Chinese KB Hydrofoil : 300 USD + shipment

[Starsky]

It could be built really well and tested and refined so no one knows till someone buys one. So who's going to be the test pilot??

What are the odds of that when one of the photos has wingnuts with an excess 2cm of bolt holding it together.

[alexrider]

Autoclaved high modulus carbon?
Papier mache?
Cast pot metal?
What is the secret?

"secret" most likely slave labor

... "most likely slave labor" typed he on his sweatshop manufactured smartphone.

[norcom]

The bicycle industry was in a similar situation a few years ago. Carbon frames and rims were extremely expensive from name brand manufacturers (most still are). But then some less expensive frames and rims from China popped up on the market. Few years later and they're now very competitive and in some cases just as good. Most of this stuff's already made there. Too bad most wings/fuselages/masts aren't cross compatible. We could see $50 carbon wings in all shapes and sizes popping up.

[juandesooka]

The bicycle industry was in a similar situation a few years ago. Carbon frames and rims were extremely expensive from name brand manufacturers (most still are). But then some less expensive frames and rims from China popped up on the market. Few years later and they're now very competitive and in some cases just as good. Most of this stuff's already made there. Too bad most wings/fuselages/masts aren't cross compatible. We could see $50 carbon wings in all shapes and sizes popping up.

I'd consider something like just to get the carbon mast and fuselage. I can make my own wings to fit the screw pattern. However, it either has to be cheap enough to take a chance OR need some positive reviews about strength/quality. Mast takes all the forces here, is the weakest link. It snaps and you lose those fancy wings!

I think we'll see more along these lines. There's been a bunch on alibaba for a while and they appear to be the unbranded versions of the ones currently for sale. The usual story being the factory just makes some extra, since they have the mold and are tooled up. But the other story is that quality control means tossing out half of them ... then someone plucks them out of the dumpster and puts them on alibaba. I believe AliExpress is next level though, more buyer friendly, with guarantees on quality, no-questions-asked refunds, kinda like Amazon in China.

[tegirinenashi]

OK, let's remove the mystery here: that lonely order is from myself. I thought that in the worst case I can combine the parts with the LF rocket that I own. Therefore, it can be considered as lazy man DIY project. To put it further into DIY perspective: somebody sells wood HF parts on ebay for half of that, and buyer is supposed to do the most laborous part, glassing, sanding, polishing.

[juandesooka]

OK, let's remove the mystery here: that lonely order is from myself. I thought that in the worst case I can combine the parts with the LF rocket that I own. Therefore, it can be considered as lazy man DIY project. To put it further into DIY perspective: somebody sells wood HF parts on ebay for half of that, and buyer is supposed to do the most laborous part, glassing, sanding, polishing.

A gambling man, that's awesome. Really look forward to your report, when you get it a month or two from now -- takes a long time for those ships to sail. It's a shame the shipping is that high. I've bought stuff from AliExpress before, most smaller things (eg fins) seem to be free shipping ... it's slow, as it comes by boat, but at least it's cheap. Having a quick look through the JNJ site, the shipping gets pretty wonky on big stuff. A sup for $300 had $700 shipping (or something like that).

If it looks like poorly made junk when it arrives, you should pursue returning it. I have read that aliexpress is pretty on top of returns, to legitimize it as an online retail shopping site, as opposed to the free wheeling alibaba pirate site.

PS when I click on the link for this, I get a popup "new to ali express? collect your $100 coupon". I haven't clicked on it, but if legit, that could cover most of the shipping cost!

PPS because I was curious, I tried signing up with a different email address, no coupon. Asked them why, because "available only on first come first serve basis", meaning they are all given away but the popup still there to suggest it.....that's lame and scammy, doesn't reflect well on them unfortunately.

[NYKiter]

Its about time someone came up with something affordable...some of these companies charge over a grand for an alum foil with G10 wings that costs a maximum of $150 in materials is rather ridiculous...

[Kamikuza]

Shipping is $70 to here, but my Axis foil just arrived.

[DukeSilver]

Shipping is $70 to here, but my Axis foil just arrived.

Nice. Look forward to a report after your first test flight.

[Bletti]

Awesome tegirinenashi! Yes I'm sure worst case you can use the wings but hopefully it's great! When do you expect it to arrive?