Each side is quite certain the other side is dead wrong, of course. Now, while feathers are remarkably strong for their weight, I can't think of any worse treatment than to bang them together to catch insects. Also, they're an incredibly complex structure to use just for this purpose. And they would blow the insect out of the way. There are no examples of living or fossil scales that even remotely resemble a feather.
Archaeopteryx has complete feathers like modern birds.
The theory of the evolution of flight is not about the birds, so much as it's a theory ' for the birds'. Grow from follicles which are tubular down-growths from the epidermis of the skin. Specialized growth matrix at the base of the follicle which is solely responsible for growth in length. Growth matrix part of follicle is the only permanent part of the follicle. Dermal papilla at the base of the follicle.