Matching gas and electric is not easy. We took a guess at what might work by choosing total weight as a limiting factor for electrics. Putting on an electric motor big enough to get the same power as my Class 2 engine would be so heavy that you would have to cut the battery weight way back to meet the weight limit, and then you would not make it through a long low speed. Again, this was all a guess based on limited experience. Now we'll see what we can really do as people try it. I don't think I can beat my own gas Class 2 with an electric, but I might be able to beat a lot of other peoples' Class 2's and still come out on top with an electric Class 2. Eric, you are absolutely correct that we can't make gas and electric equal, but we might make them close enough that it is other features (quality of model, skill of pilot, luck, etc.) that will dominate in the determination of the winner.
Dave's idea sounds straightforward, and we did discuss power ratings in working out the rules to try. But this is really tough to do in practical terms, and adds a complexity to operating a contest that might cause CD's to just kiss off the electric events. Consider the complications, for example, of measuring power. A gas engine unloads in the air and, when set up just right, gets a significant power increase at speed. An electric has a higer power output on the ground, and reduces power output as it gets up to speed. In both cases, power output depends on all sorts of stuff, particularly prop selection. (We also considered "manufacturers ratings" of power output and concluded, even if the manufacturers data sheets didn't lie, a big "if", the other variables of prop and battery would complicate things hopelessly.) So we ended up with the rather simple method of total weight as the easiest and, possibly, best way of setting class size, and we hoped the weights chosen will eventually get power outputs close enough to let other factors become more important. Other things one could do, for example, without making things too complicated, include limiting the weight of the motor (or, more precisely as a power limiter, limit the weight of the magnets in the motor.) This is possible, but let's try the simplest things first and see how that works.
Pete