What does BNF, PNP, ARF etc. mean?

I get lots of phone calls and emails with this question when shoppers are looking at our range of model aircraft, boat kit sets etc. The terms relate to the equipment supplied with the kit or the state of contsruction, so here's the simplified guide;

ARF; 'Almost Ready to Fly' relates to the state of construction when the kit is produced, this would mean this kit comes fully built and covered with final assembly of parts required by the purchaser. You will be required to supply your own radio gear, servos and electronics, engine or electric motor, batteries etc. required to finish assembly.

ARC; 'Almost Ready to Cover' same as ARF but uncovered, so you will be required to supply and install any covering material, paint etc., handy if you want to give your model that personal touch.

RTF; 'Ready to Fly' means you simply shake the model out of the box, charge the batteries and fly. Radio gear necessary for flight is all included. (Normally supplied with the Lipo batteries)

BNF 'Bind and Fly' These are fully built kits with all the electronics including receiver and servos installed but minus the transmitter and batteries. You will need to use your own DSM2 or DSMX Spektrum transmitter to operate.

PNP; 'Plug and Play' Same as BNF but minus the receiver, handy if you use another brand of radio gear not compatable with DSM2 or DSMX

RTR; 'Ready to Race' Same as RTF but normally refers to surface vehicles such as RC cars or boats.

Kitset; Refers to a full self build kit, you get most of the wood and fibreglass parts either laser cut or printed on the wood sheets along with some of the metal hardware. Some of these kits are quite complex and building experience is required, most start off with the simple hand launch gliders or rubber powered free flight models before progressing to more complex builds.