ORIGINAL: wind junkie
From examination of the BPA and SPA rules, it seems both groups were formed mostly for these reasons:
1) Lower cost than state of the art Pattern equipment
2) Simplicity in airframe set up and contest format
3) affinity for older style designs
I'd like to ask a question which may strike at the heart of the issue discussed in this thread:
Is BPA not concerned with NOISE at all?
I'm now wondering when BPA fliers travel to compete, is it assumed that a BPA event will have no noise restrictions at the home field? Perhaps noise may be considered a better discriminator (at least in the eyes of BPA fliers) describing the largest difference between BPA and SPA?
Please enlighten me.
Joe
1) SPA yes, BPA no
2) SPA yes, BPA no
3) Yes to both
You missed one:
4) Affinity for older non-turnaround pattern itself...the "style".
Also noise: Guilty as charged. No we're not overly concerned with noise, any more than the AMA in general. But as Gary pointed out, they aren't THAT loud (yet). But nobody has actually shown up with a rev-up on a nitro pipe.
Changing gears for a second...
Some guys still seem to be missing the point. We're not bickering with SPA...at least not intentionally. But I do admit we get a little worn by SPA seeming to have some sort of problem with us. The cold and simple fact is that we WANT to fly and compete together with SPA guys and thier OWN planes. That's why the rules are so wide open in BPA, and that's what we wanted years ago, and that's why BPA was started...because SPA wouldn't budge on the rule set. But we're not angry or bitter, we just accepted the fact that they weren't going to change and we shouldn't try any longer.
That left us only one course of action, which was to begin our own organization and invite THEM to fly with US. THEN there is no us vs them, it's just us.
There is no official BPA organization as a SIG...because we have no interest in competing with SPA, and I hope they don't see it that way. We simply wanted something that didn't exist. We hoped that the logic of being a natural fit with the idea of SPA would make things easier and better for everyone, but the powers that be in SPA do not see it that way. After many years (search these forums) of practically begging, we decided to do it ourselves. With or without help.
And the result was astounding. In 108 degree heat, a lot of people showed up to compete with ballistic AND SPA planes. Everybody had on BPA shirts, the atmosphere was simply unique. Something I've never seen. People drove in from other states who didn't even have a plane...just to support the concept. That's a pretty powerful statement...especially considering tha tthe BPA doesn't officially exist, it's just a brotherhood of guys who like the same things.
So there is no bickering and whatntot coming from here. No abrasiveness, no confrontation, just explaination. If the explanation seems abrasive, that's because the BPA was founded due to the ice cold fact that we were told, sometimes very coldly, to go jump in a lake. That wasn't our doing. But we only had 2 choices, which were CLEARLY outlined: forget it and fly a SPA legal plane in an SPA event (which is not what we were interested in simply due to the planes themselves) or do it ourselves.....
The rest is history. No anger, bitterness or whatnot. Only solutions and opportunities.
-M