Jason, I have been building from plans for decades. It's my preferred way to build most the time. I enjoy kits but I can olny afford them when I get them at auction or someone gives them to me. My last deal I got several kits and I kept the one I wanted. The GP Ultra Sport 1000 80 inch kit. I'm having some serious back problems at the moment but as soon as I can I will dive into the build. Already have the engine and landing gear for it.
Fact, as long as someone is designing and selling plans kits will never go away, you just have to cut your own.
As long as people keep there old kit plans and make templates we will be keeping a lot of the really great kits/planes alive. We have been doing that for a long time too.
It's going to be people just entering the hobby that will never know the joys of kits and building.
Mkie, I don't hate any of the aspect of the hobby. I am more in my own comfort zone with gas and glow but I have flown with Jet-X and rubber bands and had fun with that too. Hell, just tossing a glider off the third floor of the math building at UCI was a kick. As long as it will fly I'm a happy boy. With electric I do have to ask different people what the hell all those things on the motors box mean, still means nothing to me but I don't care, all my electrics have flown.
Gene