One of the big problems is that "common sense" is different from person to person. Your common sense, for example, tells you that you can reach out and grab a 7-10lb .60-powered plane out of the air. My common sense tells me that if I slip, either on the transmitter or the plane, I'm lunchmeat! Then there are hundreds of factors beyond my control that could cause that plane to do something totally unpredictable.

Just recently, I've seen what an engine as small as a .15 can do to human flesh. The man could've bled to death very easily had he been there alone. Can you really say that there is a difference between a .40 and a 40%? I'll agree that there is certainly a difference between an 8oz electric park flier and a 40% as far as inherent danger goes, but is getting slashed open really all that different from getting parts hacked clean off? Either way, you're severely injured and bleeding.

That said, I otherwise agree with your take on flying styles and banning specific flying types or maneuvers. Perhaps instead of banning or trying to regulate flying styles, the AMA should define and separate them? That is, no 3D while others are "flying the pattern," and no flying the pattern when others are flying 3D. There is nothing wrong with either flying style, but the traffic patterns they create are not compatible with each other.

If egos and selfishness didn't get in the way, there wouldn't be a need for such rules in the first place. The 3D guy could wait 10 minutes for the other guys to land, and the guy who "just flies" could give up the sky for 10 minutes so the 3D guy could get in a flight.