Udrones, which has been selling ready-to-fly ArduCopters for a while, is now also selling a ready-to-fly ArduPlane. APM assembled, ArduPlane code loaded and everything tested. Just add your own RC gear. $995.
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David: done...
Maybe @Chris Anderson should re post this now on the main blog ?
625$ is a fair price for the materials and labor involved. It still needs crash proofing, but at that price it is acceptable for it not to have it. I still wish they would have a deal for 15$ 2.4 transmitter instead of only offering a DX8, but I really am glad to see that they have finally ended "operation xmas cash grab". It's always nice to be vindicated. Now they just need to get an advertising campaign going to sell these to the super-rich techno-phobic drone enthusiast impulse buyer who needs one. May I suggest "brookstone" :). Also, may I suggest that they put up some videos of the plane unboxing and flying .... just so people can watch that. It was one of the things that I really noticed as "missing" from the site. I would love to unbox one on youtube for a discount.
Incidently I recently crash proofed a bixler/sky surfer for a friend. The cost do a full crash proofing is about 50$ US when using the right vendors and includes about 2-3 hours of labor. My friend paid about 115$ from readymaderc for the plane alone, actually ready to fly with a remote, and I shipped it out to him for about 195$ including shipping. We did however use some slightly overpriced vendors due to a time constraint hence why it's over 50$. I didn't charge any money for labor though..... because I wanted to split shipping with him on some other purchases and I really want him to get into this so we can split further orders.
Don--good spot. I think they listened to the feedback! I'll post that.
@Ellison chat "There's nothing like a healthy profit to drive product development!" (or competition).
I'm not sure why we're continuing with this thread of discussion. I think that everyone agrees that the price is high, I mean Hobbyking offers the bixler plane with a radio for about $100. However some are willing to pay for the convenience of a ready made solution. On the flip side, if they lower the price you'd have way to many inexperienced people buying it, and causing all kinds of mischief.
It's a good thing that the company is making a profit, as I mentioned before it helps to keep them in business, and continue developing the software and electronics for the rest of us. There's nothing like a healthy profit to drive product development!
@Ravi - If you look at my last post I calculated the cost of the plane factoring american labor values into the cost I quoted and I also added in assembly costs. I don't even account for the volume discount that they probably got on buying these parts. I also the factored the electronics added to the plane at their price without any quibbling. There is still at least 300$ surcharge on the plane that cannot be accounted for in parts or labor. If you would like to puchase the exact same machine I assume you .... It can be purchased for about 700$.
@ Jeff PM sent. Feel free to call me over xmas. I also hope they improve the quality of the product because as it stands at 1000$ this is not an acceptable product.
i think one should understand that technical man power is very expensive in america. to put things together in san diego , california, DIY drones have to hire people at high hourly rates (may be 40$ an hour). volumes of production right now are not high enough to justify low prices. but eventually prices would be lower as the production rises. you should undersatnd that this blog is a DIY blog, DO-IT-YORSELF. the assembled planes are only for those who are new to processor electornics and who are new to model aeroplanes flight theory. so be happy, assemble yourself and in the process learn more. ravi, india
I concur with DAvid, the package is a little expensive. They're probably calculating a healthy profit margin into it. But, hey I guess, indirectly the hardware is funding the open source software development. Whoever believes that open source is free is naive. One way or other, it's being paid for. Even if programmers don't get paid, the time they spend, is subsidised by their day jobs.
In very simple terms so I don't look like a mad RC pilot who expects everything for nothing ..... I re-read my last post and decided to condense it.
The APM electronics these guys are putting together has a "value added service" in terms that it requires soldering and uploading of software the former of which can be quite daunting and requires tools. The building of the APM pod (that wooden thing that holds the hardware) has a value of at most 40$ sold unassembled and about 80$ sold assembled (ref. ready made RC). The plane then has a cost of about 75$ and then let's charitably add about 10$ added in added assembly costs. This means that on top of pre-soldered APM hardware you have a maximum of about ~170$ max. added to original price of the APM hardware, which someone posted as being purchasable independently at a cost of ~530$. This means that including value added service the total cost of this machine including a healthy profit margin should be about 700$ + shipping. Also, normally when you get a package deal you get a discount. Where is the 300$????
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