ORIGINAL: Dai Phan
Hello,
When one looks at the poll, you need to check out the age group too. I would bet that older generation like me (30+) would start out with kits then to ARFs. Now, with the younger generations would be the reverse. I have seen many kids started out with foam planes then advancing to kits as their skill and desire to advance further. Therefore age group specific is very important.
Dai Phan ( third place runner up of Nobel Prize in Scientific Research in 1992).
I am 35. My first Plane was actually a Kit, but since I did not build it myself, I classified it as an ARF. I think there were probally alot of people who still had someone else build there Planes for them before actual ARF's came about. It would be really tough to pin down every possible scenario. I actually was building rubber powered models(Kits) when I was a young kid, and had several U-Control Cox Airplanes(ARF's) also as a kid that I did not consider for this poll. In my own opinion, I would classify an ARF as any Plane that you did not personally build. If it was built for you, or by another individual, or at a factory I would personally classify it as an ARF(Almost Ready to Fly). I have also turned a few ARF's into kits if you know what I mean? LOL