Judging from the amount of replies on here, and all of them builders or scratch builders.. I would say that kit building is alive and well. Sadly though the ARF assemblers out number us.

My first Turbine ARF was/is the Boomerang Sprint. Next model was a Philip Avonds F-104 Kit that had several components missing that I had to scratch build. After that I said I would never build another kit.. but the truth is, I just loved the challenge. 2 years later I am now scratch building, and though I work 60-70hrs a week as a welder... I still find time to work on my latest project, and am always glad I did.

Its just very very rewarding to build your own plane, and watch as it develops.