But since only about have our members have SPA-legal planes, we have extend the "any plane goes" rule that applies to the Novice class, up to the Sportsman class. We may leave it this way, or go with "pure" SPA rules depending on how things develop.

Congrats on your new chapter in the Northwest. I own Jack's other original King Altair, and wouldn't part with it for anything!! Jack is a great builder, and I marveled at his skill when I decided to try to copy what he did while building two more Altairs. I loved the way Jack's plane flew from the very beginning.

Portland is one of my favorite places. If we get back there someday, I'd love to visit your chapter.

I fully understand your need to extend the "any plane" rule normally seen only in Novice while your chapter is getting off the ground. My hope for the future would be that as the chapter develops, you will fully eventually embrace the "legal plane" rules in Sportsman as well. The strength of the SPA organization is uniformity with the official "Competitor's Guide", so that hopefully, the whole country will be on the same page.

In the next few months, there will be a second Model Aviation article about SPA. I hope the new chapter benefits--your chapter is specifically mentioned in the article, along with the one in the Northeast.

Again--good luck and have fun

Duane Wilson