Hey Joe, here's a suggestion: IMAC Basic says you can fly any AMA legal plane, such as a pattern plane, or a Venus, or anything that will fly straight. I've known guys who have done that, enjoyed themselves, learned a lot from the experience, from seeing the popular choices of scale aerobats, from talking to the competitors. Get the Basic sequence from off the IMAC site, and try flying it along with your pattern routine. I think you'll find the feel and the challenges, pretty similar to pattern flying. After you've practiced that over what's left of this season and into next year, you'll be ready to fly IMAC with confidence. Take what you've got, fly it, show the rest of the gang the best you have to offer, and take it from there.

Of course if the right deal presents itself, such as maybe a bargain on a scale aerobat at one of the winter auctions, something that is too good to pass up, grab it if you want. But don't feel pressured to buy something before you feel confident in what you want.

I fly and enjoy my gassers at least as much as my glow models. When I broke into gas, like so many others, I searched and searched for a not-too-big, not-too-heavy, not-too-expensive gas engine that would fit well on a not-too-big model. I never found one. The reason the 50 cc class is so popular in the ARF offerings is because that's a good power/weight point at the smaller end of the scale. If you don't have the vehicle to lug that size around in, then compromising good flying characteristics to get something that fits in your car, that to my way of thinking is not an acceptable compromise. 50 cc, 14-15 pound aerobat, now you're in business.