What I was proposing would never result in a competition betwen a piped Tipo and a Taurus, (although that is possible now under current SPA rules in Novice class). I was proposing a class of competition, call it "Evolution class", "high performance" or whatever. These would probably start at Sportsman, and all the high-performance planes would compete only against each other--NOT the current rules legal planes. There would be separate awards etc. This would keep current SPA rules intact, and would essentially EXPAND the SPA into a new high-performance class of aircraft. This could only be done at sites where noise levels are not an acute problem, (or the db limit could be posted in the contest flyer--no exceptions).

About 2-stroke engines. At Cave Spring, I was one of only 3 pilots there with a 2-stroke engine. The plane DID NOT have the vertical performance of the 4S-91, BUT, it had more than enough performance, (and I'm working on new prop combos to give better vertical) to do everything that was required of it. As I said in an earlier thread-I wanted to see what my humble Taurus could really do in the hands of an expert pilot. Cass Underwood went out there having never flown ANY Taurus, and proceeded to do beautiful 4-point, 8-point, slow rolls, knife edge, and even a figure M on the first try. That was on a regular OS .61FX with muffler. I'm sure the maneuver was not as LARGE as it would have been if my 2-stroke had been piped, but that's not the point. When judging precision maneuvers, the speed or size of the maneuver is not the most important thing--it's the grace, smoothness, and perfection that matters., as has been pointed out.

While we are waiting for a possible "high performance" SPA class, why not come out anyway with a muffled .61, while working on doing the maneuvers with a little less power. I know that traditional late 80s pilots would feel most comfortable competing as they always have--using the pipes and retracts, but I would ask them to give a regular muffled 2S a chance first, as I did--experience the meet, and make your final judgement about whether you had a good time and whether it was worth it later. Challenge is the name of the game. Why can't some of the challenge be to change perfect large maneuvers, into perfect smaller and slower maneuvers? Of course it may be easier to have a missle with unlimited vertical--but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I feel that's part of the skill challenge. Next season, depending on what happens, you may have something more suited to SPA with a 4Stroke--or a piped Tipo. But that's next season, and it's a long ways off. If you feel you MUST have the piped .61 to enjoy the experience--then I guess this year it's not going to happen.