ORIGINAL: Bozarth
Apples - pick your power.
Oranges - pick your pitch.
A heavier airplane (with all other variables remaining the same) needs to EITHER increase the AOA or increase the speed to maintain level flight. Just because the plane is heavier, doesn't mean it will automatically ''fly slower'' as stated earlier. WE get to decide this with one of our primary flight controls - either change the pitch or change the power. And yes, sometimes both are needed. Full scale pilots learn this early on. Pitch and power, pitch and power, pitch and power!
To say that a heavier model flies slower than a lighter one because it has to fly at a higher AOA and thus has more induced drag is too simplistic and one dimensional, to say the least! Where to begin!
Kurt
I'm having a difficult time wraping my mind around this. All other things equal : airframe, power, level flight how is the heavier plane not slower?
On one hand you say all things equal then you say change the power to get the heavier plane to fly faster. Changing the power isn't all other things equal.
Of course if you have a heavier airplane and the power is also variable(more power than the lighter plane) it could possibly fly faster, but I don't think that's what is being discussed.