I am going to see if I can write a LONGER post than Rudy!

Aeromodeling is NOT a main stream activity - I can happily accept that there are fewer aeromodelers than WarCraft gamers. CL flying, CLPA, and CLPA Competition are progressively more "eccentric" and exclusive fraternitys - that's OK too.Flew my first NATs in 1965 at the age of 11, Looking forward to my next CLPA NATs in 2008. During all of that time CL was going to die within 5 years. Well, like the skydiver who's chute hasn't opened but who hasn't "landed" yet, we're all right so far!
I'm straddling the BOM arguments - making me ROAD KILL for either side! I can tell you that I believe in the BOM, but I am unwilling to stifle the advancement of CLPA products - that in many cases blur the BOM issue.
It is now considered "normal" to allow an ARF or non-BOM'ers to fly but give up appearance points. However, when I started in the mid 1960's if you didn't build then you did not fly either. I don't think those times are ever coming back, & I'm not losing any sleep over it. The point is the interpretation of BOM and its consequences have been evolving over a very long time, and we are unlikely to go back in time.
As our technology continues to improve, it is now feasible to prefabricate major components as well as the total package, and its possible to do it cheaply. There WERE grumblings about BOM when good foam wings became available; seems silly now that so many people have used one. Now technology has advanced to concepts like pre-fabbed Lost Foam wings - 30 years ago THAT might have been perceived as non-BOM - but now its accepted.
BTW, we ain't seen nothing yet. You only have to look as far as our Dark Arts brothers to know that pre painted, molded wings and fuselages are OLD NEWS. Now a "moldie" has won the NATs. SOMEBODY is using up a lot of balsa, and really good stuff is getting too scarce to find. Moldies are here to stay, and contrary to what you have been told it is IMPOSSIBLE to accurately build a moldie outside its mold. So will we allow prebuilt wood or foam wings but exclude moldies just because they require no wood?
Did I mention pre-fabbed Tom Morris control systems? Are these BOM or non-BOM? Pre-bent or composite landing gear? Glass wheelpants? Hard-core BOM'ers (like me) need to accept and EMBRACE the continuing improvement of the state of the art, and realize that the thresholds of BOM are continuing to erode - but that ain't ALL bad!
On the other hand, non-BOM'ers must learn to comprehend this: ITS NOT (just) ABOUT THE FLYING! Nor has it ever been. Read your rulebook; the first manuver is Appearance, and it is the one you have the most control over. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard "I lost the NATs because of Appearance Points". Think about it: if this is simply a flying event but the flying did not provide meaningful separation of the competitors, then it is NOT a flying event at all - because the single "Appearance" manuver with half the available score of any other single manuver determined the winner! Folks, there are LOTS of other manuvers in the pattern that "lost" your NATs. Go practice some more so you can be a flyer too.
The good news is that pre-fabbed components all the way through ARF's makes it easier for more people to participate. The bad news - we are losing the creative spark that has kept the CLPA fire burning for so long. DO NOT underestimate that creative side. No doubt you have heard Ted's comment about all of us flying blue monocoted Noblers at VSC #50! Even here, creativity rears up: How many ARF Noblers have we seen that had the blue monocote stripped off only to be recovered in a different color of monocote or even PAINTED? How come you can call Brodak and find the ARC's in short supply (if they are in stock at all) while they have an inventory of ARF's at (typically) only $5 more? You can argue that ARF-cote is no good, but how do you explain the BLUE monocoted Nobler becoming a RED monocoted Nobler? The easy answer; everyone else has a BLUE Nobler, I wanted a RED Nobler - to be different!
From a performance standpoint, modern airplanes & engines are better than ever, but I will argue that the biggest reason we have a viable Classic event is because those designs STIR the soul. Think about it, do we really fly Classics because we LOVE 40 year old aerodynamics and Fox 35's? Most folks modernize the engines and have discovered that the old birds fly just fine. However, if it was ALL about the FLYING there would be NO Classic event! By comparison (with a handful of exceptions) MOST contemporary designs, are simply appliances. Heck most don't even have canopies!
I say again ITS NOT (just) ABOUT THE FLYING! Nor has it ever been. Non-BOM'ers must learn to comprehend this - that CLPA is TOTAL PERFORMANCE art.
So how can we embrace the advance of pre-fabbed technology while retaining the spark of creativity? How much BOM content can we afford to give up in the name of participation yet still remain a CLASS event?
I think the answer will:
* Ignore BOM because it is difficult to keep up with the state of the art and basically not enforceable anyway.
* Reward creativity and willingness to stand out from the crowd, to rise above the ARFs, ARCs, and clones. Every effort that rises above the standard issue needs to be acknowledged and celebrated. This will remain the first manuver in the pattern and will be called "Appearance".
This sounds like a tough nut to crack, the EASY way out is to simply chuck BOM & appearance points - but I think that will be as serious a mistake as eliminating Originality and Realism points was back in the 1970's. I need to dig-up and re-read Marv's Appearance Point schedule again - I think or next bet answer will look a lot like that...