- Joined
- Dec 21, 2010
- Messages
- 330
- Reaction score
- 68
Recently our University of Illinois NASA Student Launch (USLI) team ordered their competition motor from Red Arrow Hobbies. A combination of poor planning on our part, and University purchasing system red tape, caused this order to be placed pretty late to expect arrival in time to travel to Salt Lake City for the event. I asked the student leaders to double check with Dave to make sure we'd have the motor in time, and he promised that we would. A couple of days before heading west, I got a message saying that the motor had arrived on campus, and I could pick it up. Whew! Cross that off my list of worries.
What I didn't know then was that staff from Red Arrow had personally *driven* the motor to us in Champaign from southern Michigan (3+ hours away), because they knew how important it was for us to get that reload in time. We could never have asked for better service, and folks here need to know that. Thanks!
In several years of advising and mentoring student rocketry groups and activities on campus, I have always provided a list of regional vendors for them to check out. Wildman, Balsa Machining, Red Arrow, Sirius, and others have all provided great service - every time. I suspect if you ask, they will tell you that business with student groups and university purchasing procedures often takes a bit more effort - we're the problem children in the hobby, so to speak. They always come through, and we appreciate that they go the extra mile for us.
Mark
What I didn't know then was that staff from Red Arrow had personally *driven* the motor to us in Champaign from southern Michigan (3+ hours away), because they knew how important it was for us to get that reload in time. We could never have asked for better service, and folks here need to know that. Thanks!
In several years of advising and mentoring student rocketry groups and activities on campus, I have always provided a list of regional vendors for them to check out. Wildman, Balsa Machining, Red Arrow, Sirius, and others have all provided great service - every time. I suspect if you ask, they will tell you that business with student groups and university purchasing procedures often takes a bit more effort - we're the problem children in the hobby, so to speak. They always come through, and we appreciate that they go the extra mile for us.
Mark