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Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

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Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

Old 03-31-2011, 06:17 AM
  #26  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

i barely have time to assemble an ARF. Building a kit would take me a year.
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Old 03-31-2011, 06:24 AM
  #27  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I do both. I really do enjoy building as it helps me keep my mind sharp (at least that is what I tell my self). I have build several models from scratch and that gives me the most pleasure. I can take it to the field and know there is not another one like it. Don't get me wrong, I still have and enjoy my ARF's. Build one, put it in the air, and see if you get the same feeling as flying an ARF or RTF. I think not. Just my 2c.
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:08 AM
  #28  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I'm gonna start my Sig Kadet MK II and Ultra Sport Kit which was given to me by my friend for Free. My mentor hates ARF's with passion who is teaching me. He said once you've gone through may be 30 kits and 10 years down the road, you'd be able to design your own plane. Honestly I know I'm gonna love it as I drive every week 28 to 30 miles to his house and learn. I'm gonna start off this Sunday and I'm so happy for it.

Time is the factor, and technology is going way ahead, and ARF's have so many defects and sub-standard that they are pretty much so vulnerable to crash, the likelihood is very high, but the plane which is built with our own hand, so many factors would be eliminated which may cause a plane to crash. I'm down for Kit Building and planning to buy top flite kit as well
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:13 AM
  #29  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I don't think there are really that many fewer builders out there than before. Sure, some of the guys that built because they had to have switched over, but the change is that there are many many more people involved in the hobby. Some of the people getting involved will be builders. Most won't, but if before you had 100 people involved in the hobby, 100 were builders. Now you have 1000 people involved. 100 are still builders.
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:16 AM
  #30  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

Kits became expensive when balsa either became scarsce or too expensive to make here in the states.Arfs are of better quality than before and many people simply want to fly the planesand dont have the time or experience to build.but there are a number of builders in the hobby and Happily I am one of them and love scale building.I also fly electrics and purchase arf s.my gas planes are usually kit or built from plans.being retired I have time .
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:39 AM
  #31  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?


ORIGINAL: TestPilot-101

Getting back to the original question why people don't build, there is a simple answer. Humans simply want quick gratification. Ever since someone was willing to do something or make something easier, humans are always willing to buy into it without fail. Just human nature it's that simple. We can make excuses until we're blue in the face, but we're all subject to it. From instant oatmeal to communication, as long as someone is willing to do it for us we want it. The more the better is the way people like it. (Just a personal observation).
100% correct. The industry picked up on the ARFs though and changed the hobby forever. I am one of the very few builders I know that is still building. There really are a lot less builders left. I teach building to any of my students that would like to learn. They usually build the one plane with me but go right back to ARFs. Not a big deal, at least they have an idea on how to do there own repairs after they build a kit.
The only problem I have is the I DON'T HAVE THE TIME cop out. I worked around all the things life tossed at me from kids and work so I understand. When someone says they really don't want to build I can fully understand and agree with them. One of my old students took 9 months to assemble his Aeroworks easy build ARF, he has the time but just wasn't in a hurry to get it done. He has been at the repair on it for three months. Minor damage but he really isn't into working on planes. It's not a time problem or skill problem, the guy can go into our wood shop/club and build a complete entertainment center in a month.
If a person doesn't want to build fine with me, it's that time thing I keep hearing that sets me off. I just turned down two kit builds from a fellow I fly with. I told him I was going to be busy with a build for myself for a change. No problem, he will wait until I have my own plane built then have me build his planes. Building for others is how I can afford to build my own planes. I have seen the lack of kits slow a lot of guys down over in the building forum but things have been looking up the last couple of months.
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:42 AM
  #32  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?


+10 be it arfs or kit builts the point is to get em in the air and fly em the arfs came about to fill the gap for people who either didn't have the time or the skills/patience/space to
build.
Kit building IMHO is a hobby in and of itself, the ARF's make it possible for a broader spectrum of people to become involved in the hobby as a whole.
To those with the elitist attitude who would label ARF flyers lazyazz because they don't build everything they fly I would ask is your car an automatic tranny?
do you use strictly wood to heat your home? do you cut ice from the river and pile it in the cold room to keep your food cold ?, do you mow your lawn with a push mower?
do you write a pen and ink letter and Mail it or use E-mail? different scenarios but the moral of the story is the same, to each his own


ORIGINAL: Hossfly


ORIGINAL: vger105

Maybe my view is a tad myoptic but it seems to me with the advent of ARFs and RTFs, people aren't building as many planes from kits as they used to. 20 years ago when I was last in the hobby, it seems that many more people built, and _enjoyed_ building, planes from kits. I posed this question to members of my flying club and the consensus seemed to be that either people don't have the time for kits or they just want to fly and not be ''bothered'' building. I'm presently building a Great Planes J-3, 40, and I'm loving every minute!




Right now the last post was Jolly Popper. In reading thru them, I find very good reasoning in each one. To answer your question requires a Doctorate on the subject and I still don't think that would do the topic justice.
When I started building models back in the mid-late '40s, just cuttting wood and gluing things was a great joy for a kid. That first ignition Thor .29 almost sent me back to more fishing, but somehow I managed to do both all my life.

Today life is different. So many things to make life easy also seems to complicate life even more. The average family does not have adequate room to build as the home must be kept pristine. Who today would ever think of having a big cardboard mat to slide under the bed in one's room, then slide out to cut balsa when time allowed. What kid today would take the craft into the kitchen and turn on a gas stove burner to heat a wire to burn holes for engine mounting and such? Yes, it is a different world.

Of course the ''Yankees'' up NAWTH (I lived up there for18 years) have basements which allow more building room. Down here in the South, not many basements and most homes have small garages which house everything but an automobile. Far too many toys other than toy airplanes, so those toys demand time and in today's economy, two working parents have trouble getting kids to all the many things that schools dream up for keeping themselves in control to justify their positions, plus keeping kids busy with things not really needed.

So when someone does get into model-aviation, why build a model if the object is to FLY. Get an ARF and FLY. Golfers seldom build their clubs, hunters seldom build their guns, I don't build my fishing equipment - do you? The ARF is just what today's society demands of us.

Now I am long retired and I build, yet I find less and less time to do so. Family and grandkids are much more important today than just 15 years ago. In addition, I am much more critical and demanding of my own finished product than I was just 15 years ago. OTOH, ARFs really don't fit my interests, yet I have several. [sm=confused.gif]

So with all that mish-mash, I have no answer to the OP's question. When someone says to me, ''Have a good day'' I reply, ''You have a great whatever of YOUR choice.''

So Arf, Kit, Scratch, we are all model airplane folks so let us all enjoy model aviation in our individual selections and then tip a cold one together.
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:53 AM
  #33  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

Meh. Much ado over nothing.
It's not about laziness, or stupidity, or superiority, or any of that wharrgarbl. It's simply a matter of priorities.
I mean...you can't say 'you don't have time"...we all have the same 24 hours in each day. So...it's just a function of how you choose to spend your time...and we're going to choose to spend the time on the things that are important and rewarding to us.
It was asked above whether I mow my lawn with a push mower. Why no...I don't. In fact, i don't mow it at all...i pay some guy $25 every two weeks to come do it for me.
You know what? I don't wash my car either. I pay my daughter to do that on the weekends. (She has a thriving business, actually...I'm really quite proud of her)
Guess what....those things take time...time I've CHOSEN to purchase for others...freeing up mine to, you guessed it, build airplanes. (Or fly them...or teach my son to fly them...or whatever.)
Does that make me special? No. better than an "ARFer"? No. It just means that I think building airplanes is more important to me than the $25 it costs to have my lawn mowed. *shrug*
Horrace said it exceptionally well...
Arf, Kit, Scratch, we are all model airplane folks so let us all enjoy model aviation in our individual selections and then tip a cold one together.
Amen.
Let's all go have a good time with toy airplanes, shall we?
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Old 03-31-2011, 08:08 AM
  #34  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

personaly, i can't imagine being in this hobby without building my own planes, that said, i am 56 yrs old and built my first u-control nobler when i was about 14, so i learned that this hobby included building as a element of the hobby itself. i imagine most on here of sililar age have the same opinion and responce.
from industries view point, the ARF's and such are a goldmine. as mentioned, instant gratification and the convenience of not having to spend hours of " precious" time before getting into the air has brought allot of otherwise dis-interested people into the market.
the potential for those people to convert to building and thus start purchasing other related items in the industry isreasonably high, as well...is there any one here who has never piled up thier plane and needed to rebuild a wing? the ARF's are a fantastic introduction to the entire industry..... how many guys here started flying ARF's, retired and decided to try building, or wanted a plane that's not offered as an ARF? they are also a quick and less costly way to find out if you really like the hobby.
i haven't flown a plane in close to 40 yrs., i don't even know if i will enjoy the flying part , anymore, i might have been a good candidate for buying an ARF, but i knew i could build one, had the time and enthusiasmto do it,so i did. some don't know if they are capable, don't want to spend the time amd effort to build only to find out they didn't do a good enough job, so they buy a plane they know will fly right. find out they like the convenience and continue buying ARF's, so the ball rolls on.......the industry doesn't care if you buy planes, kits, or wood and glue, that's just the nature of the beast.
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Old 03-31-2011, 08:16 AM
  #35  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I like kits because I enjoy building (only done a couple) but mostly I want to build kits so I have a totally unique plane. It just makes it much more personal being able to cover it however I want. I think I'd be willing to buy ARC kits as time is an issue, but I'll choose a kit over an ARF any day of the week. It's also quite satisfying to see your plane fly and know that you turned it from a pile of wood into a flying plane rather than someone on an assembly line.
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Old 03-31-2011, 08:32 AM
  #36  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

ORIGINAL: summerwind
as with anything else, newbies lack certain skills that they now call "a hobby of it's own" in regards to the building part?.........LMAO
i do like newbies for one thing though, i get perfectly good engines for less the 1/4 the cost of new because they can't tune them...............of course this has nothing to do with the airplane/tank setup because the ARF instructions says so.
Ihave noticed a general trend not just limted to RC of people just not being very mechanically inclined any more. Nobody seems to know how to build or fix anything. Ihad no choice. If I wanted to ride my bike or drive my car I had to maintain and fix it when needed. When something broke in the house, dad fixed it; we never called anyone. There has been a cultural shift though that I think has accelerated even more in the last 10-15 years. Everything is instant. Instant information, instant TV shows & movies, instant money from a machine (or a plastic card), fast food without getting out of the car and airplanes that can be flying in 30 minutes.

My personal feeling is that something is lost with all of it. A lot of the quality and the experience is gone. There are positive aspects to of course. Everything brings good and bad.

I'm not immune to it of course. I have a number of ARF's and I kind like pulling some pieces of foam out of a box and flying it later that day. I have a GPUltra Sport kit on the bench at home. All the tail pieces are built and I am ready to move on to the wing. Hopefully it will be finished by the time I retire in 25 years.

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Old 03-31-2011, 09:34 AM
  #37  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

Wow, never seen 19 users in a single post[X(][X(][X(][X(][X(]
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Old 03-31-2011, 09:39 AM
  #38  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

When I first started in RC my choices were kit or scratch. Oh, a few ARF "kits" were available but they were priced way out of the average modeler's budget. I still prefer kits as they provide more of a feeling of accomplishment. A finished aircraft is the product of my hands, my time, my skill (or lack thereof lol). That first flight and all the ones that follow seem to mean just that little bit more.

Today's market has almost totally reversed the situation from when I first started. There are now ARF aircraft that cost less than a kit by itself, much less a kit plus all the extras needed to actually finish it and get it flying! I just ran into that when trying to choose a new trainer for getting back into the hobby after a 15 year absence. Financially it was more feasible for me to purchase an electric ARF (E-flite Apprentice 15e) than the kit I would have preferred. The only "building" involved was gluing the wing halves together and bolting on the tail feathers. There is absolutely no sense of pride in craftsmanship associated with this aircraft. It's mine, I bought it, but there is less feeling of "ownership" than if I had built it from a kit.

Now here's the funny part - even though I prefer building from a box of wood or from plans I do have ARF birds on my "must have" list. Plenty of 'em.
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Old 03-31-2011, 10:49 AM
  #39  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

If I may:
20 years ago ARF's were just coming into the picture. They were mostly trainers and when built most of them with the correct engine installed were tail heavy. Now look at today's ARF and you get an airplane either as a trainer, 3D, Scale, warbird etc. Hangar 9 has done a great job of putting good products as well as Top Flight among others.

Now back to the basic question. Why are people not building kits?

Here is the short version:

1. Time= If arf's were not available, everyone would still have time to build and fly their RC airplanes.

2. We are now the "Iwant it now and dont want to wait crowd".= I can get a great looking arf and look good cause I cant build or cover worth a darn.

That's it in a nutshell

My 2 pennies worth.

As for me I have done both. I have owned the following arf's: Hangar 9 RV-8, Hangar 9 Taylorcraft 20cc(new version) World models mach 1 skyraider, Sig Rascal (giant scale)

I have built the following: Most recent was the Sig Morrisey Bravo, Royal F4U Corsair, Jenson Ugly Stick, Carl Goldberg Super chipmunk (3 times, love that airplane), Great planes Super Stearman and a Sig Cougar.

I truly love the building. I know where and how much glue was used. I know where I reinforced a certain structure etc. The arf's are getting better and some of them are great. So in today's world it is your choice.

Glenn Williams
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Old 03-31-2011, 11:10 AM
  #40  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I stand corrected then - it's not that I don't have time (we all have 24hrs in a day as pointed out), it's that I have better (to me) or more impotant (to me) things to spend my time on than building an RC plane from a kit or from scratch. I mow my own lawn, occasionally build shelving, cabinets, trundle beds or whatever we need and repair my own house/appliances/cars/boat if it's within my ability. I do those things to save money and learn something in the process. There is nothing wrong with paying someone to do any of those things - again, people have different priorities and everyones situation is different. I have been in the RC plane hobby for about 6yrs this time around (started in the 80s with 1 kit and 1 ARF) and I still consider myself a noob - but not lazy.
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Old 03-31-2011, 11:12 AM
  #41  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

ORIGINAL: armody
Wow, never seen 19 users in a single post[X(][X(][X(][X(][X(]
If you want to see a busy thread with a lot of wildly different opinions just ask about kits vs. ARF, OS vs. Saito, Futaba vs. JR, electric vs. glow, "has Monokote changed?" or anything along those lines.

On second thought, please don't. I can't take any more of them.

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Old 03-31-2011, 11:18 AM
  #42  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

ORIGINAL: DenverJayhawk

i barely have time to assemble an ARF. Building a kit would take me a year.

You are exactly right. It depends on the kit though, I've seen some built in 6 months or a little less. But the guy was retired and didn't have to work 40 hrs a day and raise a family. One of the few things I like about ARF aircraft is I can do what I can to stay ahead in the economy, work 2 jobs and raise a faimily, and just grab my plane put it in the car and go flying once a week. With a kit, I'd miss out on good flying days if I had nothing else to fly. Thank God for progress!

Now I'm a little smarter and have 3 planes and they are all backups to each other incase one needs repair. So for the most part, I always manage more air time.

I've been a member of RCU for many years, and had 2 other avitars, so you can't go by the date I joined. It seems someone always starts a Thread like this for entertainment reasons. Threads like this starts getting into heated debates of what's better- Kits or ARF's?

Then the name calling starts, then the Moderators do best: Warn, Clip, Cut, Edit and Lock.

I'll say this once, and I write this with the backing of many. It doesn't matter if it's a Kit, ARF, RTF. It's all good if you bring it to a field to fly, and proud of what you have and enjoy the freedom of flight.

Yes, I build Kits and buy ARf's and occationally I'll go to the Marketplace and buy a RTF. So for others, I don't care what you have, just as long you bring something to fly and like to share it at RCU. Anything else is just Bull IMHO.

Enough written!

Pete
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Old 03-31-2011, 11:18 AM
  #43  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I've already done that lol

Take a look at this

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10...m.htm#10434852

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Old 03-31-2011, 12:34 PM
  #44  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I grew up in a family that fixwed stuff rather than throw it away and start over. As my dad said, "If it ain't broke, it ain't ours." I have built a lot of things: Cars, trailers, my shop, motorcycles, boats, a lot of kits and now I design and build my own RC airplanes. I was also published in RC Modeler twice. Some of my flying buddies say I'm the guy they want to be when they grow up. Most who say that are over 40. I'm 61. I have nothing against ARF flyers but building a few kits will allow them to repair and modify their airplanes. Minimum tools are required. If they prefer to pay for new ARFs and assemblies for their ARFs then good luck. I would think the paying for ARFs would get tiresome especially after flying ability has plateaued. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems the Value Equation (the time it takes to completely pay for something vs. the time you get to use it.) would invert. I find mytime spent building is as enjoyable as the time spent flying. I find the time designing to be even more enjoyable than either building or flying. Much more creative to me. For those who wish to fly ARF's, have at it. Those who wish to experience more of the hobby: build something.
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Old 03-31-2011, 12:52 PM
  #45  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?


ORIGINAL: warbird addict


+10 be it arfs or kit builts the point is to get em in the air and fly em the arfs came about to fill the gap for people who either didn't have the time or the skills/patience/space to
build.
Kit building IMHO is a hobby in and of itself, the ARF's make it possible for a broader spectrum of people to become involved in the hobby as a whole.
To those with the elitist attitude who would label ARF flyers lazyazz because they don't build everything they fly I would ask is your car an automatic tranny?
do you use strictly wood to heat your home? do you cut ice from the river and pile it in the cold room to keep your food cold ?, do you mow your lawn with a push mower?
do you write a pen and ink letter and Mail it or use E-mail? different scenarios but the moral of the story is the same, to each his own


ORIGINAL: Hossfly


ORIGINAL: vger105

Maybe my view is a tad myoptic but it seems to me with the advent of ARFs and RTFs, people aren't building as many planes from kits as they used to. 20 years ago when I was last in the hobby, it seems that many more people built, and _enjoyed_ building, planes from kits. I posed this question to members of my flying club and the consensus seemed to be that either people don't have the time for kits or they just want to fly and not be ''bothered'' building. I'm presently building a Great Planes J-3, 40, and I'm loving every minute!




Right now the last post was Jolly Popper. In reading thru them, I find very good reasoning in each one. To answer your question requires a Doctorate on the subject and I still don't think that would do the topic justice.
When I started building models back in the mid-late '40s, just cuttting wood and gluing things was a great joy for a kid. That first ignition Thor .29 almost sent me back to more fishing, but somehow I managed to do both all my life.

Today life is different. So many things to make life easy also seems to complicate life even more. The average family does not have adequate room to build as the home must be kept pristine. Who today would ever think of having a big cardboard mat to slide under the bed in one's room, then slide out to cut balsa when time allowed. What kid today would take the craft into the kitchen and turn on a gas stove burner to heat a wire to burn holes for engine mounting and such? Yes, it is a different world.

Of course the ''Yankees'' up NAWTH (I lived up there for18 years) have basements which allow more building room. Down here in the South, not many basements and most homes have small garages which house everything but an automobile. Far too many toys other than toy airplanes, so those toys demand time and in today's economy, two working parents have trouble getting kids to all the many things that schools dream up for keeping themselves in control to justify their positions, plus keeping kids busy with things not really needed.

So when someone does get into model-aviation, why build a model if the object is to FLY. Get an ARF and FLY. Golfers seldom build their clubs, hunters seldom build their guns, I don't build my fishing equipment - do you? The ARF is just what today's society demands of us.

Now I am long retired and I build, yet I find less and less time to do so. Family and grandkids are much more important today than just 15 years ago. In addition, I am much more critical and demanding of my own finished product than I was just 15 years ago. OTOH, ARFs really don't fit my interests, yet I have several. [sm=confused.gif]

So with all that mish-mash, I have no answer to the OP's question. When someone says to me, ''Have a good day'' I reply, ''You have a great whatever of YOUR choice.''

So Arf, Kit, Scratch, we are all model airplane folks so let us all enjoy model aviation in our individual selections and then tip a cold one together.


Well put, Warbird Addict.
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Old 03-31-2011, 02:16 PM
  #46  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

For me kit building, or even scratch building has always been therapy, a sense of accomplishment, and pride. Unfortunately the unfinished kits setting on the shelf back home do so because of my active duty commitment, (soon to change in 21 months). I miss building but kits are becoming a scarce commodity at most LHS. I can only imagine this scarcity is due to ARF convenience, cost, availability and a number of other reasons too numerous to list. Can't speak for anyone else but I truly intend to start up my building once I retire and am not continually traipsing the globe for mother and country.

Steve
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Old 03-31-2011, 02:21 PM
  #47  
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

There are builders... there are flyers.... and there are those who do both.
Those who say they don't have time to build, bascially don't enjoy building or they would do it anyway.  I don't have time either but I do it anyway because its what I grew up with.  If you wanted to fly you built.  Today you open a box and slap a few pieces together. Nothing wrong with that either.  Change is good.  Yes it takes me 6+ mos to complete a kit but oh well - I love to build and kitbashing.

There are many many pages on this topic in rcgroups title how to bring model building back.  Not the exact same topic but many of the issues listed there apply here ad nauseum.  And there are hundreds and hundreds of kits out there from the big manufacturers and cottage industries alike. I believe there is a long list  in that thread.   If you don't mind showing up with a hangar 9 whatever and see 8 others just like it. because your there to fly... thats great.. That's just not me.
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Old 03-31-2011, 02:44 PM
  #48  
AltaTed
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I love this hobby. Less than a year ago I got my first ARF and my very first flight ever went fine until landing. The field was mud under the grass so the wheels sunk in and that ripped the battery cage the gear was mounted to right out of it's fuselage and left the fuselage in about 20 peices, It was not salvageable.

I was so disappointed about the quality of the foamie, my first ARF  I decided I could do a far better job. The wings and all other parts of the plane were untouched so I decided to design and build something from scratch using my stock of balsa and all the good parts out of my old plane and build a stick frame fuselage from scratch.

I just finished it and had a great time building the fuselage from scratch. Weather permitting I will fly it soon and while waiting I'm into building another kit plane and absolutely love this hobby so much I always have another plane in process in my workroom. I'm going to have my next kit stick plane finished before the weather permits flying the one I designed using foam wings and other parts from the foamie that fell apart.

I see room for both ARF and building kit planes and will do both from now on. I will however stick with upper end quality foam planes from now on. I have seen some great foamies around and I already have another new one with a duct fan I'm anxious to try out hopefully soon.
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Old 03-31-2011, 03:03 PM
  #49  
Speedy-Gonzales
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?

I love to scratch build but it usually takes me 2 years to complete a project. There are two types of scratch building. Scratch building from available plans and "true scratch building". True scratch building is when you design and draw the plans and then build the model from the plans. This is an elite group to which I participate in but I have my ARF's too.

ARF's have been around for over 50 years. One of my very first models was an ARF. Here is a picture of me with it at the age of 5 years old in 1962. Everything came prebuilt and only some assembly was required. Look closely at the model in the picture. I am sure most all of you had one of these. YES.....they were ARF's and I will state here and now that they sparked the imagination, interest, and desire of many "scratch builders" including myself to build,design,and fly, their own models.

SPEEDY

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Old 03-31-2011, 03:03 PM
  #50  
raptureboy
 
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Default RE: Why don't many people build RC airplane kits anymore?


ORIGINAL: Oberst

ORIGINAL: DenverJayhawk

i barely have time to assemble an ARF. Building a kit would take me a year.

You are exactly right. It depends on the kit though, I've seen some built in 6 months or a little less. But the guy was retired and didn't have to work 40 hrs a day and raise a family. One of the few things I like about ARF aircraft is I can do what I can to stay ahead in the economy, work 2 jobs and raise a faimily, and just grab my plane put it in the car and go flying once a week. With a kit, I'd miss out on good flying days if I had nothing else to fly. Thank God for progress!

Now I'm a little smarter and have 3 planes and they are all backups to each other incase one needs repair. So for the most part, I always manage more air time.

I've been a member of RCU for many years, and had 2 other avitars, so you can't go by the date I joined. It seems someone always starts a Thread like this for entertainment reasons. Threads like this starts getting into heated debates of what's better- Kits or ARF's?

Then the name calling starts, then the Moderators do best: Warn, Clip, Cut, Edit and Lock.

I'll say this once, and I write this with the backing of many. It doesn't matter if it's a Kit, ARF, RTF. It's all good if you bring it to a field to fly, and proud of what you have and enjoy the freedom of flight.

Yes, I build Kits and buy ARf's and occationally I'll go to the Marketplace and buy a RTF. So for others, I don't care what you have, just as long you bring something to fly and like to share it at RCU. Anything else is just Bull IMHO.

Enough written!

Pete
A BIG AMEN TO THAT ! I build kits to fly and I have arfs to practice crashing Just enjoy what ever you prefer and leave out all the name calling and all that over achiever talk. It was a cheap electric arf that got me back into the hobby. I wasn't a very good builder back when I was 14, 30+ yrs ago and it was frustrating to say the least trying to learn to build and only having a mininum of tools and help. I had an older gentleman in the club who spent a couple of wk ends helping me out. Maybe thats what you builders ought to be doing instead of bashing arf's, teach new guys some building skills, maybe a clinic during the off season or join a boy scout troop and teach it as a merit badge.
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