Rudeboy

Nikolay,

I really don't think people are paying 3000 bucks for an F3A plane just to be miserable and lonely... You make it sound like somebody is holding a gun to their head, making them buy "overpriced" planes, have them practising year round just to have a lousy day at the contest. Has it occured to you that these people actually enjoy spending time with their friends while doing what they like??
The annual big scale aerobatics competition/show (F3A-X) at our club has turned into quite the event. Participants from several different countries, lots of spectators, a big ol' barbeque... what more could you ask for? And they all fly overpriced planes...

And a lot of people that fly turbines want their plane to look like a jet... because they want to fly a jet after all. Who cares if the wing planform isn't tested in a windtunnel...? You apparently, but they sure as hell don't.
I could put a turbine on my 100" Telemaster. That would fly it too. And it would fly at speeds much more suitable to that long straight wing. It has been done before, but now that is something I personally would call crazy.
Turbines are VERY inefficient at the speeds most people fly their planes at. And yet turbines are becoming more and more common. Are all these people buying them nuts? Because the most logical power system would be a big slow turning prop...

I don't mind paying 400 bucks for a Q500 engine... heck I'd pay 500 for one that turned 1000 rpm more on the same prop. I like Q500 just the way it is. Again that may sound crazy to you, but WE have a fabulous time when the contest starts.
It doesn't bother me that there aren't 500 spectators watching from behind the fence. I fly pylon for MY pleasure, not to please somebody else.

If you want to attract the "masses" to you event, you should start advertising. That's what we do: we started advertising our events in local newspapers and stuff like that. It is a lot more effective then inventing a whole new discipline, I can tell you that much. We even made national TV once!
Now we have people coming over for a look that didn't even know there was something like radio controlled planes... and they LOVE pylon racing. 3 planes flying 10 laps, all day long... sounds pretty boring doesn't it? But why is it that these people stay all afternoon to watch this boring stuff?