I agree! I find nothing wrong with buying an ARF, either the first time, or any time. But gluing two wings together is not the same as sheeting a leading edge. You WILL aquire some building skills by assembling an ARF. Those skills won't help you when you have bashed the leading edge of your wing and need to replace 2 or 3 rib fronts. Nor will you have a pattern to work from.

Did I forget how hard it was in the beginning? I don't think so. I distinctly remember transferring those lines drawn on the paper to the balsa sheets so I could cut out the parts with a razor blade.

This is one of the reasons why I always recommend Great Planes kits. EVERY one of them is step by step with pictures for every step. A lot of people here recommend SIG kits. I think Sig makes several nice kits, But I avoid recommending them, because Sig also makes some real tough SOB's. Don't believe it? Come to my house and I'll let you cut out the stab pieces that they were so kind as to "draw" on the balsa sheets for me on my 1/4 scale Cub. That's right, the parts are not die cut. If this were my first kit, I wouldn't stay in the hobby either.

Back to my first planes... Did I make mistakes? Yes! Did they look great? Yes! There are these things called balsa filler and sandpaper that make all of the mistakes virtually disappear under the covering. Of course, why sand wood when you can buy an ARF?

Now don't get defensive, I'm not saying "don't get an ARF". I'm just saying that you will develope much needed skills by building, and that the sooner you start, the easier it will be.

And BTW Ghostbear, KUDO's on building this winter!

And Dave.... I'll bet you buy spaghetti sauce in a jar. :disappoin