I have only been flying a few years but I can already see what all the old-timers and die-hard kit builders are complaining about. Looking back since I started I can think of tons of ARFs that have hit the market. Kits, on the other hand, have been disappearing. The manufacturers have not simply just jumped on the ARF bandwagon, they have started to completely ignore a portion of the market that is still a viable source of income.

Think about it. Would it not make sense if you are a manufacturer to occasionally put out a new kit that attempts to capitalize on the current craze in the hobby??? I have yet to see a new 3-D capable kit come out from one of the big manufacturers despite a huge 3-D craze in recent years. How often do we see someone ask on these forums if one of the GP Extras is 3-D capable or not. Why not redesign the kit to keep up with the current trends? They could also simply update and rerelease kits they sold in the past and discontinued. This would keep their linup fresh and you would have built-in demand from builders who either built the plane in the past and liked it or always wanted to but never had the opportunity. Heck, why not put out more kits that are already available in ARF form... The tooling and design stage of the process are already paid for.

With fewer kits on the market there is also a decrease in competion for the kit builders dollar. Instead of the big manufacturers figuring this out they are leaving the door open for smaller, often times completely new manufacturers to get into the market. To me the presence of ARFs isn't disturbing - its the total lack of attention given to the kit-building crowd that bothers me. If flyers are giving up the hobby because they are bored I'd say its a combination of the lack of interesting new kits as much as ARFs not providing the same personal satisfaction as building a kit. In my opinion, the big manufacturers are missing the boat!