Cottage industry
Easytiger,
Getting back to your original post, I agree with you 100%. There was a reason; however, that people were willing to wait and put up with a cottage industry atmosphere. Jets were new, they were, in fact, still kind of experimental.
Now put yourself in the shoes of a guy like me, spending thirty some odd years dreaming about miniature turbines instead of doing something worthwhile with my life, and then lo and behold someone actually comes out with nothing less than a real, live, working turbine for model airplanes!
Would I be willing to put up with just about anything to get my hands on one? You better believe it! People put up with whatever they had to to get those turbines in their airplanes and get rid of those ducted fans.
Like I said in my original, admittedly somewhat divergent post, things change. Technology improves, demand increases, people want more for less. That's all a good thing, the result of which is a new crop of super reliable turbines.
Cottage industry? Yes. That was then. But now is now, and wow, what a great time it is for model jet aviation!