Wayne,
The nice thing about the rules process is a proposal does not have to go through any screening by the special interest groups to be considered by the contest board. Having said that, the control line contest board has been split along event category lines (there is a Navy Carrier Contest Board). But that isn't all bad either. The make up of the contest board is recommended by the SIG, not dictated by the SIG. The actual makeup is still in the hands of the AMA. Since the voting results are public information within the AMA and we know who represents a particular district we have some insight as to the contest board member's views and who to lobby.
Even though I have flown Navy Carrier in the past and I have an interest in the event, I believe the proposal should come from someone currently flying the event at contests. I'm willing to sign as the CD on the proposal but since I'm not a current competitor, I'm not willing to be the originator. As I said, I believe the originator should be a current competitor.
I doubt I still have the plans, but a friend took the three views of an A-1E (the bubble canopy one) and made a crude set of plans. The model looked good in the air. Just don't get carried away on the scale height of the fuselage. For a 36" - 40" span model around 325 sq in the scale fuselage will approach 6" top to bottom. Something thinner will still look good on the end of the lines. A fuselage mounted bellcrank with a little dihedral in the wing should allow for a line guide on top of the wing tip and would allow you to play with a slider out in the open if you so desired. Even without prop hanging, a slider makes low speed easier.
One gentleman in Wichita had a Skyraider complete with under wing stores. It wasn't real fast or particularly slow, but he got a complete flight most of the time and enjoyed flying it at contests.
Just to open this topic up a little, if Navy Carrier is a hobby for you (I'm not picking on Wayne, the use of the pronoun you is for anyone reading this), the opportunity to participate in competition ocassionally and fly off of a deck against your personal best performance in any class is probably sufficient. If however, Navy Carrier represents more of a sport for you, where the competition is the important part of your activity, then you should be playing in the current competition arena and trying to change the event as a recognized participant. Afterall, why should the event change if someone says they will participate when those that are participating are not seeking the change?
Have a good one,
Dave