Doug,
I have a lot of respect for Phillip Avonds and here's what he has to say about an operating rudder on his F-16:
The rudder installation kit is only recommended in one of the following cases:
To satisfy the AMA regulations in the USA
To perform precision aerobatics (slow- and hesitation rolls etc.)
Actually, the F-16 can perfectly be flown without a functional rudder. A rudder complicates the construction and adds a substantial amount of work, so normally, we do not recommend to install a rudder, except for the above cases.
I have no problem with the rudder rule, however, if it is a safety issue it should be part of the safety code and required on ALL models.
I do not agree that just because someone is capable of flying turbines they have the expertise/knowledge to redesign a model to incorporate a functional rudder. There's a lot of factors involved in modifying a design to incorporate a rudder
Also, your statement that:
Just because the rest of the world doesn't have a rule doesn't mean they're correct
, doesn't mean that we're right either, just because we have the rule.
BRG,
Jon