Like I've said in other posts, my first ARF was a Wen-Mac Aeromite RTF control liner about 1949 or 1950. ARF/RTFs are not new. Quality has always been spotty, not just from manufacturer to manufacturer, but also from one individual plane to another. And overall, this Skylark was one of the better ones I've seen. My personal favorite ARC/ARFs are ones people I know have built either from kit or scratch which I've acquired. All very high quality, compared to some I've seen on the market.

Lanier is probably one of the oldest ARF manufacturers around, and currently I think it is only second to Cox, if you date the Current Cox organization back to L. M. Cox and their TD-1, a rather innovative plastic bodied formed symetrical airfoiled aluminum winged control liner powered by their Space Bug .049 glow engine, that was rather high priced at $19.95 around 1952(?).

My comment about the Skylark being my 5th really just refers to this being my 5th Serious, larger sized RC ARF. My fleet currently has 3 Control Line, 18 RC, and 6 FF commercial ARFs, and 7 CL, 17 RC, and 3 FF models that were built by other model builders which I was either given or which I purchased. With the things I see happening to pension plans and the attacks on Social Security, I see myself going into retirement in maybe 3 years relying only on my current flyable fleet and my collection of kits and materials and plans to sustain my addiction.

I'm not a newcomer to ARFs by any means. In fact, some years ago I did have a GP Modern Stick .40 ARF with a Fox .46. Not bad, although I did discard the imported hardware and LG and used DuBro and K&S products. Dumbthumbed by giving up elevator on point 2 of a low level (About 10') high speed 4 point roll.