Originally Posted by
jester_s1
They are cheaper because of the value of mass production. A kit has to have parts pulled and packed individually, then detailed manuals printed. It also has to be designed so that the average home builder can put it together. An ARF can be all jig built so things don't have to interlock like with a kit, and a framing team can have the parts for 50 planes stacked up around themselves which cuts labor costs considerably.
The labor costs are one thing - the change in material and the methods of producing parts -yet another
as for interlocking - the new ARFS excel at interlocked structure again the use of laser etc. makes perfectly fitting pieces EZ.
I made over 1000 kits of one type (the original TIPO) and had to do manuals and cut wood parts - this new stuff is a huge leap forward.
The old Proctor kits were builders delights - lots of well designed pieces which required time and attention to build
some other kits were -well - not so great and that's where the mass production guys stepped in.
I have Sig models ,Senorita and Cadet, built from sticks - as well as scratch built Jungmanns which I designed - these were fun .