ORIGINAL: jrf
So, the model is a little short of scale, by 5% Nothing earth shattering!
That makes it 4 inches shorter than scale. And a scale Decathlon is twitchy. That definately gives me pause.
Jim
Or maybe somebody just blew the Metric to English conversion.
Carl Goldberg Decathlon (claimed to be a 60 size)
Wingspan: 80.75"
Length: 55"
Comes out to 68%
The reason I say this, is that it's not twitchy at all. A little sensitive, maybe, but twitchy, no. It requires very little rudder to keep straight on takeoff and landings, and doesn't have a tendency to "ground loop" on taxi. A little shorter than scale isn't a problem, just go with the biggest your wallet, storage, and transportation means can fit and you'll be fine. If you still feel nervous about a Decathlon's ground handling, give it a couple of passes down the runway before taking off the first time. If it's to twitchy for you, shelf it until you can work your way into it. If it feels fine, go for it and have a blast. Decathlons are an excellent flying airplane, but many people shy away from them because of all of the fuss on the twitchiness of it's ground handling. I too, was of that mindset before I bought the mine. I was about to buy a Cessna 182, when a friend stopped me and convinced me to get a Decathlon (I was wanting a Decathlon before, but was scared of the ground handling). I'm glad that he did. If I had bought the Cessna, I would have missed out on the best flying airplane I've ever flown (it'll even hover with an OS .91FX
).
Point is:
Don't be too concerned with the "twitchiness" of it. Both of the Seagull Decathlons should be OK, but I'd go with the 120.
Happy flying.