[Aire valley]

I think your questions have been answered very well above..

Oople is definitely a less popular way of communicating these days, sadly, perhaps since the driving force, Jimmy, left us..😢
Personally, I've always loved Oople as being a single source for all things rc car racing. It seems that most Clubs now use their own Facebook page to communicate with members.
Sales, and specific model information, is almost entirely Facebook based these days, but, as said above, it is very fragmented across different models and activities.
There are still some excellent shops around providing both face to face and online service, but yes, there are probably less than a few years back.
Clubs, as always, have mixed fortunes...some events are very well supported Oople series for example, but other, normal, club meetings can struggle for support.
Currently with the decent weather, I am really missing running outdoors. Hopefully we can return to "normal" service before the end of Summer.