RE: How are ARF's made?
The factories that churn out most of the ARFs we have today are mostly in China. There are a few in VietNam and maybe one or two still going in Japan, although Japan seems on the way out. Japan has developed and their workers actually have somewhat better conditions and wages now, so you can expect them to fade away entirely, more probably sooner than later.
The methods used in all the factories are excellent for producing well put together wings, fuselages, etc. Even very experienced hobbiest who've been modeling for years and years have nothing like the construction experience of those factory workers. Nor do hobbiests usually construct jigs for every component of every model. And few hobbiests have the floorspace in their shops to dedicate space like a factory can.
Those ARFs have every reason to look well made. They do look way better than the average hobby builder can produce and they should. However....................
Every one of us needs to keep in mind that the ARFs are being built with little understanding of the products being manufactured. We have to become experienced in the use of ARFs, just as modelers had to become experienced in years past when building for their own use. We used to have to know what wood worked where and what strengths were needed. We also learned what strength hardware was going to work and what wouldn't last more than a few flights. And we learned some engineering whether we knew it or not. Those workers only have to stick the parts together, no more, no less.
In the last year or so, after getting back into the hobby after a few years layoff, I've assembled 18-20 ARFs, and all but a few had construction details or design details that I NEVER would have done had I been building the models from scratch. And had the models have been from kits from years ago, most of the flaws would not have been there. The ARF workers were probably assembling Barbie Dolls last year. Or SquarePants things.
I've seen a number of ARFs lose their stabs to flutter. The 2nd ARF I assembled would have done the same if I hadn't noticed how lousy the wood choice and how little of it was back there. One recent ARF's fuselage started failing during the maiden flight. They'd used punk balsa where there should have been at least spruce. The people in those factories seem to have very little understanding that wood selection matters. My club recently had a number of guys all assemble the same ARF. That sucker turned out to have plywood wing ribs. Every rib. And they doubled some of them at the tips! Not at the root, but the tips. Truth is, the ply was strong enough it didn't need to be doubled at the ROOT. And a couple had the wing joiner spar boxes built into the wing halves upside down. If the joiner spars hadn't had such awful tolerances, and the boxes so poorly done, those wings would have been evil to assemble with dihedral. As it was, I assembled mine with anhedral. (the root ribs required almost no fitting that way) But that one was actually out of the ordinary for fit. But truth is, that ARF is really the only one I've seen with anything less than almost perfect fits. I've had one tricycle gear airplane with main struts that placed the tires directly under the CG. amazing I've built and helped build a couple of highwing Cub-types whose wing hold down design and/or construction wouldn't have lasted a month. There was an aerobatic model that had the bulkhead that held the wing on at the front made out of veneer. The wing hold down that stuck through that worthless bulkhead was only two layers of the same veneer. I had noticed it and reinforced it, but the bulkhead wood was not easily seen for what it was, and I'd never have thought anyone in their right mind would have used anything but decent plywood in such a critical bulkhead. The wing made it through the first maiden. That flight only had a mild snap roll or two. The wing would have blown off in the 3rd flight that day, but I noticed the airplane trim suddenly change and landed it. amazing The 3rd ARF was a hotliner. The engine bulkhead pushed back into the fuselage on the 3rd or 4th landing. It was not a hard landing. The wood was crap ply, too thin and too weak, and was "glued" in with something that looked robust but hadn't stuck to the composite worth spit. I've got an unbuilt glider that has balsa spars in the wing. It's a gorgeous thing. Immaculate construction. Nowhere is there a warning to take it easy and only fly the sucker gently.
We made all those mistakes when we were building our own. We built 'em and then went out and flew them. Those workers over there don't have that experience.
BTW, there was a documentary just yesterday about Chinese coal mines. Over six thousand miners die every year in Chinese coal mines.... every year. Jeez, no wonder they work for less in the ARF factories. Just wish they made enough working in the ARF factories that they could actually fly RC and have a better understanding of their job.
If we're going to buy ARFs, we'd best learn to inspect and fix them during our assembly. We have to develop a more modern set of skills today. Fewer skills, but just as necessary to fly safely. And needed to increase the probability that we don't waste the money we spent on them beauties. For example, laser cutting often hides the plywood layers. Sometimes it's plywood under that ash, sometimes what's under the burn is just veneer ply.
But the ARFs... They are purty, ain't they.