Thanks guys. I know only too well, that feeling of getting locked into one idea and not seeing anything better.....
Mark_man's start does look like an ideal solution, catching the dillo impossibly high as it does. It's only when comparing height and speed at the next event that it suddenly doesn't look so good. And that's only 'cos there's an alternative to compare it to. I'd easily believe it was "the best" if I hadn't found the swing.
I got lucky that the start swings gave me so much across without losing much height, that it allowed a steeper and cheaper run to the finish. The hard part was avoiding "up and down" and keep going across instead.
I'm a little surprised we all ended up with the same idea.
And more surprised at the cost difference.
Just shows how that little bit of start advantage played out.
I liked the plate swings solution a lot, even though it was a ****** to tune. Not just the swing timing, but also setting each plate angle and length to get a good exit trajectory and speed. And each change to plate geometry changed the timing.
Ultimately, the price penalty of plates proved the downfall. As Ioncorpse intended it to be, of course.