As it seems to me (whilst being 100% sympathetic with HT as he sees the whole picture and yes profit is his ultimate goal, just like me in my business).
1) I don't have a sub, I love the game, I practice a bit in offline missions and match play with the bots, but I fondly dream of the arena and my 2 weeks in there. I got killed loads, but I love WWII and combat aircraft so I stuck it out. Free or not, someone who hasn't got that interest in flying etc isn't likely to stick it out so it makes not much difference - in fact if they are paying yet getting killed they are likely to get more pissed off....whereas the chance and time to get better for free, they will slowly improve and then start wanting to pay a sub to access better aircraft, more ords, more fuel? etc..
2) I am not going to by a sub, (at least not in the next couple of years) as I cant justify it - yet if it was free, I would occasionally pop my head in and provide some bait and likely get some kills too. I fly with a mouse and have surprised myself in being quite competitive with others in Match play.
3) 2 weeks isn't enough, because circumstances outside of your control may make it only possible to play a couple of times within that two weeks.
4) I have seen many players brassed off in this forum and leave - if they were to be told that they could have limited free access, I bet a number would poke there heads in and get the addictive bug again and re-sub because they want to fly their beloved better performance plane.
5) Addiction - yes that's right, gaming is addiction, people need to get hooked. In selling there is a method called the 'puppy dog' method which is like trying to sell a puppy to a family. - the best way is to actually let them hold and cuddle the puppy and then the chances are they will buy.
so what am I saying, give limited free access or not, I don't care. However if there was, I would join in. You say a limited access crap plane is going to frustrate newbs - well yeah it might but heck but whether they pay or not, it's only going to be the determined ones who have a passion for WWII who will stick it out anyway and become good and stay.
(quick thought HT, have you tried google ads? work well for me although they do cost a bit, but google themselves will help you set it up and monitor it for you for free. i regularly have telephone mtgs with my google account manager for free where they optimise my search engine performance.... you can turn it off and on at any time and set a limited for how much it cots you...
Have a good day all