Dan,

I'm not sure which comment/question to address first...

"Leaving out Jet Hangar Hobbies and Yellow Aircraft, isn't it true that there are fewer DF models being made, period?"

Well, I suppose that may be true, but that's a little outside the scope of the original discussion, isn't it? My comment was addressing the number of .45 sized offerings as compared to the number of .91-sized offerings. You could say, in response to a discussion on whether or not it's hotter in El Cajon than in Mission Beach, "Leaving out El Cajon and Mission Beach, isn't it true that the whole planet is getting warmer, period?"

"Everyone upgrades their power system....Didn't the .91 outperform the .77? Didn't the .77 outperform the .65?"

Well, again, I think we're talking about two different things. If a guy has a .45/Turbax setup, he simply can't fly it in the scores of offerings there are for .65-.91/Dynamax setups. If a guy has an O.S. .77/Dynamax, he can fly it in a JHH Phantom. Or a Yellow Starfire. Or a TGA F-15. Or a Trim Spectre. Or a Renegade. Or a CJM F-105. See where I'm going with this? Now if that same individual wants to see if he can get a little more performance, he might go for the .91, but he doesn't HAVE to. And, no, I haven't ever upgraded any of my .91s.

"A .91-sized model will still be heavier than a .45-sized model..."

Well, I'm not sure what your point was there, but my 1/4 scale Cub is heavier than my Yellow A-4, so...

"To be fair, if you're going to list the advantages, you have to mention the disadvantages..."

Fair to whom? My goal wasn't to be 'fair', it was to point out to a newcomer (who said he was considering the smaller jets because of COST) that there isn't much difference in cost. It was to state my opinion (not ad copy) that a newcomer should consider what his second or third jet might be, and whether or not he wants to invest in a whole new power system to fly them (if they're not also .45-sized jets.) I'm sure if I wanted to, I could come up with a whole list of disadvantages to larger jets, jets, or airplanes in general, but I don't think it would have been helpful to the discussion. We were talking about tight budgets, and good jet investments for the beginner.

The JHH Sabre is a great flying jet. The BVM Sabre is, in my opinion, a better flying jet, (owing, in no small part, to its larger size). Perhaps you think that smaller jets fly better than bigger ones (and you're certainly entitled to that opinion), but I think it's pretty commonly accepted that 'the bigger the better' as far as flight performance is concerned. That doesn't mean that there aren't some awesome small jets out there. I happen to own a few that I think are really cool, myself.

Lastly, to answer your question regarding the A-4: I'm not really sure. I wouldn't say that the .91 is STUFFED in, because it fits just fine. I think that Yellow might have originally intended the A-4 for .45 power, but after seeing the flight performance of the existing A-4s on the market (of the same size), flying on the smaller power systems, Yellow thought it best to make theirs for larger engines.

As far as your Su-27 goes, you're absolutely right, it flies superbly. I was very impressed with it at BITW.

By the way, there are several .91-sized (better flying) jet kits out there that can be put in the sky (less Rx and Tx) for $1500.