What gets me is if that guy knew you were on the same frequency that he flys on, and he saw you flying, what crack was he smoking when he thought it was ok to turn on his transmitter.
Without a doubt, that was his error. He should have put his own pin on the board. Id revoke his flying privileges. Then I'd tell him when he learns to put his own pin up on the board he can come back.

Back to the topic of this thread....

I recently got into the electric stuff. Most of the electric indoor planes are 3D oriented. I thought they all flew like crap. So eventually I found a indoor pattern plane. The Ikarus F3A. I was so pleased. It flew just like a big glow pattern plane. Smooth and precise. This was until I tried 3D with it. Then I quickly found out that the sport planes like the Extra and Edge were FAR better 3D planes than my F3A. So now I have both. F3A for flying smooth precision aerobatics, and a SuperStar for flying edgy snappy 3D stuff.

That one fellow was right. If you hand a pattern plane to a sport flyer. His jaws will hit the floor, and within a week, he'll probably be building one of his own. Pattern planes fly sooooooo nicely because they are specifically designed to be neutral in all axis.
If you stick it in one attitude, its gonna stay there until you move it again. While this is ideal for flying smooth precision aerobatics, it leaves a little to be desired in flying 3D type aerobatics. This is where the sport planes come in. They fill a niche for people wanting to fly snappy, barnstorming aerobatics.

I enjoy flying both. I recently scratch-built a little foam outdoor pattern plane I call the "Revolution3D". I specifically designed it to be a good flying pattern plane, but also be capable of 3D aerobatics. Its got a classic pattern shape, but also has a large elevator and rudder surfaces to help with hovering and tight maneuvers. Fly it on low rates for precision, and high rates when I need to get wild.

Pattern planes are FAR superior to any other type of plane out there in stability, smoothness, precision, and ease of flying. Whats really funny is I wish I had went from a trainer to a pattern plane. Id probably be competing in masters by now. But I went with the sport planes. So here I am....undecided on which I like better....pattern or sport.

Oh the headache. Deciding whether to concentrate on pattern, or flying 3D....hmmm NATS or TOC? Oh well. Im a long way off from both.