Waaay back in the 70's I was a flight instructor for our RC club. ARF's were just becoming available. If I remember correctly, they were made of some kind of molded plastic and flew like a brick. Most folks stayed away from them and built their own planes.

You wouldn't believe some of the planes these 'new' members showed up with to learn to fly. At times, I felt like I had to redo most of the linkages etc. just to make their plane safe to fly or fly at all! Some people just don't like to build kits and ARF's are great for them. At least they show up with something a little more reliable to fly!

I will always be a builder as I actually enjoy building more than flying. When I build it, I know everything is done right and the plane tends to last longer as well. I hope more people will build kits. It adds another enjoyable level to the hobby which should be experinced-IMHO.

Scott

BTW- I'm just getting started on a 100" ws Curtiss Robin built from plans and I heard through the grapevine that my wife is getting me a Sig 1/4 scale Cub for my birthday Oh Man!!