"If you make it a "You run what you brung" contest, than there's a 99,8% chance that the guy with the most pocket money is going to win the contest... "

I don't agree, if you look at it like that the person with the most money will win all the classes he enters. I think the person that wins will be the most inovative and the one that spends the most time refining his set up. I have a scale down DD that I run a Norvell .061 on and it didn't cost more than $50 for everything in it but I bet it's the fastest 1/2A you ever saw. The twin in the picture above is scratch built and other than the motors, which are not high dollar motors, cost very little to build. And then there's the Magnum, $300 for an ARF that screams out of the box. If we stick to prop planes I doubt you'll see too many planes above an honest 180mph, even if a Nelson shows up...