This is a great thread! I particularly enjoyed Mhale's comment a few posts ago! Ha!

My philosophy, regarding the two questions I've seen :

1. It's okay to get attached to the plane. Just be prepared to mourn its demise.

2. It's okay to try to salvage engines & radio gear from the smoking hulk. However, do a bunch of checking and testing before actually using the items in a fresh plane!

One more comment, I was reading somebody's post recently, and a guy said he has a plane he built about 30 years ago. I believe he said it requires replacement of the Monocote on top of the wing, about every 15 years, due to embrittlement from sunshine.

Good luck!
Dave Olson