RE: Where to buy airplane kits?
Even some of the traditional kit makers are getting hard to get kits from. Try calling SIG and you'll get answers like next May on some of the popular kits. I'm not a big kit builder as I either do an ARF or scratch build. But I like having some kits to fill in. Right now I'm deep in the middle of a scratch build and waiting on some parts so I wanted a kit to throw in real quick and get it done. Wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to just find a spot kit and I finally found what I was looking for in a hobby shop and no telling how long it had been there.
The beauty of a full kit is it's all right there. Throw in some radio gear, and engine you have on hand and for the most part you are done. While cutting parts for my current scratch - a Ziroli Stuka I had to wait 3 months to get some sizes of balsa in stock at all the major balsa suppliers. Plus you don't have to track down a cowl or make your own etc.....
Each has it's bonus. It's also hard for new builders to start with a scratch because most scratch plans don't have much in the way of instructions other than maybe a sequence etc...
Trends been going on for a while. It's drastically changed even in the last 3 years or so. You really have to track them down. Even places where people traditionally order like Tower is down to pretty much selling brands that Hobbico owns like GP/Goldberg etc...