My two cents: By the time you outfit one of the current .90-1.10 sized airplanes (Quest 3D, Showtime, Venus II, etc.), you have almost as much in it as a true two meter airplane. Part of the problem, IMHO, is that the ".90" sized airplanes are really 1.10 to 1.20 sized airplanes, and to have enough power, you need a YS 1.10 or a Saito 1.25, neither of which are cheap. If there was a GOOD airplane that would have unlimited vertical on one of several unblown .91 fourstrokes (OS, Magnum, Saito, etc.) that lots of people have, running on 30% heli fuel like SPA airplanes do, I think it would be a best seller. Those engines can turn a 13x9 or 14x7/8 props with authority, running on that fuel, and they will run forever. But the plane needs to be LIGHT. The Blackhorse Models Bravo 303 is close in concept, but it needs to be a more modern design and lighter. The plane needs to be somewhere in between the size of the the Bravo and the current crop of 1.10 sized airplanes.

Also, many of the current crop have "3D" sized control surfaces with very thick wings, meaning that they don't do either pattern or "3D" particularly well. The Showtime is a case in point. Pretty airplane, but it doesn't do anything particularly well, and I'm not the only one saying it. Pattern sized control surfaces, please. A setup manual for the budding pattern flyer would be nice also. But the Showtime is a good example of how light things can be mass produced with traditional materials.

People ask me all the time what airplane to start with, and frankly, I'm at a loss. Most of them seem to have a 91 four stroke or don't choke at the prospect of getting one, but few have much of anything larger.

Jon Lowe