Wow,
The passions are running pretty high about 2M. Interesting comments all
around. You know, standard class used to be THE class for competition
many years ago. But we moved away from it and now some of those ships
only show up in NOS or RES. Hmmmm.
Whether 2M survives (or not) is subject to what people really want to do
but I think proclaiming it's demise is a bit premature - there are a
number of 2M ships out there that people fly for fun and can still take
to competition. And the entries at the NATS suggest it's a long ways
from dead.
That said, most wing span constrained classes will suffer in performance
compared to the design flexibility available with Unlimited. Is that a
bad thing if everyone is flying under the same rules? Are we judging 2M
as deficient because it lacks some of the capability of Unl? If so, we
may be pricing (and sizing) some people out of R/C soaring.
One of the problems with 2M (my opinion) is a dearth of really good
designs. The ones I've bought as kits/Arfs in the last couple of years
appear to be pretty much slopers sold as TDs and that really doesn't
work. If you look at the design problem, there are trade-offs that make
sense for the smaller span class but I just don't see too many of those
out there and available for general purchase (maybe the Aegea 2M but
that's scratch building). If you concentrate on what a 2M can do well,
and it's size limited cruising range, there are some trends that should
make sense but I just don't see 'em being exploited.
Didn't make NATS this year so I have no grounds to hop into this
discussion. Hopefully I'll be around and can make it next time. So could
you guys not kill 2M for about a year 'cause I like it and think there's
still a lot of potential for enjoyment there.
- Dave R
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