hi Vince!

Well step one: Be at the Tangerine in Apopka Dec 7 weekend. Everybody you want to meet and everything you want to know in one fatal swoop. Welcome!

I answered in your original thread, but as it pertains to this one, I'll expand on it.

Mark Hunt nailed it...bigger flies better because the air is a constant. It's more about the stability in general and the overall presentation of the plane. Now you can make a LARGE plane in a smaller footprint to counteract a lot of this, but the downside is you need power, and lots of it. Thankfully the engine designers are pretty much keeping pace with the YS 110 and the OS 120. The plane has to be slick and draggy all at once and that's a tall order. You're looking for induced drag, not parasitic. But if you get it too draggy, it will be a PITA to power it enough in any kind of wind.

The Focus sport is about the best ground level entry plane you can get. It's inexpensive and on a relatively calm day flies a lot like it's big brother. But it won't fly like it's big brother in any sort of wind. And that's the catch. I have hardly seen a pattern contest that was calm. It happens and when it does, the flying is GLORIOUS! But generally speaking it's rare...especially in Florida. if you can swing a Focus 2 and an OS 140, that's the ultimate ticket to jump in with both feet. If you REALLY want to jump in, get a Focus 2 with a DZ170....and behold the most overpowered beast in pattern [8D]

As for why the big planes fly better and trying to describe it....you can only generalize, you have to feel it and see it for yourself. So get to Tangerine and you can fly my plane and see for yourself. Be there or be square!

-Mike

PS If you're coming we're flying BPA/SPA too so jump in there!