J

jcensner

Member
I ordered a carbon fiber baggage door for my RV-8 from Charles Wilhite last month and haven't heard from him since. I researched past history a few years back and others seem to have had the same experience. I was wondering if history was repeating itself? I have repeatedly left messages with no response.

Jack
 
jcensner said:
I ordered a carbon fiber baggage door for my RV-8 from Charles Wilhite last month and haven't heard from him since. I researched past history a few years back and others seem to have had the same experience. I was wondering if history was repeating itself? I have repeatedly left messages with no response.
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I hope you didn't pay......up front..

Lot's of customers, including a friend of mine, lost their canopy's as well as thousands of dollars. He had a good product, and seemed legit.......but got behind, and never paid back as promised. I'm surprised that Charles still uses the same name.

L.Adamson ---- RV6A
 
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH CHARLES WILHITE!!

I ordered and paid for a carbon baggage door from Mr Wilhite some years ago. Never received a thing, never got an answer. I would LOVE to meet Mr. Wilhite at a fly-in someday.......

Bob Gibbons
RV-8 N58RG
 
Same Name, but now in Fort Worth, TX

L.Adamson said:
I hope you didn't pay......up front..

Lot's of customers, including a friend of mine, lost their canopy's as well as thousands of dollars. He had a good product, and seemed legit.......but got behind, and never paid back as promised. I'm surprised that Charles still uses the same name.

L.Adamson ---- RV6A
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Thanks for the heads up, but we had paid. We are now disbuting the charge. He's in Fort Worth, TX. 972-755-1545 if anyone wants to catch up with him. His website on Google is even down now. Seems to move quickly as soon as he hooks a few in.

Jack
 
jcensner said:
Thanks for the heads up, but we had paid. We are now disbuting the charge. He's in Fort Worth, TX. 972-755-1545 if anyone wants to catch up with him. His website on Google is even down now. Seems to move quickly as soon as he hooks a few in.

Jack
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My wife said she saw Charles at Hicks a week or so ago driving down our taxiway. I personally haven't spotted him in years. He's not listed as an owner at Hicks nor is Gamut. For the ex-customer hoping to meet him at a fly-in someday, he doesn't fly!
 
I am one of the few people (only person?) to ever have something completed by Mr Wilhite. I have his carbon fiber canopy, which is great. Getting him to finish it was like pulling teeth. I even promoted him here, something I deeply regret. IMHO, if his character was 1/10th as good as his work, there wouldn't be a problem. I wish someone had the skill and inclination to come and copy what he did. Of course he would probably hire a lawyer and...

Just stay away from him. And no, he doesn't fly. That should make us all proud; he isn't one of us.

Bob Kelly
 
This is sad to hear that good people get taken for big money on our hobby. Unfortunately over the years I've seen too many of these types of posts on VAF. Perhaps Doug could set up a new forum category named "Naughty Vendors" or something similar where there is one place to go to find posts on vendors that we all should stay away from.
 
Thanks for all the scoop on Charles Wilhite

Just wanted to thank everyone for the info on Mr. Wilhite. I feel fortunate only loosing 265.00.

Anyone know someone else who makes a Carbon fiber baggage door for an RV-8? Not looking forward to doing this one. Any hints on how to ease the process?

Thanks, Jack
 
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Is the word Chutzpah?

The following is the first sentence from Mr Wilhites' web site.

"It is sad and unfortunate that trust and honesty are so rare"

- from the comments in this thread it would seem he is an expert in this area.

I am very happy to see charlatans, dreamers and conmen exposed but I guess there is always the risk of legal ramifications if too much is said. But I also believe there is a moral obligation to warn others, especially where safety might be compromised.

Perhaps to avoid the overly litigious VAF could assemble a Whitelist rather than a Blacklist?

Personally I was fool enough to be taken in by a subaru conversion company who shall not be named but left me tens of thousands out of pocket and with Egg on my face.

Happily after a few years to recover I am now expecting my Aero Sport IO-375 to arrive here in Australia in a couple of months time, when building will recommence in earnest.

I'll likely sell the Subaru and it's supercharger to someone whose past time dictates that their wheels stay on the ground.

Peter
 
jcensner said:
Just wanted to thank everyone for the info on Mr. Wilhite. I feel fortunate only loosing 265.00.

Anyone know someone else who makes a Carbon fiber baggage door for an RV-8? Not looking forward to doing this one. Any hints on how to ease the process?

Thanks, Jack
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I have no idea if he would be interested, but give Geoff Combs a call. He is already making a variety of carbon fiber products for the RV-10. He is also a VAF advertiser. A one off may be expensive, but if there are others interested, certainly that would drive the costs down.

Aerosport Products
(614) 834-8659
 
jcensner said:
Anyone know someone else who makes a Carbon fiber baggage door for an RV-8? Not looking forward to doing this one. Any hints on how to ease the process?
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Here's what I did. Charles's Carbon Fiber door was brand new when I was building, and it sure looked like a great idea to me, so I got in contact with him (this was six or seven years ago), and he said he was just workign on a new latch, and he'd let me know when he was ready to ship some. I waited, and waited...never heard back (at least he didn't have any of my money). I finally decided that heck, I had th parts for the Van's door - I might as well try to build it while waiting for the composite one. When I was done, I was perfectly happy with the aluminum door - imagine that! So what have you got to lose? Go ahead and build the door - many have done so, and most all turned out OK in the end!

Paul
 
Anyone know someone else who makes a Carbon fiber baggage door for an RV-8? Not looking forward to doing this one. Any hints on how to ease the process?
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Jack - as Paul says, why not just build it? It's hardly rocket science... ;)

What advantage does a CF door have? The AL door is very stiff and light, and the construction technique ensure it is matched to your airframe. All you have to do is lie back in that fuselage area and drill the final holes.

Andy
 
A couple thoughts on the 8 baggage door: I had one for a while, actually a couple of them. While I was trying to promote Mr. Wilhite (what a mistake,) I had IIRC two of them, one went as a drawing prize at a fly-in and the other I traded to Stein, I believe. They were very simple to manufacture, and very nice. I always thought carbon fiber was overkill, and that glass would have done fine. I could be wrong. Charles did get the latch figured out, but he was only good at the composite stuff; mechanical was not easy for him. They were made from two layers of cloth with a 1/4" foam spacer sandwiched between them (again, IIRC,) and were vacuum bagged. I believe they took less than an hour labor to make. They fit great! Maybe someone with an 8 could make a mold...

Bob Kelly
 
Wilhite took me too!

DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM BUT REPORT HIM TO THE POLICE!!! HE IS A CROOK! That is the nicest thing I can say about him.
 
Its funny how aviation seems to attract scheisters. Eventually Darwin has a way to play catch up with these types. I have a good story that I won't repeat here of a guy who makes a living from breaking into hangars and reselling avionics. He happened to steal some radios out of a C-190 from one of my best friends who happens to be an ex-Marine and is a part-time sheriff's deputy, who was definitely the wrong target to pick.
 
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