I've been reading all these comments with divided emotions, but mostly with a sense that there are some misunderstandings out there.

When I wrote the May Model Aviation article, I made the statement that the average flight line was filled with ARFS, and maybe you could bring someting new and different to the field by flying a vintage plane, (which has already been pointed out is seldom in ARF form). You can have your own paint scheme etc etc Those statements may have "bummed out" a few people, but it was not my intention to trash ARFs--especially as trainers.

On the other hand, my primary goal of that article was to promote flying in VR/CS and SPA, and vintage pattern in particular. That's the most important thing---and building is just "icing on the cake" for thse who enjoy building. I enjoy building to a point, but since I'm kind-of a slow builder, I enjoy FINISHING AND FLYING the plane even more. It takes forever and a day to build from scratch, as I still have a full-time job, and other demands on my spare time. It would be great to have more ARFs of SPA-legal planes to choose from. I may be overly optimistic, but I really feel that as SPA grows there may be more competitive ARFs available. I have news of things to come that I can't discuss yet--but "...the times, they are a changin'"

I was glad nobody directly tied flying SPA to an attitude where "...you have to build to be accepted by those folks... Nothing could be further from the truth!! Newcomers to SPA usually fly Novice Class, and as such are NOT required to fly an SPA-legal plane--that's a very important point to make. The Javelin in particular is fast becoming a "go to" airplane for Novice class, and it flies like it's on rails. Newbies wishing to start in a higher class are required to have an SPA-legal plane, but Airborne Model's A-6 Intruder does an excellent job as a highly competitive plane. The success of several new SPA-legal kits makes building quick and relatively easy.

When it comes to offering SPA-legal ARFs, I say "God bless them"

Duane