Surprising no one before flicka5 mentioned the primary criteria for choosing conventional or tricycle gear, when the design is open.

I was reminded twice recently that tail draggers steer poorly on paved runways, and trike gear steers poorly on grass or rough fields. I took my M2-E tail dragger to the local flying field on the runway at the now-closed El Toro Marine Air Station. Before that I had been flying it at a local park, off grass/dirt that is patchy and uneven.

On grass it's steers straight on takeoff and landing. On the pavement my first roll out resulted in the plane yawing from side to side. I changed the rudder to low rate, and that helped avoid over-correcting, but the difference was quite obvious.

My newest plane has tricycle gear (I couldn't help it; it was inspired by an ARF!). It doesn't steer well on the grass. Every pebble or bump the nose-wheel encounters results in a new direction. I just try to get it off the ground as soon as possible.

I'm sure that when I have a chance to take it down to El Toro it will track straight as a die on the pavement.

Daniel; The SAE weight-lifting contest was held at Mile Square Park in Orange County, California, in times past, before it was converted to a golf course.

The rules as I recall were based on a maximum plan-form area, and I wonder if biplanes would be allowed, since that would achieve more wing area within a given outline. I can see sesqueplanes coming soon.

Now that Orange County has a new model field at El Toro (with mile-long runways!), SAE should move out of the desert, and back to the coastal area where the weather is better, the air is more moist (more lift), and more spectators are nearby.

Do you know who is the sponsoring club in Palmdale?