitro/gas industry that comes that close to Motion . I was ordering from them before i ever thought of foam and electric. They have always been my go to AFORDABLE ARF KITS.

[rifleman_btx]

I would actually agree. Horizon is not too bad, but they indeed have their moments. But tower has been pretty solid in my experience when it comes to service after the sale.

[Jamesf]

As I understand it, Horizon Hobby has bought the assets of Hobbico (including Tower and other divisions) for just under $19 million. The sale is supposed to close April 6. I feel for the employees as I think that they got the shaft in their stock ownership plan.
jamesf

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah hopefully they find a way to take care of them