Lots of fun to be had with Free Flight. I knock out WhipperWhizzes for my kids pretty frequently and I keep Delta Dart kits on hand for when older nieces and nephews are around. Stored away I have most of the parts cut out for a Tepid Cocoa, and there is a Baby Phoenix that Easytiger gifted to me a few year ago that is pinned down to a building board on a high shelf, the last thing I worked on before I had to turn my workshop into a nursery in 2002.

With RC assist, you can have the thrill of an OOS without actually losing the model, and I have thought that maybe an approach to purity could be had by building a class c or d model with traditional dethermalizing gear and just a minimal radio that could actuate one aileron to drag the model back into the vicinity if you hook a boomer.

What's the status of the Builder of the Model rule? I've always thought that the skill of freeflight was largely about design and construction and that if you didn't build the model yourself, you should still be able to fly in competition, but with the requirement that you share the trophy or whatever equally with the builder. Maybe it's already that way, a way for guys who are darn good builders and designers, but maybe lack the stamina to chase them accross farm fields and deserts in 110 degree weather to team up with more athletic flyers...a great way to pass on the skill and lore.

With the names and handles I recognize here from other times and other forums, I bet a freeflight section would have a small but intelligent following.