Never seen "win at any cost?"
It's in every event in modeling, from giant scale turbo-jet RC all the way down to hand launched gliders.
A Nelson 36 with a left hand crank in Profile Carrier?
A $700 piped stunt engine in lieu a $100 engine? Or better yet, $1,500 worth of electrics.
Prizes? What prizes? It's all about the honor of winning. Nobody's in it for profit.
I'm perfectly willing to concede the FAI program and the top gun events to those who want to throw money the fire. I'll stand back and watch.
It would be nice if we could save an event or two from the big spenders, but it's an uphill battle.
Whoa, Paul.
Maybe I'd better defend myself then. I do not consider myself a "Win at all costs" competitor, but I do own and use $400 piped stunt engines. Why? Because they run better and I got sick and tired of trying to make a crappy OS RC engine into a control line stunt engine. Not because I was trying to win at all costs.
And yes, I also invested a lot of time, money, and effort into an electric control line stunter last year. Unfortunately, that was a LOT more than $1500 (try $4500) - but that alone did not make me a better pilot, nor did it make me a win at all costs competitor.
I think we are getting a little off track here. Your original question was about taking a regular full bodied Classic design, converting it to a profile, and entering in competition. I feel we have answered that question very well.
I don't know if anyone can answer your question about money. If there is a better stunt engine out there, most of us will want to use it and that has NOTHING to do with win at all costs. That's called spending your money wisely.
I stand by my original statement: I still cannot think of any win at all cost control line stunt pilots. I can think of a lot of guys who have invested years of time, effort, and money into making themselves into better pilots and better competitors. A case of Sig Champion stunt fuel will run you $100.00+ no matter what engine or plane you plan to fly. If you want to keep up, plan on burning a few cases each year.
Ron