RE: Pre packaged Spad kits?
Well, I'm not going to try to talk you into building SPADs if you don't want too...
Sure it's easier to buy a ARF at Tower... then when you stuff it into the ground, it's easier to just buy another one... you need some pretty deep pockets to go that route. The alternative is to learn how to build and rebuild balsa planes, but you'll spend more on time and materials building/rebuilding balsa planes than you will building/rebuilding SPADs, and there are several specialized tools you need for building balsa planes. Balsa planes look better, fly better, and are the "mainstream" type of plane, so you can get plans, kits, materials, etc. at any hobby shop around, local or online.
A number of local and online sources have been posted in this forum (and even in this thread) for gutterpipe, coro, and U-channel. If you can't find a local source, buy it online. I spent some time tracking down both online and local sources for my materials, and shelled out about $100 because I bought in quantity... believe me, I was hoping I wasn't wasting my money. I've built about six SPADs out of this stuff, and still have a good amount left over for more. The first SPAD I built (a modified Dagger with a DPS wing and trike landing gear) flew quite well despite several imperfections. I was sold on SPADs after that...