Yes, the competitive guys are not the money makers for the industry. From '82 to '95 I worked in a couple large shops in the SF Bay Area. Beginners and sport pilots were the bulk of the sales and I do remember many more cottage industry manufacturers. Difficult to describe but in some ways we had more specialty items but we had fewer choices if that makes sense. With some things the competitive pilot did in fact drive development of products. DA started their engine line with the 150. Not many sport pilots fly 150cc. We would not have the precision servos that we have today if it were not for competition pilots. All of the lightweight acrobats and in fact the trend in gasoline engines came from guys wanting to fly airplanes simular to the TOC and TAS so in fact some things do come directly from competition. There are some things that will always be a hotbed topic, engine brands are certainly one of them. We all have different expectations, demands, goals ect. so I would tend to think it will always be this way.