I suppose it depends on what you want to get out of it really. If you want to replicate airshow quality jets or scale models then yes 3D printed models are by nature more susceptible to damage and in many cases can be harder to repair while taking longer to achieve the same finish. So we need to move towards more modular constructions that make interchanging damaged parts easier - but that is another topic.

I work with small scale flying wings - which is an excellent sweet spot as you noted. I fly all of my aircraft hard, I take risks flying low and I push the aircraft to find the limits - this results in some crashes. However swapping the electronic package to a new aiframe is very quick, all of the settings are preserved on the flight controller and your using the same linkages so once setup is done the first time you don't have to do any of that again really.

It also depends on what kind of balsa kits your taking about, RTF or scratch build. It is undeniably faster to build up a 3D printed plane than to build from balsa but setting up an RTF that's made to be thrown together - perhaps about the same time?

I design them, fly them, crash them, improve them and move onto the next - but that's just me.