Ok well there is one thing some of you have not considered some people can't build kits. Even if they try to build kits they can't build kits. They wind up flying like dirt, and crashing on the first flight. I don't care if it's the 6th kit they've built they still can't get it right.

Now thats not to be insulting just an honest observation that I recall from my youth with my father at his R/C club before ARF's were common. Any field you go to you had those 1 or 2 good builders, then you had a large group of okay builders, and 1 or 2 people that couldn't make a box of wood fly right to save their life. Kits put together so bad that it wasn't even worth tearing them apart to try to rebuild.

Eventually they just got to where they paid other people to build their kits for them, or bought already built planes off other people. They weren't bad pilots or stupid people they just totally lacked the knack.

Everything else however is just an excuse or lazy. IF you have enough room to setup an ARF you have enough room to build. I build in the corner of my room on a 2' x 4' folding card table topped with cardboard. Then again my father was one of those good builders and he build all of his models on the kitchen table. While other people can have a shop and every tool in the world and the kit still won't fly right.

Then there are folks who have to ask 50 questions on how to get their ARF setup.

So while many people can build they simply don't because a decent ARF is of equal or better quality than what they could themselves produce. Thus it's better to just save time and money and buy an ARF.

I think more people should definitely try kit building. Either the bug will bite them or it won't. I don't like anyone who won't at least try something before deciding on it. There's nothing better than the reaction you get from people when they find out it's a kit. The model gets appreciated that much more. Just like scratchbuilding.

However I stand on neither side. I do both ARF's and kits.