Good thread......... When I got into planes about 8 or 9 years ago, I was told by a guy that I bought out, that you were either a "builder" or a "flyer". I built my first few planes, but because I was learning, I got tired of patching them back up, and gradually began buying used planes, or ARF's from my LHS. I just wanted to get back in the air, as quick as I could. I enjoyed building, but I liked flying better. A few years back, there were a few ARF planes that were very weak in construction. Sloppy, or no glue joints, crappy glue at that, and mis matched, poorly fitting parts. I won't bash names, but it was common knowledge with my flying friends, that certain ARF's had to be completely stripped down, and re-assembeled before you could safely fly them. I think that time, and word of mouth, has eliminated many of these bad situations. HOWEVER, I think everybody should at least go over ANY ARF, and check all the critical areas, like firewall, wing joiners, etc. etc. And of course, if you're going to install a larger engine than recommended, you need to beef up all those areas. My last two ARF's have come from Vector Flight. And they do a good job at gluing etc. There are even glue fillets in appropriate areas, like the firewall, etc. I think it just comes down to using a little common sense. I too, had an accident with a Great Planes spitfire, with an OS40FX running at full throttle sitting in the holder of my flight box. The end bracket, (the one in front of the wing, holding the plane), came loose and it ate my right hand. 22 stiches total. It's OK now, just a few dead to the touch areas, but everything works fine. (NO I don't have pictures). Like I said, a little common sense goes a long ways to being safe and having fun.