Hey Clint. Let's try to answer your question. Before I do I've been flying IMAC as long as Bill also, and was heavy in IMAC during the past 4 years, here in Tx.

1) Mesquite had the biggest contest in Tx till police were called due to rolling circle over a neighbors house. Actions were taken appropriately, asking pilots to fly smaller, but some simply refused. No more contests in Mesquite.

2) North Dallas had 2 contests at the Frisco field. Noise was a concern. Last year airplane noise was heard and complained about over 2 miles away(I think.) This is second hand to me. At any rate, no more contests will be sponsored by the NDRCC.

3) Conroe Tx had a contest last year. Again rolling circle over a neighbors house has almost closed the field since. Appropriate actions were again taken with the roller eliminated from the pattern. Noise was an issue also. Now the club is afraid to sponsor a Pattern contest(much quieter and smaller in space required.)

4) I CD'd a contest in Lubbock 2 years in a row with only 15 pilots showing up. Fun contests but not worth the effort. Not to mention, lots of Judging problems.

5) Before the Nats in 2001, 2 rules had been in the rule books for over 2 years, wind correction and center box centering. Most IMAC pilots chose to ignore these rules for personal reasons. It is hard to fly according to the rules and be judged poorly because of it.

6) Lastly, Pattern is thriving in Tx. Simple math here, $2500 for brand new state of the art 2 Meter pattern ship, vs $8500 for a 37% Extra.

These are all issues that have occurred in Tx. 3 years ago, SC was one of the biggest IMAC regions. Time will tell if this holds true for other regions or not.

I do believe IMAC has made great strides to eliminate some of the problems. Personally, just don't have the time to be competitive in both anymore.

This is not intended to bash anyone, simply a statement of circumstances that have happened here.

ed