Working a few of these events in Fort Worth (Sponsored by Lockheeed Martin), I can tell you that most teams don't bother consulting with a real RC pilot while developing their designs. They read books and make decisions. That's it. The planes show it too, some being nearly unflyable in real world conditions. I've seen designs that were so straight line lift oriented that they could barely turn without tip stalling, landing gears that were so complicated (RC models don't need suspension!) that they had a lot of trouble taxiing, and some planes that were just too stinkin' ugly to be allowed in the air. I respect Petkov for his willingness to go to people with practical experience in the field. He's an engineer so he'll want to approach tasks from a research and theoretical perspective, but he's at least willing to listen to users. That attitude will serve him well when's he's designing auto parts or oil drilling equipment or whatever he winds up doing because he'll put out products that are actually useful instead of just being technically elegant.