Im impressed they were ever able to justify giving away free plans. Would seem hard to build a business when you are so generous with your intellectual property. Im glad it has worked for them, lord knows they've done more to build this hobby than anyone. They've earned some measure of loyalty from me for that, even if I dont always agree with every move they make. Its easy to judge from the outside when you're not the one trying to run a business, laying awake at night trying to figure out how you're going to make payroll.
On a more practical level, I dont worry about plans. I just buy the Speed Build Kits and use them as a permanent set of plans to trace. Thats so much easier for me than sizing, printing, and tracing. Takes a bit more to store them but its so easy to make repair pieces (or a whole new plane for that matter)