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Armstrong Foil is junk

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Horst Sergio
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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby Horst Sergio » Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:54 pm

bigwave wrote:
Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:00 pm
After reading this thread,I am disappointed and very impressed.The disappointment stems from the original poster using the word “Junk”. The Armstrong product is very well designed and has excellent build quality. The OP has an “Issue”. He blatantly sensationalized this by making a false statement.
Had a similar impression. To me it looks like somebody having an agenda to blaim a manufacturer.
From engineering point of view Armstrong Foil look very well to me.
And the blowhole you see on the last pictures may look bad, but again from engineering point of view, they don't need to have any affect to stiffness and stability of the connection as the load is transfered in the corners of hexagon not in the plains where the blowholes are. Have seen many blowholes in other foils.

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby marekmk » Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:23 am

so much of a agenda. sound like a disappointed lover. lol what more does he want. he was asked to send the foil back and a replacement offer. his choice to behave like a spoilt brat...................I,m sorry your going through so much a difficult time in your head. you seem to what to fight and try to humiliate at any cost. nobody but nobody has had your issues with this brand. what's up? ...............no I do not have Armstrong equipment, but plenty hard core riders around me do and not one of them is having issues, I do appreciated that there could be a rare production fault with yours, send it back and all we be resolved..............
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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby patrelsa » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:39 am

Merek...do you work for armstrong?how do you know no one else in the world has had a problem with armstrong.armie already stated a broken wing has come back.My agenda is to warn potential consumers of my experience with armstrong.If you dont like the pictures ignore them.If the pictures are interesting to you,youre welcome.If i can prevent a fellow foiler from making a bad purchase as I did,then i think i did the right thing by posting pictures of broken wing and mast

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby rombergo » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:43 am

patrelsa wrote:
Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:06 pm
No, Im trying to get rid off this foil.
If you're trying to get rid of it, just flippin send it to them. Maybe they can learn something from it and then all your suffering will have not been for nothing. They look like are doing anything they can to help, and honestly, with your tone going into this, it's understandable you (maybe?) didn't get the greatest response at the outset.

A little politeness goes a long way.

It's like you're setting yourself up to fail just to be angry at others.

What's to lose by sending it to them, more than your standpoint? You might get something better working back from them that you can sell and buy whatever other foil you want. Then this thread can finally be retired.

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby marekmk » Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:49 am

I have never worked with or for armie. we were both in the same industry and for his work as one of the most talented photographers around I had enormous respect. his passion, drive enthusiasm knew no bounds and to this day whatever he does he does with as much integrity as is humanly possible. I maybe see him once, twice a year, this year once in passing!

I'm surround by foilers in Maui, Raglan, east cost of USA who just have so much respect for the quality of the product that they ride. that does not mean that one day they might have a problem but they all know that Armstrong will always try to deal with it. Armie in the last 21 years of being a loose acquaintance of mime, has always been incredibly honorable......

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby cwood » Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:36 am

I'm confused, you said the foil was sold and gone...but now there is new damage to be found?

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby papasmerf » Sun Jul 26, 2020 4:45 am

I would like to give my unbiased opinion on this bit of controversy, as someone who really doesn't know any big names. as you can see, i joined here quite a while ago,, took a long break (not from kiting but from the forums in general) and it is nice to see some familiar names still on here,,, i assume we are all somewhat older now. i am starting to foil which led me to this thread. I absolutely don't know the OP, but I think he is getting a bit of a raw deal here, he is a consumer and a fellow kiter and I think he makes a compelling case with his pictures. not everyone is a Zen master and he obviously deals with an upsetting problem different than some but that doesn't make him a bad guy. can't folks admit that if you spent 2700 bucks on something that clearly was falling apart for a while, under warranty,,, I think most of us would not be happy. i read armie"s response and I would like to know,,, did Armie in fact offer to replace the board totally covered under warranty? I couldn't tell really from the wording, it almost sounded as if armie wanted the OP to ship the old one back and still give the OP a discount on a new one,,,which is definetely not a warranty return. but if armie did offer full warranty, then OP should have immeadiately stopped posting but is everyone 100% sure that is the case,,, didn't sound like it to me. as a consumer, i think consumers get the short straw a lot of times. IMO, it would have been more stand up of armie to say "here is a shipping label,, send it back for inspection"

I am getting ready to purchase first foil after borrowing a friends for a while,,, armstrong was def on the list,, not sure if it is the right fit though at my level. will probably progress on something cheaper that i don't mind damaging.

i just want to say,, i think this guy is getting picked on a little bit, maybe he is a great guy with less refined social skills. hopefully his email wasn't too bad, that could be the clincher.

oh well, bored on a saturday night post.

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby foursquare » Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:46 pm

I am currently experiencing issues with my Armstrong setup --- I purchased a new hydrofoil kit, and a board (which are both still in warranty), as well as purchased two more front wings second-hand.

As it stands, my largest front wing is most concerning. The fit without screws is loose, and only partially tight once the screws are secured. Even with the two front wing screws tightened down very strongly, after each session I notice that there is a black 'sludge' (almost like a black sand or paste) in the fitting between the fuselage and the wing. The beaches I ride at do not have black sand ... so that can't be it.

I'll let everyone know what the result is from my correspondence with Armstrong (which has been mixed so far), but it makes me worried about the long-term longevity of Armstrong gear. :-?

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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby airsail » Thu Sep 17, 2020 11:09 pm

Armstrong use a taper fit for the front wing, but not a true taper fit as the assembly bottoms from new so any wear will result in slop, rather than the taper moving further in and remaining tight.
The black paste you are seeing is worn carbon, coming from the movement of the worn front wing. It is actually quite an easy fix, and if caught quickly won’t further damage your fuselage.
You need to wax and apply release agent (PVA) to your fuselage and assembly hardware. You need to perfectly clean the inside of the worn wing. You then assembly with epoxy/araldite (not 5 minute), allow to cure for the full 24 hours or more. Disassemble, clean off any dags and your good to go. It’s a process called liquid shimming and used in many applications when a perfect fit is required.
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Re: Armstrong Foil is junk

Postby norcom » Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:40 am

airsail wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 11:09 pm
Armstrong use a taper fit for the front wing, but not a true taper fit as the assembly bottoms from new so any wear will result in slop, rather than the taper moving further in and remaining tight.
The black paste you are seeing is worn carbon, coming from the movement of the worn front wing. It is actually quite an easy fix, and if caught quickly won’t further damage your fuselage.
You need to wax and apply release agent (PVA) to your fuselage and assembly hardware. You need to perfectly clean the inside of the worn wing. You then assembly with epoxy/araldite (not 5 minute), allow to cure for the full 24 hours or more. Disassemble, clean off any dags and your good to go. It’s a process called liquid shimming and used in many applications when a perfect fit is required.
:thumb:
I've done the same to a couple of my GoFoil wings. Alex Aguera, the ownder/designer of the GoFoils has a good video on youtube about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkU6xGuPOOM


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