I started r/c flying some years ago, i obtained so much bad information from "expert" flyers at fields. I learned most i know from trial and error. The artical is correct.

Oh my god I want to make fun of all of you.(except the previous post I didnt read it till after i posted this) Some of you have made good points though. check your arfs for piss poor workethic and quality control. range check is important. when you get to the field and you cant fly because there isnt a open channel that you happen to have crystals for then use your 2.4. If you cant fly at your local park due to radio interference at least you checked before you hit a little kid with your plane(how do you think i ended up with a 2.4). Most crashes are preventable in hindsight and totally unexpected in forsight. A solid routine for build(arf or kit dosnt matter you still have to put the thing together)will help prevent most operator error. And always remember its never your fault its always the airplane/radio/runway/winds fault.

804, tell me, how do you check the integrity of a ARF glue joint done with a hot glue gun? If you have such a technique, you could have helped prevent hundreds of Lanier Q-500 ARF firewalls from ripping out, engine and all. This type of glue fouls the surrounding wood and repels attempts to reenforce or repair it with glue of better quality.
My point here is that unless you strip the model to bare bones, there is no way that 5-30 minutes worth of pecking around an ARF is a guarantee of anything good.

I agree with 804 5 to 30 minutes of checking glue joints, and touching them up with thin CA on the arfs will and has prevented many problems. I am a pylon racer and have been for many years. As far as the problem with the lanier Q-500 fire walls goes, granted they were week but even after most pinned and removed the covering from the nose and glassed the complete front end most beginners and novice pylon flyer's were still ripping the firewalls out of them. Even the great planes Viper that many Novice pylon racers build and fly get the firewalls ripped out
I still use one of the first Lanier Predator arfs to just keep in practice with. Never did do any thing to the firewall in it other than what 804 mentioned and it is still flying today. One thing I did do before I flew it the first time six or seven years ago was replaced the plastic wheels it came with and installed the pizza cutter wheels axles and gear dist by Jett same wheels I have on all my 428 Q-500 Bird of prey's The biggest problem with ripping the firewall out of the Lanier Q-500 was pilot skill (bad landings) Oh Yeh in the article this forum is about Don calls it Pilot Proficiency. I have both he's books very good!!! even though I do not agree with everything he has to say

Just telling my experience. I fly'em hard and frequently, blenders, snaps, walls, hard landings, the occasional inverted harrier to wing-touch cartwheel. Never have had any airframe failures without hitting the ground, except the mentioned firewall/engine mount and landing gear mounts, both of which I have learned to beef up before flying.
I know there are bad ARFS out there, I do my research and buy the proven ones. And I know there are bad examples of proven ones , too, I simply haven't had one.

Considering how many ARFs are out there, from companies like Great Planes, Horizon, Extreme Flight, 3-D Hobby, Aero-works, Wild Hare, PAU, etc., and how many return customers they all have, it is simply unbelievable that the majority of them could be "junk". They just wouldn't sell.

I can believe someone could have as much bad luck with ARFs as I've had good luck, but to say the majority of ARF'ers have this much bad experience is just ridiculous.

I agree, I sail competitively and always tell people I learn more in 3 days of racing my sailboat then I do, sailing it the rest of the year!

However, I really have no interest in competing in R/C, I do this for fun and have found I don't feel R/C competition is fun. I have done some competitive sailplane flying (duration for RES type sailplanes) so, know from where I speak. This is for myself, of course!

I am not bad mouthing competition! I know that competition pushes product development, makes products better, drives down prices, etc.

Life is plenty competitive as it is, so it's not like I'm turning away from competition, I just feel some aspects of my life can do without it!

804, I'll take your word for it.

Mode one, I understand. Sometimes enough is enough and the hobby can become to feel like a second job.

Its not that I do a 30 minute inspection. I just reinforce the stuff I would reinforce anyway firewalls wingroots etc. Ive had realy bad luck with elevator surfaces folding or splitting. A lot of the time just looking over a arf before you buy it will save you and the lhs a lot of grief.

I'm amazed by the acceptance of this junk. If the model is presented to me as almost ready to fly, that is what I expect, regardless of price. If I wasn't able to do any better for myself, I guess I'd have to accept that ARF crap as "the way it is", too.

When I buy a new "ready to race" $7500 motocross bike, I have to inspect and usually grease the steering head bearings, change the engine and tranny oil, check ALL the bolts and screws, adjust the chain, adjust the suspension, check the tire pressure, and back in the days of two-strokes, possibly re-jet the engine. I do it for peace of mind.

You think an extra half-hour of prep on an Arf out of the 6-8 hours it takes to assemble it is excessive, compared to how many hours it would take to stick build it?

Besides that, in my day job, I make more sawdust and glue joints in a week than you will building toy planes in 10 years. Just not interested in doing it for a hobby. I like to fly.

Have at it.

All the cars I've ever bought were RTF, but I don't see how that applies here.

There is a class of ARF that I've never shelled out the cash for that blows anything I could build away, but stuff that expensive isn't for me anyway.
This subject of safety and risk is pretty nebulous, let your conscience and your credit card balance be your guide.

But CP,
wasnt the Article putting down buying the inexpensive stuff in lieu of paying for better 'proper' equipment?

CP I would never have tried to build a kit at all without having rebuilt a wrecked arf and then flying it. I never have bought or built a rtr and probably never will. You will see some in my garage. As these were purchased used and mostly in pieces I consider them to be kits as well.

There are so many more pathways that can lead to failure with RC when compared to full scale "small aircraft" that there is no comparison. Take the back cover off a TX and look at all those tiny and delicate shiny things mounted to the circuit card, they all have to work perfectly. A lot more things can go wrong with full scale craft before they are doomed to crash, with RC it usually just takes 1 misbehaving electron.

Th author of the article stated it was pertainent to expensive airplanes; however, the ideas were transferable to all aspects of the hobby! As a modeler who can't afford the expensive stuff, I didn't feel the article was putting down my choice of enjoyment.

Don wrote a perfect article, I was landing the wrong way for years, until I read Don article, I fly 42%, 40%, 35%, 33%, and 30cc planes, I wish AMA would rerun the article again, Thanks.