ORIGINAL: speedracerntrixie
Bill, I was in the same boat as you. Except that I fly IMAC and racing too so I wanted a pattern airplane setup for about a grand. My solution was to design and build my own. I have molds for a 33% Laser 200 and ironically the fuse is 2M in length. I ended up building a lighter fuse and then a smaller set of wings, tail section for it. I am very pleased with the end result and it is a survivor of 3 pattern contests to date.
I agree. If you are starting out and have a fair amount of building skill, and even more time, this is a valid approach to getting in on a budget. I have done this by copying the areas and moments from some popular designs, and building my own. They are all pretty close in this regard. If you build a plane with dimensions similar to a Passport, or scaled to down .110 size as I did, you will have a plane that is comparable to 90% of the pattern planes flying. It will almost certainly fly well, especially if it is build straight. Chip or Andrew would be able to tell the difference caused by small variations in moments and thrust lines, etc, but it would be way good enough for relative newbs like us.
I have not been to a contest in a little over a year, due mostly to having to focus on another hobby (cycling) due to a weight related health scare. I hope to resurrect my last plane, in need of some major repairs, and start flying again in the '12 season.