""The other issue is that, Bob is NOT responsible for who decides NOT to show up. In a sense, the comment is somewhat condescending in that, it attempts to take away from Bob's victory, which I felt was a very good one.""
Uh NO It does NOT take anything away from Bob's win, Bill statement was not in anyway condesending , unless you just feel you want to take it that way, to be serious, It is silly to think that a 4 stroke, electric or IC "won" a contest.. The pilot who twisted the handle won the contest, and there are very many who can win with any power plant. Be it IC ,electric, or whatever .
Fly what you want, have fun with your choice of power, Bob didn't win because he had a better power plant, he won because he flew better than the pilots that did show.
Regards
Randy