I dont know about all of that. In fact I have heard it the other way around. I had a friend that went crazy over this airplane after seeing the kit one fly. He went out and purchased the ARF version. He installed the same motor as the kit one and he claims his ARF was almost a pound lighter. I have never owned one of these but I have flown 3 of them. Two were kit built and one was an ARF. I dont know the specs on the planes but I couldnt tell much difference in the flight performance between the airplanes.