BMatthews,

I know what you're saying. Even though there is a fair amount of drag in turns, these are light planes with powerful engines, so the turns aren't THAT slow. More importantly, straight-line speed is the primary figure of merit here, which is why there is so much discussion of radar guns, and no talk of lap times. I think it is fair to say the most happy owners of Diamond Dusts, Whiplashes, etc. want to fly really fast in a straight line, and be able to toss the thing around with abandon. Delta wings fit that bill pretty well. A highly optimized pylon plane probably would not. I think there are some other airframe layouts that would be even better than deltas. If I actually build one, I will post pictures.

banktoturn