OK, I'll be the first to say it, I have never come close to the assembly times I've read some reviewers post. For instance in the Jan issue of FLY R/C the author says he put together the Hanger 9 Extra 260 ARF ( this is a 27% aerobatic plane) in 16 hours!. Chripes! it takes me 2hrs just to put in the CA hinges in and then another hour to scrap CA off my fingers! How realistic is sixteen hours for assembly time? I'd rather like to think that I'm meticulous, rather than dumb & slow. WHO AGREES WITH ME HERE? Mikel-T

My fastest time was the Phenoix Giles. I assembled it exactly per the book. I even used the supplied hardware.[X(]

From the box too the runway was 6 hours.

Giant Scale ARFs usually take me a couple weeks.

I think you should just add a Zero to the time listed on the box.

If they say 6-8 hours, then I usually figure 60 or 80 hours to get it going. If they say 16--20 hours, well, then I figure about 160--200 hours.

I find most builder will modify a few things to their liking on the bigger ARF's.Depending on what is done this can add little or alot of time.What is probably considered a 20 hour built took me about 40 -50 hours,until I was satiesfied with the plane.
Some ARF's have good techniques and hardware and go together well.
If you crashed your current ARF,I bet you could build a flyable copy in half the time it took the first one

If its a 40 sized plane that is well made like a WM SS40 and there is no cowling, we are talking about 4 hours max! Hehehehee ...

Oh Good Point, Did I mention the 20 hours it took me to cut and fit the cowl on a GP Chipmunk for Zenoah G-26 ( those things should be in Weed Whackers cause they are not shaped to be in Model Aircraft!) and don't get me started about hardware!!! missing or does'nt match or to lame to risk your plane with. Yeah I can see 16 to 20 hours IF I HAD A FULLY STOCKED HOBBY STORE in my garage!. I GOT IT!! ...It takes 16 to 20 hours of actually affixing things to the plane, and another 100 hours finding the right things to affix ! THat's what they should say

World Models SuperSports 40, started assembly at noon, she maidened 4pm that afternoon... Okay i didn't even read the book, but nothing went wrong, in fact i haven't come across anything easier to takeoff, fly, and land, even trainers!

I loved that plane...

I think when the companies estimate your time of completion for ARFs, they are estimating that you have 1 person for each task involved and they are all working at the same time to finish in the allotted time... he he he... I haven't yet finish one in the time estimated, although I am probably not as experienced as most of the people here when it comes to building so that probably is one reason. I am also a perfectionist and indecisive so I want perfect but I get stuck and can't decide on a way of doing somthing when I have more than one way to do it... I annoy myself at times.

Come on guys ... in all reality are we going to sure the manufacturer for misrepresentation? Let's just make sure that models are properly manufactured, have all the hardware, hardware is very decent though not really great and things fit properly. Of course may the model fly truly well.

tIANci,
You know what the sad thing is, the way things are these days, we would probably win the lawsuit. Crazy world... Your right though, as long as it is built well, all is there, and the models fly true, that is all you can ask for.