I would like to know anyones evaluation of the Great Planes Cessna Skylane ARF. I am a kit builder but thought I might give an ARF a try. Any info will be appreciated.

I would recommend the larger Top Flite Cessna for a more reasonable wing loading.
The front gear on the GP ARF bends quite easily.
This plane needs wheel pants to look right and the ARF version only has about 1/4 of an inch of ground clearance with the pant on.

Have you seen all of the discussn' in this thread??? http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_52948/mpage_5/tm.htm

I have the ARF version... I have put together a lot of ARF's and this is one of the prettiest I have seen.. It is strongly built and flys really nice.. Mine is around 3 years old and did have a soft nose gear.. From what I can discern here on RCU this may have been corrected in the latest versions... I just measured mine from the bottom of the wheel pants to the ground and it is 3/4 of an inch.. I fly off asphalt so clearance has never been a problem.. Wheel pants have held up well also... I have an Irvine .53 in mine and am spinning a APC 12X6 prop.. No problem with ground clearance there. The Irvine hauls it around nicely.. There are some reports of tip stalling at slow speeds etc... I have not experienced that with mine and I have done some relativly slow two point landings.. The plane does seem to like to go fast though.. It cuts through the air with suprising ease... I find it a real joy to fly.. Have been seriously considering a second one and scaling it a little better...
I know a couple of guys building the Top FLight kit.. Guess it more or less depends on the builder what you end up with there They have been working on them off and on for a couple of years now... Probably be really nice when they are done..
Hope this helps a little