Scratch building? God no. Kit building? I could go for that. In fact, you and I both DID, I'm sure. I think many of the problems in our hobby today come from the lack of emotional investment and dedication to history, planes, and flight. I won't say that NO ARF flyers could possibly come from the kind of passion for planes and flying that I came from. But at most, there are very, very few.

I remembering struggling to scratch together enough spare money to buy a .40-sized glow motor (K+B was the cheapest dependable one then) for my newly-built Kadet Senior, which had already tapped me out for finishing materials. I remember my wife trying not to kill me for spending those few dollars. I'd spent the two years prior to that saving and doing extra work to buy a radio (I'm thinking Futaba FG but it might have been before that...), and I remember I flew my first radio for ten, maybe twelve years before I could afford to upgrade it to a narrower band, and then another 5 or 7 years before I bought a ...JR? Circus?

Then my business took off and I could afford anything I liked, but I have always felt that the years I struggled to stay in the hobby were my happiest. I see the attitudes now and I want to move to the north pole. But I do like some of the ARFs.

~ Jim ~ [sm=49_49.gif]