waiting for the glue to cure....JW

In general I love ARFs and would never choose to go back to building either from kit or scratch where it can sensibly be avoided. My appreciation to the Vietnamese and Chinese workers for their labours.

That said, the singular aspect I dislike most about some ARF brands is having to address and rectify inbuilt problems which could so easily have been avoided during either design or construction through a margininally higher standard of knowledge, diligence & QC.

The compromise I accept is that generally the more expensive the ARF brand the less likelihood one will encounter this sort of problem.....so in a kind of way it's a choice as to whether I make the rod for my own back or not. But I loath fixing stupidity or carelessness induced in-built problems.'They're usually fiddly, untidy if one wants to effect a quick result and if involving cutting out either covering or section, expensive and time consuing to refinish back to something resembling original finish.

I hate mounting the engine. Seems like it never ends up "exactly" where I would have wanted it. I always have to do minor adjustment. The Great Planes "hole fider" tool has helped a lot though. Next is installing clevises on the control surfaces.

I hate soldiering control rods, Like on the GP Pitts and TF mustang.

Mugenkidd, Here what I've been doing on the last few planes and it works great. Find the proper distance for the thrust washer. Mount the cowl at the proper distance and square. Mount the engine on the mount at the proper distance. Then stand the plane on the tail ( do this before mounting the rudder) Set the engine on the fire wall then remount the cowl. Now you can move the engine around to get it to line up with the hole. Use your GP center finder to mark the mount holes. I did this with my GP Pitts and TF Mustang.

Worst has got to be setting up retracts! After a few nights of this makes me look forward to linkages and such!

cowls, I hate them

I hate when you buy a Funtana 90 and you have to move everything but bath tub to the front of the plane just to get it to balance.

the thing i hate most is trying to translate into the english language from chinese or japanese characters. especially kyosho arfs

I think the worst has to be (as mentioned several time) correcting mistakes of the manufacturer and of all those the worst is:

1. WARPED WING
2. WRONG INCIDENCE
3. WING AND STAB DON'T LINE UP

Control Horns are a pain as well but with the right tools, it's also acceptable. Except when the screws are twice as long as is necessary!

Forestroke hit it on the head. I have yet to have an ARF where the plane is square. Wing incidence is close in most cases, but the tail feathers are out to lunch. Computer controlled laser cutting, and they are still crooked as h$ll. Being a machinist does not help, as I tend to fuss over everything! [:'(]