I'm concerned with noise because I want to build a "screaming Banshee" that I can use in future SPA competition, if things work out that way. Not sure when I'll have time to build and compete, but I'd like to know how such a plane will be received.

What I'm hearing now is that noise is not really of global concern, which I like. This implies practitioners will act responsibly so as not to abuse this freedom.

I'm also trying to understand the difference between BPA and SPA having a perspective of a total outsider. It seems that the infrastructure and philosophy of the SPA are what I like, but I'm having a hard time understanding why SPA rules outlaw long pipes or rear exhaust pipes but not short ones. I guess the only other rules I see which are different between the groups is that the BPA allows bigger planes and engines than the SPA, and the list of acceptable planes may be different based on date of design.

It's obvious that SPA has "stuck to its guns" in regard to opening up it's rules to be more inclusive, and I'd simply like to understand the reasons behind this decision.

When my father told me not do do something, I was the pesky child who always had to ask, "But why Daddy?" I guess I never grew up.