Actually I started out with "ARF" chuck gliders at age 5, the Guillow, Testor, Pacific Ace and etc. Then graduated to rubber powered PA Skeeter landing gear-less all balsa "ARFs" (I call them "ARFs" because one had to separate the wings from the balsa sheet and assemble them.) Then to the Sleek Streak ROG's with wheels and a few larger ROG's.

Also put together North Pacific "ARF" diamond layout 2 stick kites in paper that required a tail. They were $0.10 and shortly after $0.15 in 1965. String was $0.10 per roll. They were in various light pastel colors of blue, green, purple, red, yellow, orange, brown and etc. They also had printed in black ink drawings of real aircraft such as the F-86, F-85, F-80, B-47 jet planes on them, none of the sissy stuff we see now on kites.

So yes, as kids we had "ARFs", LOL.

Then in high school I flew several Cox RTF's, but they were one shot devices. A half loop later with engine screaming ended in an NTSB worthy crash site scene. If there was a plastic pilot, he died in the crash.

But I started out in RC as kit builds. There weren't many ARF's then in the 1970's and those available were expensive and not that great.