You have a point MinnFlyer but not necessarily. I don't call myself even a intermediate flier but I have been flying 3D airplanes for a couple of years now including Topstar (UCD clone) and GP Reactor 46. I prefer to have an experienced flier maiden my airplane. I also have someone help me put it together. I mainly worry that I will mess up my expensive kit while building and I dont want to lose it on the first flight. Agreed, I need to get over to building things so I can built the way I want but I am getting there slowly.

However, once its put together and test flown, I spend a lot of time (sometimes more than spent on putting it together) getting the setup the way I want (I dont have anything to worry about then). Also repairing damage is no issue...its just the first flight nerves. Once I have flown it for some amount of time, I am able to take a lot of "risks". In the Topstar I had a lot of issues with the engine cutting repeatedly and I did a lot of dead-stick glides (from less than 20 feet of the ground when the engine cut in a hover) without damage.

Ameyam