Hello RCers,

In my fleet at home, I have mostly scale planes (over 90%) but the majority of my fellow flyers are not. I think that putting together (or even building) a scale plane offers so much in return. That is you learn about its history. As I am putting together my O-1 Bird Dog, I have learned so much about its place in aviation history that was extremely interesting. And yes, it looks wonderful in the air. When I inquire on why many of them don't fly scale. the answers are the same. First is that " I just love to fly, and any plane will do". Second is " Scale planes are too hard to put together and fly". But no one mentions that scale planes cost more than non-scale conunterparts. Mybe the costs? I think that it is the flying that people are addicted to, not the replicating a scale craft that drive their boats. Any ideas?
Did you know that the only non-naval aircraft displayed at the Naval Air Meseum is the VNAF O-1 Bird Dog that Major Bung Le landed on the US aircraft carrier in 1975? Quite an interesting story on the escape. Dai

i have a few scale planes to look at. flying them is boring to me . although i do like playing with the flaps and retracts. i don't think the cost effects people as much as you'd think i have a lot more in 3d planes than scale planes of same size you just can't buy panel lines rivets or small bolts wish you could the work gets most people

The fact is that a well designed sport plane or sorta scale plane can fly circles around most scale planes. Scale planes represent a plane from a period of history but usually the more scale the plane is, the more tricky or down right finicky it is to fly. Why pay more for a plane that is hard to fly? Sorta scale planes are cheaper than scale planes and are more fun (read easier) to fly. [8D]

I believe there are several sides to the scale story. Many factors include:

1. Cost prohibitive - its very expensive and time consuming to make an aircraft scale, either building one to be scale or converting an airplane to be more scale

2. Time - very obvious if its going to be a work of art it will indeed cost you time to do so

3. Flight characterisitcs - a purely scale airplane should be flown in a scale like manner which usually is outside the bounds of "Sunday Fliers"

My personal feelings are that I love scale airplanes and flight. if I had the skills I would go that route but I simply dont so 2nd hand planes and ARF's are my cause I love looking at a nice scale Warbird and appreciate them 100% but dont see myself building one anytime soon unless I purchased it used

it would be nice to see more companies produce top quality scale aircraft but then that would mean higher prices! Hanger 9 60 sized warbirds that retail for around $250 would become $750 after all was said and done. Would I buy one? Sure would but how many others would fall into this territory..

just some food for thought

I prefer scale planes but that's just me. When I see a scale effort by anyone I'm happy someone took the time to relive part of history. Maybe it was family members plane from long ago or just something they saw as a kid that drove them into ourgreat sport. This is a hobby to be enjoyed by all. Always remember that most of the advances where seeing today were driven by the scale guys of the past.

To me, there are two distinct parts of our beloved hobby. The building side, and the flying side. They are seperate in their own rights, but for many of us they go hand in hand. I know guys that build more than fly, and others that fly more than build. Personally, I like to build, but will take an ARF if I like the design.

Scale building is probably the most difficult type of building (other than scratch, maybe). That fact scares many builders away, and they stick with sport scale and ARFs. Many guys just don't have the time to put into a full blown scale plane, others don't have the interest. Different strokes, I guess. Thankfully I have a job that allows me to devote quite a bit of time to building...but I've yet to finish my first scale plane. My Top Flite 182 sits in the rafters, 80% done. It's my project for when I have no other projects.

I was on the USS Midway when that plane landed on our flight deck. We tried to get him to ditch the plane in the water and get picked up by our helo's. He said that his wife and kids were on board and he didn't want to risk it. The Capt. ordered the flight deck clear. That means throw some helo's overboard. (fun) We were really worried about the plane hitting the arresting cables. They thought about raising the crash net. They didn't think the plane could not take the impact. So here we go. lets land this baby. He brought it in as slow as he could. He bounced the landing 2 or three times. Just before he was going to go over the edge the flight deck the crew ran out and grabbed the plane. It was great! We were cheering for the pilot. Couple of side bets were going on also. I heard the plane is in florida at a Naval Air Museum. Fun in the USN

I have two plans built semi scale planes that I fly at IMMA meets, A Tiger Moth and A Boeing F4B-2 done as the Army P-12. In A word BORING!!!!!!!! These aren't full scale but never the less I put in A lot of time and effort for the semi scale look. I don't fly them nearly as often as my other planes because of the size and they tend to put me to sleep. At the shows people love them and like to know the history and love to see them in the air but other then that I always take out something else to the field for normal flying.
I do plan on building A MIG-3 for my next big project but more then just the cool looking plane they are much more exciting to fly and can be stunted. Again, it will be A semi scale, most people love to look at the full scale planes but at 15 feet who can tell. In the air no one really cares too much as long as it looks real.
Some people just love to see how close to the real thing they can get and I love to look at there planes too but it's just more work then I want to put into something then maybe see it die, been known to happen, I lost 8 months of work just this last year. JMHO

That is incredible. Kudos to you and your shipmates! What an awesome display of Americans at their best!

I love scale planes and I am most impressed by people who can spend 1,800 hours to build one! My only problem is that I just love planes that can snap a lot and you do not want that in your scale plane unless you want it to meet Mother Earth soon! My wish is to have an A10 twin turbine or P38 Lightning.

I love scale co'z I like them flying looking like the real ones. I also like to twist and tumble them in the air so its sports scale aerobats for me. Otherwise, they're just PLANE BORING (pun intended). A detailed scale build takes too much time and emotional investment to fly with such gusto. Scale is also heavier than it needs to be. Better to have it on the ground and get the usual ooohs and aaahhs from admirers rather than risk a deadstick and bring it in like a brick.

26C4U - You are such a POSER!!! But I agree with you.

Hello,

There is no such thing is true scale in RC world. Even models at TOP GUN will have their dimensions twisted to allow them managable in flight. If you shrink them down to 1/48 and compare them to a true high quality plastic models, they will fail miseribly (I have been building and enter them at local IPMS for 27 years). For an average flyer like myself, I never try to achieve the "scale" level you see at TOP GUN, but rather close enough to know that model is a Mustand or a Spitfire. This is where "stand off scale" comes in. When I buy an ARF, I always recover or repaint the a/c to make it as close to "scale" as possible. In my current O-1 project, I reposition the struts location, repaint in historical accurate VNAF, adding antennas and weathering. This would qualify as a scale model for me...
By the way, I thought that after I fly my O-1, I may want to donate to a museum that has the displays of the air war in Viet Nam and their planes. Any of you know any museums nearby New Mexico that may be interested? I also update few pictures of my project in the 0-1 thread today. Dai Phan

In the liberal sense all but one of my planes is scale. I do like flying my 120 Stinger but its just butt ugly. My will friend land my 1/5 Grumman Wildcat while I get some flying time on it. Its 30 pounds and he had to dead stick it once, came in perfectly thankfully. I also have Great Planes Pitts, Shoestring and Ryan STA-M. All different but fun to fly. The GSP 70" Zero does not have many flights yet. Currently the bench has a IMP Mitsubishi Claude at 83" maybe 18 pounds. I plan to use a dummy radial in it. I go for proper colors and pilot with some cockpit detail but don't do rivets or panel lines. I enjoy building as much as flying but just average at both.

I had a couple of 1/4 clipped Cubs and they also where lots of fun to fly. I prefer my planes to look something like the real thing but that's me.

History is very much a part of the planes essence for me.

Carl

I tend to agree with Deadeye-- I enjoy building as much as I do flying, maybe more. I'll buy an ARF to hone my skills and take chances with and thrash so that when I fly the scale plane that I have a serious emotional attachment to, I have the skills to fly it without too much fear of skinning it up. There's a certain peace to being in the workshop, nobody to answer to, no deadline to meet, the only person to satisfy is yourself. Scale models to me are a vicarious way to experience as close to the real thing as possible when it isn't possible to experience the real thing, at least from an economical point of view.

I'll bet that Birddog used less deckspace to land than any other plane to ever land on that ship, and did it without a tail hook.

I never thought of the reason why, but all my planes are scale whether I built them from kits or whether they are ARFs. When I won 1st place scale in my clubs static contest with my 1/5th Waco, I couldn't have been prouder. Sometimes I do get a little bored flying scale but seeing one of my planes taking off or landing and hearing someone say that it looks like a real plane is a kick. I would never think of flying something like a Stick or a Majic. There are one or two other guys in my club who feel the same way.
My fleet consists of
GP Ryan STA
Pica Waco
GP Shoe String
Goldberg Cub
GP Space Walker
Currently building a H9 Clipped wing Taylor Craft

Interesting statement Dai. Are you familiar with teh BVM F-100 D or F model? These aircraft were modeled after weeks of measuring the real aircraft in question. They are about as exact as you can make it. I would be willing to bet either of these two are closer than a plasitc model. So your statement of there being no such thing is alightly incorrect. I do agree it holds true with a fair number of them out there, but definitely not all of them.

Hello,

I guess my ties with scale planes come from my experience as a plastic modeler for 27 years. And besides, I have learned so much about them as I gather information to make the planes as accurate as possible. My co-worker now was a Army pilot who flew O-1 in Korea said that the plane can land on a dime! The secret is the huge flaps that allows it to fly at a low stall speed. Once you a few feet above ground, you retract the flaps and the plane will "drop" on the spot. If you look at the gear, you will notice that it has a moderate amount of toe-in to allow for heavy vertical landing. Dai Phan

If your looking to donate the Birddog when your done the Warbird Museum here would be more than happy to display it. Your right up the road from El Paso.-Mike

Hello,

I have heard people say that "Never say never and never say always". I am sure there is an exception to everything. I am sure there is an exact scale RC plane out there but I would need proof to believe it. Dai Phan