Bruce,
Watching Oprah makes you want to stomp on an airplane???? You already know where I'm going with this one....!!

Tigerdude,
There are those out there that prefer to cover the parts and then assemble the plane. There is nothing wrong with doing it that way. I just prefer to do it the the way I do it, which is assemble it first and then cover it. And here is why I do it that way. When I'm building an airplane and I balance the plane there is nothing I hate worse than to cut into my covering job to have to add weight to the plane to balance it. So what I do is to finish the plane completely (including final sanding). This means that all control surfaces, radio installed, motor installed, etc.... Basically it should be a complete airplane minus the covering. At this point I will do the main balancing. I will laterally balance (side to side) the plane and add any weight to the wingtips if needed. I then balance the plane front to rear, I will try first to move the receiver and batter to adjust the balance is possible and then add weight if needed. After the plane is balanced I will then cover the plane and recheck the balance. If adjustment is needed (I've only ever had one plane that needed it) I will move the battery to bring the plane back in balance.

As I said above I hate to cut into covering to adjust the balance. That's why I do it this way. It works for me.

Ken