I don't think RTFs are pointless. If they were, they wouldn't be selling as well as they do. For a beginner that wants to get started in RC, RTFs offer a relatively cheap way with little time investment. I believe this actually helps the hobby because the first time RC pilot is more likely to have a pleasant first impression of the hobby, not to mention they can fly now as opposed to 3 months from now when they finish the kit. How many times have instructors sent pilots home on their first trip to the field because they built or setup their kit wrong? With a RTF, this shouldn't happen.

I believe it is helpful to know how to build, repair, and setup planes. But it isn't strictly required for a beginner to know all that when learning to solo. They can learn it later as the progress to an intermediate pilot. I.E., you don't need to know the interworkings of an automobile to be a good driver, but knowing the interworkings can eventually be useful.

There are RTS's (Ready to Select) now. Just buy the ARF and what ever gear you want. To expect the vendor to have a large list of items that they will install for you in a custom built RTF will probably not happen. There is a logistics problem. Buyer would want the item shipped quickly, like within a few days, which means the vendor would have to do final assembly in the US - expensive. OR, vendor would have to stock a wide range of preconfigured configured RTFs that were build over seas, again expensive becasue of the large investment in inventory. The idea sounds great, but I don't think it will happen wide scale.

Cheers