True enough, and most of yesterdays kit builders were not very good flyers. I'm with you on the enjoyment of a good build, but it's at the expense of flying hours and flying proficiency. Its good to have a choice and find a balance...everyone's situation is a little different...if I had the choice years ago when I started...I don't think I would have picked the balsa dust and crappy first time covering job route. I think most people are just looking for some success...and as I recall, you almost needed a checklist to bring all the stuff along that was required to just get the engine started...now they just learn on a simulator and take their arf to the field, arm their battery and fly...with much better results and a greater chance of staying interested in the hobby...I can't tell you how many "new" pilots I have seen show up to the field with 3 or 4 months worth of effort on the bench and smack it into a puff of balsa dust in about 30 seconds. You can bet most of them didn't rush back to build another..."gee Dad...this is fun, lets get another one!" Ahhhhhhhhh...no.