ORIGINAL: Desertrat
A If you want to move out of basic and be COMPETETIVE, you better have a big airplane.
I know from extensive experience that this is absolutely wrong. I have personally witnessed 150-sized panes beaten handily in Advanced and Unlimited by smaller planes (33% & 35%). I will grant you that due to many factors, like simple impression juding, a .60 size plane will have a hard time against a 150-size plane. But to make the sweeping statement that you cannot compete beyond Basic without a large plane is absurd and not supported by observed facts.
The idea being presented here is to open IMAC up to more people who either dont like to, or cant afford, larger aircraft, but still enjoy the sport of scale aerobatics and want to be competetive.
And as I keep saying, the tools for that goal exist. It is called mini-mac. It limits size to small, inexpensive planes where guys can compete with similar equipment against each other. Yet nobody flies it? Please explain why some slightly different size will succeed where mini-mac has failed??
If you really feel this strongly about it, why not CD a contest and offer it as a provisional class to test the waters. The official rules are locked through 2006 so it cannot be an official class until then. And then only if the official AMA ruels changes procedures are followed.