ORIGINAL: piper_chuck
That's only part of what needs to be learned to transition from 3 to 4 channels. One also needs to learn to use the left stick for ground steering and while landing. For some this is easy, for others, it takes work.
Chuck, you are assuming a runway. Our AMA field has no runway suitable for smaller planes. Virtually all planes are hand launched. But I would guess all have wing loadings of under 18 oz/sqft. I agree this is a good skill to develop, if you have the facility for it. But after 1500+ flights I have only done 2 ROG flights that I can recall. Fun for sure, but not practical where I fly.
A lot of the small electics are flown from hand launch for this very reason, no runway needed. In fact many don't even bother with landing gear. Just flips the plane over. I belly land all of mine on the grass.
This can be one of the attractions of the small electics, less need for developed facilities. Another operating expense you can avoid with the smaller planes. I presume small glow planes can be hand launched this way as well. I don't know what the practical cut-off is.
I launch 5 pound 3 Meter sailplanes from a hand launch, but the wing loadings are under 12 oz/sq ft. I would not try that with a 25 oz/sqft plane.