6 degrees of elevator? That doesn't sound like enough to show a rapid pitch departure. Is the Spark a good enough plane design to actually pitch load the wing and then autorotate with 6 degrees?
To speedracer, the things top judges look for in snaps are very quick pitch followed with yaw and roll, and then a clean exit. Often the model displaces in pitch and yaw when a better snap is performed. I don't downgrade for slight displacement of about 1/2 to 1 wingspan. The speed of a snap is not a judging criterion, but unfortunately some folks mistakenly think that the faster one rolls the crate the better. These types tend to score better on average. That's the major reason wings on present pattern models have gotten as small as they have, to make the model turn into itself in the blink of an eye.
Personally, I prefer a slower snap, one which allows a little more time to see what happening. It is a matter of set-up
Matt, it might be a little more than 6 deg, but not much. It is significantly less than the 11 deg I run for "Normal" flight mode and 14 for "Spin." I have it set so that I can pull the stick most of the way down for the pitch, over to the corner for full aileron while quickly feeding in full rudder, back to neutral as quickly as I can move the sticks.
Maybe I need more, but at this point it looks pretty good (at least to Anthony R) and it isn't so severe that it will break the wings. That's why I say I will find out for sure next Spring.
I noticed that the wings of the new Arixtra design have a similar taper at the tip, but without the little step that the Spark has.