Does Size Matter?

[Grossman56]

Bet that Title caught your attention, what's ol' Grossman56 up to now!?
All kidding aside, since this has been the eternal question, okay get your mind out of the gutter and back on airplanes!!
Let's take a little survey here:
When looking at your next airplane purchase, does the size, lets say wingspan of the airplane count to you? If so, what is your range or preference?
I, for one, say yes, in windy Wyoming, you definitely have a challenge trying to find a day with calmer conditions to fly anything under 1400mm.

What say you??

Grossman56

[crxmanpat]

In a word, YES! I am moving into larger planes now. My most recent purchases are the 1400mm P-40, the 1875mm B-17, and the 1600mm P-38. Not so windy here in AZ, but as they have been saying for years, bigger flies better.

I was disappointed to see the new FLRC Spitty is only 1200mm. This will most likely keep me from purchasing it. :(

[Prowler901]

I agree for a few reasons. Wind handling for certain. But, for me it is also about presence in the air. Too small and it looks too much like a toy. But also too large and it is hard to transport. 1400mm for me is just the right size. It looks great in the air and it's not too much to transport.

[crxmanpat]

I have just what I need for bigger planes (just picked it up last night).

[farmflyer]

I prefer 1100mm to 1270mm range. I've only tried one 1400mm a fms mustang I think a v7 around 4 years ago and was disappointed with the lack of power and poor quality retracts especially for the price. It was also just too big to transport easily. I can transport 2 11or1200mm planes in basically the same space and for the same price as 1 1400.

[Prowler901]

Now that's nice! You can pack a lot of planes in there. :)

[Grossman56]

SWEET PAT!!
Guys, thanks for chiming in, everyone feel free to express their opinions!

Grossman56

[xviper]

I like them big, too, but I'm limited to what my little Golf can swallow. I had the big Eflite CZ Cub and now the big T-28. I've got a few 1400mm+ planes, both warbirds and EDFs. I also have smaller ones but only a couple of them actually fly well. Anything below 1000mm I don't even bother with anymore.

[dkalwishky]

1400mm or bigger for me. I like big planes and I like to see them in the air. Now to be fair I have the UMX PITTS and it's a hoot to fly so I do have a few small planes and enjoy them but right now I'm looking at 48" wings or bigger.

I have a pickup with a tonneau cover so it's easy for me to transport bigger planes.

[Capt. Crunch]

I like the 1200mm and up. They have a better presence in the air and I can SEE them! Lately I've been playing around with the Dynam lineup of war birds in the 1270mm range. Seems a perfect size for me. Anything bigger(warbirds) the batteries get a little pricey for me.

[crxmanpat]

Funny thing is, all my bigger planes are easier to transport than a bunch of the smaller ones, even without the trailer. The wings on them are all removable, so they are easier to put in the car.

[Alpha]

I'm liking 1200mm-1600mm at the moment. For a single engine plane, my interest wanes when greater than 1500mm wingspan, with the only exception being the Eflite Carbon Z T-28. I love my 980mm Ki-61, but that's much more of a rip around the sky plane. The larger birds present better, without getting too large to transport. I'm the guy who likes to bring ten planes to the field every time I fly these days. It used to be just one turbine, or just two gassers, but with these electrics I can really pack it in. Also, the difference in volume between a 980mm wingspan and 1200mm wingspan is noticeable, and between Dynam and FlightLine they're much cheaper than FMS' 980mms. 1400mms are nice, as the others have said.

From a development standpoint I completely understand the manufacturer's hesitation to invest in larger planes before first testing their sales potential with smaller sizes.

[Hippie 64]

I like around a 50" wing . It is much easier on the eyes when its in the air as far as tracking and seeing what's happening. I too am very pleased with the Dynam line for the price and the batteries . I am around 15 or 16 planes now and battery becomes a big factor on what I get next time I order as to do I need a certain one or do I have it already . I also found that any thing smaller tends to get twitchy in the air for me .

Most smaller planes seem to be not as tough on some harder landings or miss haps . They are not as heavy so the wings or other parts don't need to be as thick . Just my experience so far .


Bryan

[Grossman56]

I guess I'm lucky, but with my Silverado crew cab, I can get the Pitts in the back (her wings don't come off). pull the wings off the Pandoras and put the fuselages at the front of the box. Put a 1400mm in the back seat with the gear up, a little padding around her so she sits on the seat, one wing to the ground and the other to the back window. I slip the wings from the Pandora and he Apprentice under the seat and the Apprentice fuse on the seat. All radio gear and tool box and battery boxes go on the floor.
Wife rides shot gun and me as driver. Not bad, if worse comes to worse, I could pull the wings off the 1400mm whatever (Mustang or P 40)
Heck, I could probably figure a way to wedge the Waco in there too!
So just give me the 1400mms.

Grossman56

[xviper]

I guess I'm lucky, but with my Silverado crew cab, I can get the Pitts in the back (her wings don't come off).

You don't need a Silverado to get a Pitts in with the wings on. ;)

BTW, it's an itty bitty VW Golf. I'm hoping to get the new P-38 in there whole but that might be a stretch. My old HobbyKing C-47 was the same wingspan but having twin booms might be a problem for the 38.

[VOODOO]

I doubled decked my Chevy Traverse very similar to xviper2, and usually take 3 or 4 planes to the field. It will hold FW ME262, Dynam Waco plus 1 Dynam 50" warbird, and Dynam Pitts , all fully assembled. Have a Freewing Super Scorpion arriving Monday, so I'll have to flip a coin to see which of the above gets left out.

[Grossman56]

So, who says you have to sacrifice how many planes you can take to the field. Where there's a will, there's a dead man, er a way I mean!

Grossman56

[crxmanpat]

You bet Grossman! I have had the following in my 2003 Honda Civic sedan at one time:

FMS B-25
Starmax 1600mm P-47
Freewing Me-262
Freewing A-6
Freewing F-5
Phase3 F-16
FlyZone L-39

It can be done! :D

[wvrailfan]

I generally find that I like the 1400 - 1700 wing span models, with some exceptions. I like that I can see and maintain orientation easy with larger planes, I like that they are easier to work on, I like that they are big enough to have a presence in the air and yet, most of them are easy to transport without taking them apart (in my GMC pick up.)

Also, and this may just be some OCD on my part caused by years of being a model railroader, I like my planes to appear "roughly" of the same scale. You won't find me setting an 800mm P-51 next to my 1400mm P-51 on the flight line at the field. I like that even though they are not really the same scale, the FMS 1400mm P-51 looks okay next to the Flightline P-38. When I choose what I'm taking to the field, I keep in mind their size relative to each other, so I will be flying planes of "about' the same scale (yes I know there is a big fudge factor when approximating the scale of our flying models.)

This is also the reason I hope that when manufacturers choose to make some larger four engine models, they will make them large enough to express the size of the prototype when flying with other single or twin engine models. In other words, for me, if 1400mm wing span is going to be a standard for single engine models, twin and four engine models would look best if they were made to approximately the same scale (allowing for compromises needed to make a good flying model.)

Jim

[Grossman56]

You don't need a Silverado to get a Pitts in with the wings on. ;)
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BTW, it's an itty bitty VW Golf. I'm hoping to get the new P-38 in there whole but that might be a stretch. My old HobbyKing C-47 was the same wingspan but having twin booms might be a problem for the 38.

Creative Canucks at work, love it!
Good point Jim, it's about the scale like look to me as well.

Grossman56