With the design of pattern planes being to alleviate any coupling between controls, I was wondering why manufacturers haven't taken steps seen in other areas of r/c aircraft, especially competition sailplanes.

Obviously, pattern airfoils aren't as design critical as a sailplane's, but a couple features I'd like to see are integrated aileron hinges in the upper wing skin, along with wipers installed on the bottom of the ailerons/stabs. This would totally eliminate control surface gaps and provide much cleaner airflow over the wings/stabs. Of course, this probably would mean composite hollow-molded wing panels.

The sailplane guys can get a top-notch molded open class plane (12'+ span) for $1000-1500 which is in the realm of a lot of the current pattern planes. A lot of these come from Eastern European shops that had to find alternative production outlets for their CNC machines. I'd think that there's at least as much F3A interest in Europe as here in the US, so why aren't we seeing a techno bleedover into pattern?

Any comments from anybody / manufacturers?