ORIGINAL: Charlie P.
The IMAA defines ''Giant Scale'' as a monoplane of 80'' wingspan or a biplane of 60'' wingspan (neither have to be based on a ''real'' full size airplane), or a model at least 25% as large as the original even if it doesn't meet the wingspan requirements.
Just to keep things stirred up, I guess.
As an IMAA safety inspector we used a lot of words loosely but it wasn't the term scale. . To qualify to fly an event a single wing plane that is not a scale is required to have a wing span of 80 inches and a bipe plane is required to have a span of 60 inches, these are not scale planes. A scale plane is required to be 1/4 scale or 25% of a full scale plane. A shoe string is a very small racer and at 1/4 scale it is smaller then most 60 size sport planes. As i recall it was the GP Shoe String that was a 1/4 scale.
A loose term is something like a stand off scale, I have the plans now for one I call Stand Way the Hell Off!! It looks sorta like a Sukhoi from a distance.
You can build a peanut scale plane and hold it in the palm of your hand.
A small peanut scale Cub is a scale plane, a big Sr. Telemaster is not a scale plane no mater how big the wing is. The swoose float planes I'm building now are not a scale of anything but they look like something from the 1938 Schnider Cup races. Cool looking but not scale.