An almost ready to fly (ARF or ARTF) kit is a radio-controlled airplane kit that comes partially built, usually just requiring final assembly to complete. They normally include partially assembled wings, along with a fuselage and stabilizers already pre-covered in plastic film sheeting material such as Ultracote or Monokote. The remaining assembly steps usually include the installation of control linkages and surfaces, and the purchase and installation of an engine or electric propulsion system and radio gear.
Though most require full assembly, many injection molded foam kits such as the Grand Wing Servo-Tech Formosa are considered to be almost ready to fly due to the low parts count.
Depending on the complexity of the model, this can take only an hour or as many as twenty hours to complete.
Famous quotes containing the words ready and/or fly:
“Here is what sometimes happened to me: after spending the first part of the night at my desk—that part when night trudges heavily uphill—I would emerge from the trance of my task at the exact moment when night had reached the summit and was teetering on that crest, ready to roll down into the haze of dawn....”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Love wing’d my Hopes and taught me how to fly”
—Unknown. Love Winged My Hopes and Taught Me How to Fly (l. 1)