In "rewinding the tape" last weekend, remembering input from Ron (F4Fguy) and cwmcmillin, I have reconsidered not my position on the issue of Classic but the presentation I made concerning same.
As I came off as some sort of purist on the event and related hardware, even though it was--in a separate posting--made clear that I am not a purist.
The charm of Classic seems to be in the recreation of a special era in CL Stunt, one I missed completely, but can now create for the first time. Loads and loads of neat models, most a great deal simpler than current PA models while offering a relatively high level of performance. Or at least performance representative of the era, certainly high enough to result in models which are fun to fly.
As the designs are a constant, in that we can't plop an Oriental canopy on an Impact and go fly, it's pretty much festival seating when choosing which design to build and fly. For myself, apparently I just follow the lead of Don McClave as my first two Classic models were Smoothies after seeing one of Don's fly. Currently I fly an Oriental; again, saw one of McClave's, could not resist.
The only variable of consequence when trying to get the best performance out of these old crocks is the powerplant. And it is here where I let myself get a bit too elitist, or purist, or just annoying in announcing my allegiance to the Fox 35 for Classic models. Especially when the engines in question have been fitted with trick parts.
Ron is exactly correct in his analogy to Vintage Sports Car racing. If I were to approach that hobby with the same logic used in Classsic they'd boot me out of the padock in mere moments.
So. What I am actually trying to do is recreate only the goodness and light side of CL Stunt as it was when the Oriental was a current design.
The model itself, plopped down in the pits and viewed from the outside *must* be correct, in that it matches the plans being used, the plans themselves from a reliable source. No models enlarged from some obscure 3-view the size of a postage stamp, for example.
Structure can of course be made "better" than it was back in the day, even though the actual results are highly debatable as to effectiveness.
As to the powerplant, y'all can bolt any sort of hardware in there you want. I literally *do not care* what your choice comes down to, whether it is a pond scum engine of some sort, an electric motor, a piped two-stroke or a big wad of Pirelli rubber.
However, for my own personal tastes, a good Fox 35 is simply the only choice. I don't often use this word--much too gay for me--but the "ambience" created by a flying circle where Classic models are being powered by thrumming Fox 35s is intoxicating. No whiney tuned pipes, no pond scum belchers, no whirring electric motors.
But a standard-issue Fox 35 is not the ideal piece of equipment when it comes to maximizing performance, especially true when your buddies press into service current two-strokes, not a baffled piston in the house.
And this is where I quickly and gleefully jump from a purist attitude to a more pragmatic point of view. That none-too-attractive lump in the front of my Oriental only needs to appear to be a Fox 35. Everything else is fair game. Head, NVA, drive and thrust washers, back door, ABC piston/cylinder sets, expert rework, and now the High Zoot crankshaft are all candidates for replacement and modification.
Because my desired result is the creation of a quite good Oriental, powered by the very best Fox 35 on the planet back in, say, 1968. No broken cranks, no funky needle settings, no plugs with blown seals, none of the bad stuff--none at all!--that could easily clutter up my weekend if I were to limit my engine choices to garage sale-sourced, bone-stock Fox 35s produced in the 1960s.
Does it cost more money to fly Classic in this manner, with this attitude? Of course it does, but only marginally so, as pointed out by Brett in calculating the real cost of a broken crank after travelling to a contest such as VSC.
Nobody here needs their heads examined when it comes to fitting a Classic Stunt model with a powerplant, the dollar differences between one approach (Brodak 40, Magnum 36) and a good, reliable 4-2-4 Fox 35 are almost insignificant when placed in the context of Classic Stunt.
At least as practiced in the Pacific NW, the area in which I fly.
Dan
Icons just for you. 
