This is my take on the cost of the NexStar. I bought mine for $400 and change. I learned to fly R/C with it. Soloed on 2nd trip to the field (after many hours on the sim). Flew the plane over 100 flights before I crashed it trying to take off next to a wooden fence (I was flying a Tiger Stick by then and was quite bored with the NexStar.) I still use the simulator. I still use the Tx to fly the supplied simulator and AFP simulator. The FX46, the Futaba receiver, and the Futaba servos now fly my GP AT6 Texan. A flight pack and this engine for the AT6 would have cost almost $300. So for $100 I got the spare radio, a simulator training aid, and the hours of flight time on the NexStar air frame. I think I got a lot of "value" out of the purchase.