Lowlevlflyer,

You are right - more IAC events are won by Sukhoi's - but not CAP's. But the last 5 (and maybe 6) IAC National Championships were won by EDGE's, flown by Kirby Chambless and Steve Andelin. The Sukhoi's usually outnumber the EDGE's on the podium though, but that's partly because there are more of them around as they have been scene for almost 20 years and are now more affordable. In international competition though, the Sukhoi's still dominate.

And, to a large degree, that explains the lack of CAP's on the podium here - there are only a few flown in competition in the US - most notably Robert Armstrong, David Martin and Debby Harvey-Rihn, all of whom almost always end up in the money. Of course, Mike Goulian flies the Castrol CAP on the airshow circuit, but not in competition lately. This year the CAP's have been almost totally absent from competition as they have been grounded due to a wing spar failure which took the life of one of the French team members.

No doubt, the Sukhoi, CAP and EDGE are all top level contenders. My question was in response to the comment that EDGE's are not popular in IMAC competition but used primarily for 3D aerobatics. I'm not challenging that statement (I don't fly IMAC), just wondering why. I'm also curious why the YAK54 is so popular when it is virtually non-existant in IAC and WAC competition. There are some YAK 55's which compete at the lower levels, but I don't believe I've seen one YAK 54 in full scale competition. Perhaps it's the aesthetics that makes them attractive, or maybe some superstar like Quique just popularized the design.

Jack