What I love about this thread, and CLPA in general, is that noi one agrees on the "perfect" design! Everything posted here is a great flying plane! In different people's "hands" a different design is preferred.
With the widespread wealth of trimming expertise, just about ANY of the designs for CLPA can be made to perform at the highest levels.
I remember a quote by Billy Werwage several years ago where he said that in his opinion the greatest strides in the last 50 years have been in "power"! Not that much in the area of aerodynamics has really been vastly improved upon. Billy, himself, was not able to compete with his own '62 version of the Ares because he could not "power" it to the level he felt was correct at the time. Now, that airplane can compete very well. (How many VSC wins??)
The comment on "power" seems to be a very true statement! How many times have we seen the comments from the experts as to the fact that a good Classic design, with the right power, can compete just about anywhere?
Take an Aero Tiger, or Magnum 36XLS and compare it to the Fox 35. Only hundredths or thousandths of a cubic inch difference in the displacement, but those engines can "power" a plane on 5%-10% nitro that the Fox would have trouble pulling usiing 20%-25% nitro! Just such a difference in 50 years of engine developement.
We all have our favorites and none of them are "wrong".

Bill <><