there is not much comparison between an arf and kit,kit building and plan building is more in line with each other.i have owned enough arf's over the years to say that they cant compare to kit/plan/scratch building.the first arf i owned was so heavy it came in like a rock on landing,and the new ones these days don't take much of a pounding.i have crashed a few planes in my time,and can say the kits i have built have faired much better.if you are into scratch building,and i don't know of anyone personally that design their own plans,they purchase plans and cut from there,there isn't much difference in building someone Else's plans as opposed to a kit the only difference is you cut your own parts as opposed to having them cut.aren't they the same ribs formers wood?but you do get the pleasure of knowing you did them,and that is a very rewarding thing.most of my planes are kits,and it is to a point now days that if you want to continue building you it will have to be from plans,the HS here are getting fewer and fewer kits in.someone made a comparison here as to a kit and arf,i guess for me knowing what materials i used inside my planes gives me more of peace of mind,as opposed to an arf.i build my kits according to my needs,we have recently changed flying fields from paved to grass,i have started beefing up my airframes according to that,you cant do that with your arf's easily without disassembly of some major parts.i love getting out flying spending time with family and friends,and arf/kit/plan build or scratch build the bottom line is what you get from it all.we all do what fits our needs and we all have different needs.