First off, thanks everyone for your contributions. I wasn't expecting this level of input and its been an education. Some of those kits look alright, I might have a crack sometime.

gboulton - you've refined my vision. Yes, in order to succeed such a kit / experience would need to address these criteria at a minimum. If I decide to go into kit manufacturing I'll send you a note. Don't hold your breath but...

papermache - I agree that the kit industry will have to remain reasonable and responsive to the needs to the consumer. If you're prepared to take a leap of faith, I'd argue that kits will always be available. As long as the plane fulfills the emotional quotient, the price will always be reasonable to someone. Some kit makers who have gone through early retirement may disagree with me on those points. As I said, I'm not in the industry but I see the slow demise of the kit industry as a business problem, not unlike buggy whips. The few who have remained did so through good management (luck played a part, but you must create the opportunity to be lucky).

I disagree with the notion that it can't be done - if only because no one has offered a compelling arguement as to why not. Sure Skyshark faltered, but frankly I don't know enough about it to attribute it to a poorly chosen business strategy. You'd need good, slick tactics for finding guys like gboulton and myself who would part with the money to do it.

I also disagree that it would need to be a scale master's plane out of the box though. I was tremendously satisfied with the Goldberg Eagle 2 trainer I build 20 years ago with hard labour, fingers stuck together, solarfilm doing crazy things that I couldn't begin to replicate now. As an adult on a decent income, would I try for the first time? Not a chance. Not without a decent safety net and a nearly guaranteed, desireable, exclusive outcome.

Last, be certainly not least, I am not satisfied with the notion the building skills must be won over time sweating it out solo in a dusty garage somewhere. There has got to be a better way than lousing it up, carrying it out to the field for the boys to critique, and coming home with 10 different solutions and 3 new problems you didn't know you had to begin with.

Thanks again for your input. All the best,

Joel