RE: Building vs Assembling [kits vs arf]
Mr Woops
Chill out a bit. You and Carlos are lecturing about the obvious. Everybody knows what makes R/C so great is the great diversity of interests. What appeals to me may not appeal to you--but that's OK. We are all still modelers. Personally I don't think people on this thread intended to be deliberately mean-spirited, or snobby--they're just stating an opinion.
Some of the points you may consider to be "nonsense and ugliness" are quite valid, such as the need for modelers to want to learn enough about their planes that they don't consistantly bother or endanger others at the field. Everybody still has the right to state their opinions on a forum without generating a lecture. Personally I feel strongly that ARFs serve a great purpose, especially for newbies who don't want to invest scads of time, only to see their models turn into piles of balsa. ARFs make perfect sense for a lot of reasons, and they will always be with us, and I say thank God for them.
On the other hand there is a lot to be said for building skills, if for no other reason, to acquire the knowledge needed to fix the ARFs when needed. Some go to such extremes building and detailing their models, and have so much time invested in them that I'd be afraid to fly them---but that's what they want to do.
I think we can all agree that we should pursue our individual interests, and let the other guy do the same. Live and let live etc, etc,--and let free speech continue.