I do know of a few local PM's in my area, however they have leveraged this business as a "bolt on" to their existing real estate practice, a nice model that has worked well for them, but there are constant and ongoing challenges. 

It isn't the cost of flight (which you can't guarantee will always be dirt cheap, or convenient or desirable, anyway) but it is a question of ongoing ownership and not having boots on the ground.

Also had a large bull dog professionally trained for defence/protection.

It's a downhill train with no brakes and you're just delaying the inevitable.

In addition to that, I have now started asking myself, "is what I am spending this money on going to return money into my pocket somehow or not" and basing my decisions on the answer.

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

It is on the job training that will lead to better knowledge and then when you do hire a sub or GC, you know the lingo, the costs, the time, and can’t easily be fooled.

I did English but I had technical training in estimating and construction to go with it so I really didn't need the technical degree. 

I was trained as a loan officer (across the lake from you in Bellevue) so I simply underwrite according to normal lending practices.

I do not want to make any interpretations myself since I am not trained in interpreting these documents but my laymans hunch is that you are correct.