I really enjoy the art of building a nice flying airplane from a box of wood pieces,and from a set of plans,but I am finding that my time is getting more limited I have a couple of half finished projects that need to get worked on, and a whole wall of kits I really want to build but havent even opened the boxes to look them over in a couple of years.

I have actually sold off a couple of models that I just never thought I would get to,still keeping those prized ones for when I feel there is enough time to build,its hard to avoid the nearly instant gratis that comes from a arf

There are kits with everything laser cut and 30 page assembly instructions that are more like building a plastic car.  Then there are die cut kits with a set of plands and instructions that start off with "After build the wing, lay the left and right fuselage sides on the plans".  No how to build the wings, just "after".  And various levels in between.  But even kits give you the building experience to do the scratch repairs where you have to cut your own parts according to the plans, and sometimes the plans don't even show enough.  I am building an old Champion kit and lost a ply bulkhead that I need to replace.  But all I have is a side and top view and the buldheads on both side as guides.  So now is the time to replenish my lost set of Dremel tools

The only problem with building is time.  But the satisfaction of having the first flight trim out with only one or two clicks is priceless.  I just wish my basement wasn't so cold [&:]

<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; ">I always have it in my mind to trace out the parts on a sketch pad before assembling so I have a copy to make repairs, but dang if I forget and glue the sumbiotch together. I trace the blank it came in, but need to remember to add an extra 1/16" to the line on the new part so it matches.  When I start my Kadet, I have the sketch pad with the kit so this time I wont forget.</div>

I guess it must be winter for most of these poster as well,,,,,,,,,I even read though this!

Sorry,,,,posters.

hey minn..I am now in florida and prior to that lived in upstate ny and spent hours building during the cold months.its just opposite down here..its so warm and humid in the summer months that you stay inside an airconditioned room and of course I build!so you are either living in a freezer or a hot oven.take your pick..

I have been on a soap box for years telling everyone with a new kit to make templates of each and every part, save your plans and instructions. This way when a kit is discontinued the plans and templates can be shared and we can keep these old planes alive. When I moved to NV I tossed out a bunch of the stuff I had and have been kicking myself for it ever sense. I won't be tossing any of them out again. Templates are easy to make and worth the time. I don't bother with doing it for trainer type of planes. As long as a trainer can be had an an ARF people will learn to fly. Interlocking parts in kits is nothing new, been around forever but it does help make a plane easier to build and straighter. Nothing wrong with it, I like kits with the interlocking parts. I think they come out a lot stronger.
I gave up buying new kits. I try to find kits at swap meets and estate sales so I can afford them.
Reason is I'm on a very fixed income and kits became out of my reach. My all time favorite is the CG EXTRA. It ended it's life around $200.00 then I would have to buy a glass cowl and landing gear so it went even higher. I started cutting my own from plans and just buying my wood in bulk so a kit doesn't cost me near as much as long as I cut my own. Wish I had a friend with a laser cutter though. Then I would have a huge stock pile of kits on hand.

I contemplated buying a $3500 laser cutter. It was capable of cutting through aluminum, but the main purpose would be to do odd wood cutting jobs, and metal cutting mixed with wood cutting is a no no.  Shelved it until I have spare cash on hand. <div>
</div><div>If I do get the chance to get one though, it will be for hire too, send me a 1:1 sketch under a certain size and the wood and for a small fee, you would have new parts. Something I am still considering. </div>

[sm=wink_smile.gif]For a minute a number of posts back, I thought the kit vs arf was going to turn into a political debate. I guess we could, red box vs blue box.

It is to each his own. I am one of the guys that enjoys building more then flying. Even though I have many flyable planes I spend the majority of my time building. I don't knock a guy for having an ARF or for his building ability or lack of. There is enogh stress in life without bashing someone over their particular views on a hobby. If a guy wants to burn up the sky with an ARF have at it and enjoy. I do say I really enjoy attending scale shows and admiring the work of other builders, it usually makes me want to go home and stomp mine to pieces though.
I tend to build the planes in a manner that satisfies myself, if someone else likes and appreciates the time and effort that went into it that's great. If someone wants to point out this and that isn't scale or correct that is fine as well. We are all different and like diffent things that is what makes the hobby great, I learn something new every day on this site and enjoy just browsing the different builds. I also try to post as many of my builds as I can. I may not be an expert or maybe far from it but hopefully I will give some a useful tip or a learn something to help me with the build in the process. To me this generally makes the whole build process much more enjoyable.

Later!!
Anthony

As Pmerritt said... kit building can take an eternity if your a family man. To me kit building is like sailing. It's not the destination, it's the journey. My kit builds will take anywhere from 4 mos to a year depending on what is going on. For me. having a couple flyable planes on hand helps with the enjoyment of the build.

Great way to put it. A kit build is such a completely different experience than the prefab stuff. I like arfs because they are something I can bang out in a short time. I can then take time on a scale kit(or plans build) and enjoy the process without the hurry. If arfs hadn't come so far along in quality, we wouldn't be having this discussion on the versus between the two.

I really like how waconut put it.. as for me I'm a modeler ,builder ,flyer and all inbetween.. i fly to fly ,I build to build..I watch everyone fly..It truely all interests me..I am obssessed with it all...it doesn't matter what comes to the field..I will study it and come up with ideas for hints,tips tricks or whatever...I can't take the plane with me but the feeling I got when I built and flew.....

guamflyer

I remember the "OLD" Lanier (spelling) Arf's. They were nothing but flying bricks, if you could get them to fly. Sig Mfg had their "quick build" line which was a bit better, but they were a bit heavy as I remember them. Basically a profile plane with an ABS molded skin for the pretty stuff.

Yes the ARF's are a god send to some. My first ARF, (Hanger 9 CAP) purchased at the beginning of last summer lasted 10 flights before it's demise. The horizontal stab decided it didn't want to play with the rest of the airplane Before that the LG departed the plane on landing after the third flight tearing out the supporting structure. On the sixth flight the LG departed the plane in mid flight never to be found again. My fault for not lock titeing the screws[:@] Now it is being reconstructed mostly from scratch. I only saved the canopy, rear turtle deck, servo tray, cowl (with lots of repair work) and wheel pants (were never on the plane). I "reconstructed" enough to trace new parts and it is for all intents and purposes a scratch build. So I guess I've experienced it all from ARF to cut your own kit. Time will tell if I did a better job on the new plane.

I see no problem with ARF's. If they bring more people to the hobby, GREAT! The more the merrier I say. It helps to drive down the cost of everything hobby related.

Ken

I built my first plane when I was 8, yeah , it looked like a POS. But I built it myself and I didn't know anybody else that built model airplanes. It was a Sterling Ringmaster. I saved my money until I could afford to buy a McCoy red head .35. I flew CL until 1972 when I saw my first RC plane. We built from kits or scratch built back then. Back then you could buy one of the first ARF which was a Johnny Casburn Lucky Fly. It had a build up balsa fuselage with a foam turtle deck covered with poster board. The wings were foam covered with a shiny vinyl. The canopy was a flat piece of clear acetate plastic. Several years later one of the club members formed a canopy on a vacuum form and they became part of the kit. They were good flying planes. One of the nice things about the kit was that it was open customizing.

The other ARF was made by Lanier. They were real POSs made with thin plastic and foam.

Back then, if you didn't know how to do something, you hoped you had a club member that did. Otherwise, you had to figure it out yourself. NO INTERNET BACK THEN BOYS !!!

The big suppliers was Circus Circus, Tower Hobbies, Hobby Barn, and your neighborhood hobby shop.

Frank

I learned patience with Guillow kits and gave alot of blood to the Sterling Pine log God. High Tech was a Torpedo 35 on baby pacifier pressure or a dynojet Red Head.

Cox and WenMac had a selection of imposible to fly ARFs. Pretty but they just wouldn't get out of their own way on takeoffs.


I love building but flying what I build is a gas too...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_99...mpage_7/tm.htm

Ray W

My first plane was bought back in the early 80's from Stanton Hobby shop in Chicago. Sadly it is now a parking lot.

That's funny, like Ken I built my first plane when I was 8 years old too. Control line and a Ring Master. First one was one that one of the big guys crashed and gave to me so I learned to repair first then I started building. That wasn't my first plane though, I had an ARF for my first one. That was 1956 and it can be argued but the Fire Baby was most everyones first plane back then and it was an ARF, probably the first one on the market. When you broke a wing you went to the hardware store and spent a dime to get a new one. A stab was a nickle and the fuse was a quarter.
Not many folks had a TV and boys would play outside. We had seasons too, kite season, fishing season, hunting season and airplane season plus a bunch more for most sports and hobbies. Once you got past the Fire Baby then you had to build. Modeling was a big deal nation wide and hobby shops were loaded with kits of both planes and boats.
Building for me is just a way of life and it involves a lot more then just model planes, it's anything I need and can build myself.
If I crashed all the models I have on hand, I'm down to only a few at the moment, I would go right out and buy an ARF to keep flying until I was able to get more planes built. Flying is a big part of the hobby and when I have a plane in the air I care not if it's an ARF or something I built. I just prefer to build my own planes.
I have never crashed them all and had nothing to fly but if I did!!

As a third grader, I remember my excitement when my Dad brought home a Firebaby. The following Winter, we built a Baby Ringmaster, and I've been build kits, or from plans, ever since.

As others have stated, I enjoy the journey of the build. Flying is OK. I enjoy the camaraderie, and it gets me outside.

I sometimes think, this is 75% of the hobby.

It may be more then that. If you have a stop watch take it to the field with you. Time how much stick time you get, how much time loading and unloading your planes and gear plus assembling your planes. Then time how long you spend just walking around talking to the other guys. I spen a bunch more time building a kit then I ever will flying the completed plane. I spend a lot more time with the guys at the field then I do flying. I get in a lot more stick time when I go out in the evening with just a friend and we are the only ones there.

That is so true, Ihave spent maybe 3 hours flying last year, Ihave spent 3 or more hours a week since October building.