Even if it might sound unnatural, I actually think that these rules are a blessing, as far as I'm concerned. There's no need to "lighten up" anything, believe me...

There's a lot of noise coming from other sources, the world doesn't need any more noise coming from small model airplanes. No matter if near or far from people living in the neighbourhood. And it is possible to fly quietly AND powerfully, so why don't do it? It doesn't take long or a lot of money to get there, but overall quality improves dramatically.

I found out that high-pitched noise makes me nervous, because it's another input that my mind has to elaborate (I unconsciously listen to the engine, but there's no need to - except you have an unreliable powerplant, in this case concentration's gone even before the take off ). If you have a quiet, reliable and powerful engine you don't have to concentrate on this noise and can dedicate yourself to the actual flying - that makes me nervous enough!

It's true, we love to fly. I personally love to fly "quietly", another reason that made me purchase a Plettenberg and Lipos for my next project. But even standard pattern plane can meet regulations with little to no effort and can be VERY quiet with moderate effort. Regulations made it a necessity, but as I said I couldn't imagine doing it in any other way.

Regards,
-Fabrizio