Chris,

Thanks.

I don't see IC prices dropping for competition grade powerplants, and agree that the price has always gone up, but I see the future of pattern will be electric. The highest end competition grade electric stuff will always be relatively pricey, but the prices overall for electrics will drop as the electric technology matures. We have already seen this with the Neu F3A motor vs the C50 comp motor (~$500 vs ~$800), and lipos - whether the high end TP stuff went from 5300 V1s at ~$630 to the current 5300 V2s which just dropped to ~$420, or the HC/HK stuff. And even things like the Castle ICE 80HV which is not only cheaper than the prior 85HV, but includes data logging so you don't need as much support equipment (ie, wattmeters, dataloggers - tho I will personally keep using the ones I have in some instances).

The Hacker A60.....not only did I do extensive testing with it, but I made the US FAI finals with it several times, and won the South African NATs using it, and Ken Velez won the US NATs using it. Great motors, especially for the price, and I still have one in my backup plane, but I have moved on to the Neu F3A (not available when I first starting running electrics).

Regards,

Dave Lockhart