like by introducing it out of nowhere as the antithesis of the nice plane being discussed
It was not out of nowhere, you refered me to posts in that thread, if you read #40 it was introduced there and my post was a reply to that.
As for
But for someone who is content to simply be safely and economically airborne, "getting the job done" is the goal - they are happy, and aviation is growing!
I have already agreed with that!