More or less my thoughts too. I have run engines with break in oil and full synth and others with full synth from minute one... guess what.. they both ran the same, same temps, same power..

Dick - wasn't it you who suggested just running the full synth oil from day one? Can't remember...

That's all I have ever done with my bikes and boat motors... why not R/C engines?

Here is another interesting tidbit - on 4-stroke Harley motors when we do top ends (includes a hone and ring change and usually .010 piston oversize) instead of babying the bike for 500 miles like the "old school" set suggests, we now take the bike out and seat the rings in 10 miles by putting some very hard R's on it (basically drag racing it!). The first time I saw this done I thought they were nuts, but many of the hot rodders started doing this long ago and the data actually shows that the rings seat much faster and that the engine runs cooler sooner by shortening the period of time in which the rings break in. In the long term there were no differences in wear or durability of the rings as a result of doing this "procedure"....

Mechanics dig this too because instead of a baby ride around the block they get to light 'er up any time they do a top end now !

There is a lot to be said about fact or friction....
DP