Andy, Gloucestershire

Posted by Richard Harris on 21/05/2012 23:37:03: Not counted the 5 ARTF's as I feel ashamed of these I find that comment quite sad - that a model's origins should be the subject of shame or snobbery. At the end of the day, our hobby is about flying models. Building is one aspect of R/C aeromodelling but not everyone enjoys that part of the process. My home situation leaves me very little time to myself. The garage reached a point long ago, where you can barely get a feeler gauge in there, nevermind the elbow room to build model aircraft. The last time I bashed some balsa, was 40+ years ago, with a Keil Kraft Invader and a Veron Cardinal. All of my current models are all either ARTF, BNF, PNP or in the case of my old Kalt heli, a kit of plastic parts. If it wasnt for these readily available offerings, I would never fly. Partly because I dont have the time or space - and partly because I'm rubbish at building. Ultramicro's have opened up more possiblilities for me, because they can be flown in comparatively small spaces and chucked in the carboot, for when an opportunity presents itself. T28 Trojan, Sukhoi 26XP, F27Q Stryker, Carbon Cub, UMX Beast, Blade mSR and mCPx - all micro marvels of BNF convenience. (And not a shameful blush in sight - lol). I get a lot of enjoyment from flying whatever I can get - even if I didnt build it. Many of the modern BNF and ARTF models available, are much better than I'm capable of building myself. Just for fun, I recently started project-planning a 'micro' Lancaster, at same scale as the new Parkzone UM Spitfire. It would've been 48" span and disappointingly expensive to make from scratch. Then I saw the new HobbyKing Lanc... same size as I planned but a much better model than I could've hoped to build, complete with everything except Rx and battery - for just £114 ! - I wouldn't even contemplate a scratchbuilt, when there's a PNP version, that cheap. Pete Lowe summed it up perfectly, at the end of his Parkzone MKIV Spitfire review (Feb 2012): "...as a dedicated traditional builder of glow and petrol-powered models, some might be asking what on Earth I was doing at the patch with a small ARTF electric foamie. Quite simply: having a damn good time with a well-sorted model aircraft, for that, surely, is what this hobby is all about"