This hobby can be whatever we wish. However, it we wish it to be more economical, there is a huge secret that few today have embraced.

This hobby can include "building it yourself", and to have it include "less cost" requires some of that without doubt. If you don't have some "repair what you can" included, it's gonna cost you MORE not less. And that's not economical.

Start the hobby with that in mind. To learn how to repair, start by learning how to build. Foamies you build yourself teach you a lot. And cost a lot less. As for them somehow destroying more costly equipment than PNP's can, that's a stretch. Light models hit softer. Foamies are light.

Good thing about starting the hobby by building is you can stretch out your purchasing. There really aren't any PNPs you can buy a piece at a time. Good thing about starting from the beginning is you accumulate the tools and knowledge before they're needed to repair your investment.

As for sheet foam planes not flying as well as an Apprentice........... Some won't. Ask around and don't start with them. Some will fly just as well, some better.

I'm helping a guy learn to fly using a foamie he made. It actually doesn't have landing gear. Truth is, that isn't a negative. And the fact he built it himself, and is already starting another way before this one is close to done for, is a positive. He is building the second from scraps. At least he calls them scraps. They won't look like it after it's in the air. And he's talking about what to build next. He's building (pun intended) up his fleet as he can afford it. And a new sheet of foam isn't too expensive.

Last year I helped a couple of guys learn to fly their PNPs. Haven't seen them after they solo'd and soon after crashed them. One of them didn't have the money for a new one. The other got another member to fix his but crashed it again right away and the other member said it wasn't fixable. It was, but he wasn't going to do it. And the newbie didn't know better. The hobby didn't lose anything.