According to HTC, new players often don't last past 20 minutes -- and those are 20 minutes of a free and unrestricted 2 week trial period. During the initial Steam trial I saw many newbies sit on the runway, or in the hangar, for 10 minutes then quit -- never to be seen again. So, it's not just about the price.
No matter what the price, new players need some kind of a "check ride" to sort out their controls and get them off the ground.