It's more than that to me. I do want to look at how things go together.

Are the aileron servos sticking out, or are they nicely tucked in, and still easy to get to like on the Four Star?

Like you said, how complete is the included hardware? Tower Hobbies does a great job of listing the odd extra things I need to order, but the manual is even better.

I've also checked the back of a few Great Planes manuals to read a more detailed explanation of the piloting skills the plane is aimed at.

So far, I've just trusted SIG, and honestly, I haven't been disappointed.

However, it seems like SIG wants the "discriminating" buyer, since they produce such good kits. In that case, I would think the more information they make available, the more likely the "discriminating" buyer will decide to make that purchase.

And, we are asking for manuals - NOT plans. It's not like I can scratch build from the manual anyway.