[NSRCA-discussion] JR Stuff, Where made?

[Bob Richards]

Ed Miller <edbon85 at charter.net> wrote:
    Not true. Even in Wally World, one can find US based and produced products. 
  I remember when Wally World bragged about carrying USA made products.
   
  Now, to get a little more back on topic....
   
  Back in '92 I decided to assemble an all-American pattern plane. The only American radio was the Ace Micropro. Not a bad radio, but did not compare well with the best Futaba or JR systems. Sadly, it only had 256 resolution, found that out the hard way. Impossible to trim a pattern plane. I talked to Ace about it, and they only said "256 is better than most servos".
   
  For an engine, I bought an Abitar Predator 1.20. Cool looking engine, dual overhead cams, 4 valves, etc. Not a real low-end torker, but really shined turning higher rpms. The company went out of business shortly after I bought the engine, I was not about to invest much time in an engine that parts availability was questionable.
   
  Back to my trusty Futaba 7UAP and OS 1.20.  That is what I flew at the '93 Nats, in my Hanson Runaround.
   
  I flew Proline radios in the '70s. Kraft and Proline were the best systems -- bar none.  At one time, K&B was known to be a top quality product. What happened? I think the people that started these companies, that had the real vision and spark, retired and let someone take over that was only interested in the profit. (I know that is what happened to Kraft, remember the really cheesy plastic case systems that came out after Phil retired?). That is essentially what happened to Harley Davidson when AMF took over.
   
  All it took was for one company to start offshoring, based on the recommendation of the bean counters. Then it was the "me, too" attitude that took over.
   
  Don't worry, the pendulum will swing. There is already evidence of that. I read somewhere that the cost of production is now higher in Japan than here in the US. Maybe that is why they are investing in factories here. Once the standard-of-living in the other countries start to come up (bootstrapped by us to some extent) then the cost of offshoring will make it less attractive to do so.
   
  Hopefully, when that happens, there will still be some visionary people left.  Someone that will say "We can do it here AND do it the best" instead of "Can we do it here as cheaply as possible?". Hopefully we won't have forgotten how to build a factory.
   
  (climbing down off my Made-in-the-USA soapbox).
   
  Bob R.
   
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