Well I'm about to maiden a CMpro Swallow which I will hope to compete in the Sportsmans class. Its adequte for the job but the aim is to get too F3A in a few years but when I look at the planes needed to compete at that level and the cost, its quite intimidating.
Its not like theres millions of Dollars to be made in this game but it seems you could end up spending a good $5000 on a competitive platform and in reality you probably need 2. That just seems like a cheque book game.
I accept that a good 2nd hand plane will do the job but from when I'm staring at the sun, it appears designing and building my own plane will be the only way to go.
Its a shame because the rest of the hobby seems to have woken up and realised that volume is needed to keep it alive.