Going to Shanghai

I'm traveling to Shanghai for work in a few weeks and wondered if there's anything C/L worth buying while there. I saw a website http://home.earthlink.net/~whizzz/ that sells some motors of their own design and some reproductions of some of the classics. Anyone ever used any of the CS motors such as:

G36 Control Line (Stunt)
G40 Control Line
G60F2B Control Line Stunt
?

Are there other Chinese manufacturers that I should look for?

Regards,

by any act, error, or omission, I have, intentionally or
unintentionally, displayed any breedist, disciplinist, sexist, racist,
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to get over it.

I'd save my money and not buy any of the CS offerings. Quality is not their strongest suit. Someone had posted that they had ceased manufacturing their line and were in the process of re-organization. Can't confirm or deny it though.
Dennis

LAST EDITED ON Aug-02-04 AT 10:55 PM (CDT)
 
That's something I heard a while back (more like 3 or 4 years back).

I can confirm that their RC sport engines are, well, something to avoid with the proverbial ten foot pole. They look like they were put together with hand files and hand drills and taps. It's not just a matter of quality control with these - they're badly designed.

They do make a Oliver Tiger replica, of which there are good and bad examples (here it is a matter of quality control).

There are some very nicely made Chinese engines, though - those Magnums and Thunder Tigers come from China. Not sure if they're available for retail within China, though, and if they'd be any cheaper than from Tower Hobbies (I seriously doubt it). Often times, items made for export are a lot more expensive in the country of origin, simply because the US market is much, much bigger than the local market. My RC friends managed to locate a factory here that makes the high-current LiPo batteries used in electric RC, but shaking loose a few cells for their own use looks impossible at this point in time, since the minimum order is something like 1000 cells.

But if you're going to spend time in China, how about contacting and visiting other control line fliers while there? I wonder how easy that would be to arrange!

LAST EDITED ON Aug-03-04 AT 00:15 AM (CDT)
 
When we were there for the World Champs in 1994 there was a CS shop at the WC site. We all took tours of it and weren't very impressed. Lots has changed since then and Shanghai is almost unrecognizable now compared to its appearance in '94.

When I was flying there regularly in the early 2000s I tried to find the site at which we flew and it didn't appear to exist anymore. Pretty much everything in sight was being simultaneously torn down or built up in '94 and it's tough to even tell where you are relative to where you had been (except for the Bund area along the river and old Shanghai.

You might contact AMA and ask if they have addresses available for the Chinese team that they used for the WCs.

Ted

p.s, you will want to find your way to the outdoor markets/shopping centers. Take along an extra empty suit case (large) and stock up on some *designer* duds at incredible prices. Don't let anyone tell you it's all junk, either. Some of the best clothes I own I bought for chicken feed at those markets. Ask a flight attendant on the way over and let them know where you're staying. They'll give you the names. Take cabs cause they're cheap as dirt. Have the concierge at the hotel give you one of their cards that has the various attractions listed in both english and chinese. You can just point at where you want to go and sit back and be scared to death by the ride in the Shanghai traffic. An experience unto itself. Also ask them about buying pearls for Momma. I forget the name but there's an upstairs place along a main drag that caters to the airline crews and you can get beautiful pearl jewelry made to order while you wait. You'll be a big hero when you get home!

LAST EDITED ON Aug-04-04 AT 10:59 PM (CDT)
 
I wonder how easy it would be to contact Chinese CL fliers. If anyone knows where one might be able to find bargains model airplane wise, they'd be the ones, and it'd be fun to hang out at the field for a weekend. I'd love to hear the story of how Stunt came to China and how they managed to get so good at it with little or no outside input. Jump starting something with subjective scoring, like Stunt, requires people who know the "right way" to do things, particularly when it comes to judging. If you go to a WC flying a style that no judges have ever seen before, you'd likely get penalized heavily, and if everyone in the particular country (and all the stunt judges) are used to that particular style, then it'll take a while before your fliers will begin to make an impact.

I'm heading down to Indonesia, myself, in September, for their Nats in Palembang. They supposedly have a fair number of CL fliers - something like 50 combat fliers alone. But we never get to hear about them, or interact with them, so I'm fairly excited about this. I might bring planes to fly on the side, but I'll mostly be manning a stopwatch and a camera.

>When we were there for the World Champs in 1994 there was a
>CS shop at the WC site. We all took tours of it and weren't
>very impressed. Lots has changed since then and Shanghai is
>almost unrecognizable now compared to its appearance in '94.

Aha! Maybe that's why that particular site was chosen.

>When I was flying there regularly in the early 2000s I tried
>to find the site at which we flew and it didn't appear to
>exist anymore. Pretty much everything in sight was being
>simultaneously torn down or built up in '94 and it's tough
>to even tell where you are relative to where you had been
>(except for the Bund area along the river and old Shanghai.

From what I've read over the past few years, the entire south east coastal region of China is developing at an alarming rate. Lots of economic activity, construction going on everywhere. Shanghai is supposedly now a fairly expensive place to live, rivalling Hong Kong and Tokyo. The rest of the country isn't developing as fast, and as a result, people are migrating from the interior to the coast.

>p.s, you will want to find your way to the outdoor
>markets/shopping centers. Take along an extra empty suit
>case (large) and stock up on some *designer* duds at
>incredible prices. Don't let anyone tell you it's all junk,
>either. Some of the best clothes I own I bought for chicken
>feed at those markets.

Heh heh heh.. Yup, some of those goods, I'm sure, were made at the exact same factory that makes the ones they sell in Europe. From what I understand, there are layers and layers of subcontrators making the stuff, and if some of it goes astray...

A fair amount of it comes this way, too. Levis belts, designer jeans, handbags, wallets, "Rolex" watches, "Mont Blanc" pens - and they sell them by the side of the road at the outdoor night markets. I do wish the counterfeit batteries were as good as the real thing, but sadly they're not..

I would certainly avoid the CS 60 stunt! Useful for keeping line tension, when fishing, havent seen one for years.

Some of the replica diesels can be good, if you can go thru a batch to find a good one - and you know what to look for. The recent Oliver tiger & cub replicas are better than in the past, but still somewhat erratic in QC. A good one makes a fine sports engine, if you like diesels.
Cheers, Dave

Thanks to all for your suggestions!