In the top 20 there were 3 IC motors.
If any of these fliers thought IC was better, you can be sure they would use them. Some just aren't convinced yet.
Just to play Devil's Advocate here, those three I/C entrants finished in the top 5. Two of them were only 5 points out of first place. And I would call the conditions that I saw definitely challenging for any power plant and pilot.
When I get asked by someone what is the best power plant to fly, I ask back, which technology do you understand the best and feel most comfortable with, and can get the most benefit from? There are some out there that think electric is as easy as putting the batteries in your Stanzel Electromic toy airplane, and I am not kidding. I do not fly electric because I'm just a gear head and at my stage in life, age and general health, I'm more interested in just having fun and have had a lot of that along the way with engines and have done satisfactorily in competition as far as I am concerned. Engines are a big part of the event for me, along with the sounds and the smells. I never could make the commitment in time and money,( mostly time,) to progress to the upper most levels of competition for several reasons, so I never even got into tuned pipes, but I beat some of them along the way. I have watched the classifieds on here and the old Stuka Stunt site over the years and watched motors, batteries, speed controllers, timers and such flow like water back and forth. There never seemed to be one turn key type set up for electric that a guy could just buy and install and be done and be happy with.. The grass always seemed greener with some other component. Things always seem to be changing, just like any kind of electronics, and I think some guys get frustrated with that. I think a lot of guys have issues tuning their set ups to what they think they need. They can't grasp the technology well enough to improve their performance. That is whether it's I/C or electric. No matter what you are running, there will be problems, and trouble shooting and solving those is part of the hobby.
I think it's kind of a loaded question, which is better?? I think it's a matter of who makes best use of what they have to the best result possible. The New York Yankees have spent hundred of millions of dollars on the best players they can buy and still underperform. When it comes to individual talent and effort, I think of the late, great sprint car driver Jan Opperman, who had this said about him many times: " He can take his'n and beat your'n, and then take your'n and beat his'n." And I have seen that done!! In our event, it's not always the airplane or the power plant, sometimes it's the nut on the handle!!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee