I'd like you to explain this to me. I think it's wrong, and that's just a product of my experience. I've never had an ARF that required sanding, shaping, and covering, not to mention all of the different building techniques that many of us use. Nor have I had a kit that required the knowledge of which hardware to junk, how to properly inspect for damage or poor glue joints, how to know which areas appear suspect and in need of reinforcement, and even very simple things such as stripping covering without damaging the underlying structure. It's all well and good to claim that the finished airplanes have the same basic needs for proper flight, but it's a misrepresentation to claim that building one type teaches all of the skills needed for the other.

Much depends on what a person's goals are. Building is no different than flying in that regard. The skills that are deliberately taught with the more basic models develop progressively as a person advances. Kits and ARFs teach different skills. If a person has a goal to build very advanced kits, building only ARFs along the way simply won't prepare them. I think the same is true for ARFs, to a degree. The more advanced the ARF, the more the manufacturer assumes that the person knows.