I build more than I fly, but I still manage to fly a lot. I find generally there are less (no) builders and a lot less flyers who are true craftsman (i.e. make a repair look like damage never happened, recovering, etc) To their benefit - the quality of some ARFs have gotten to the point where they are acceptable even to us builders. People who want to fly no longer have to spend 3 months building if they don't want to. I have to admit - I will ocassionally buy an ARF, but I will still scrutinize it - if I see anything I don't like I will modify it to my standards and then fly it - that usually means some work. At a minimum I beef up a few things and check the glue - in some cases - I will strip it and recover it because I liked the airframe but hated the covering scheme (i.e. GP Venus comes to mind) ..

With all the ARFs out there, people won't get to improve their building skills either. I cannot tell you how many "turds" I put in the air before I became an excellent builder - that is how I learned. Yes I crashed and it hurt - it made me pay attention so that the next time I didn't make the same mistake. With an ARF, you just put it together and fly it -if it crashes you get another that looks and flies the exact same as what you lost. I am not that old (43) but today, not many have the patience to take the time to craft what truly can be a work of art...

This might sound crazy, but I think I like building more than I like flying!... the mental challenge of building a giant scale work of art like a Carden or Aerotech from a pile of sticks and foam really gives me a sense of accomplishment and the nerves on that first flight is a big shot of adrenaline. One mistake could cost $3500, so you learn not to make mistakes!

I am lucky in that when I build a plane for someone, I usually get to fly it first too!
DP