I poured a lot of time and money into building, just didn't pan out. Should say 'trying' to build. Out of probably 10-15 kits, only two ever made it off the bench. By building, I mean 80" spans and up, not Stevens Aero kits. (Though they are cool little planes). Only one guy in my area builds, and he's so involved in his building and work that teaching someone else isn't on his plate. Couple old-timers that used to build years ago, but again, they have neither the time or inclination to mentor budding builders. I'm not a friend of wood... measure once, twice, three times, make the cut.. toss in can, get another stick. I could take a week carefully gluing ribs, measure, re-measure, do what seems to be the right things, and still get a warped wing. Here's a truth, some people aren't meant to be builders, plain and simple. And if there's no hands-on teaching to learn the basics of building, never ever going to get it right except by sheer luck. Online info is great, but will only take you so far. I wont say how much I've spent trying, you'd be too shocked, or the hundreds of hours spent only to have to toss it or spend more money for more wood. Comes a time when you have to call something for what it is, and for me, its called finished. Nowadays I only 'build' planes that are composite, i.e. Yellow Aircraft, etc.. or bash ARF's to get what I want. My experience isn't reflective of the larger picture of why building is a diminished past time.. age, time available to build, cultural shifts and such are much larger influences. Just wanted to share the story of one guy that gave it his best shot.

Edit; Here's one of 2 planes successfully built, 80" Page Super Cub, started in fall 2012, finished past summer. The other is a Micko P-47B, represents the type of planes I prefer nowadays, not an ARF yet not a 'from plans up build', a happy middle ground which allows me some freedom to scale it. Will be starting on it in a few weeks.