What scale are pilot bust fro
.25 planes?
.40 planes?
.50 planes?

Thanks
Bill PTC

It's tough to pick a scale based on engine size, Bill....since the "scale" of the airplane is either dependent upon its measurements as compared to its scale counterpart or, in the case of something like a Stick...which isn't modeled after any sort of scale aircraft...largely up to the owner.

However...that being said....

In my experience, most .40-sized ARFs of scale airplanes are in the neighborhood of 15%-20% the sie of their scale counterparts. For example, the GP Ultimate Bipe has 18.3% the wingspan of an Ultimate 10-300 scale aircraft. So...that being the case, you'd probably find that a 1/5 or 1/6 scale pilot would probably look about right in a .40-sized plane. Obviously, there will be exceptions, but that's probably a decent starting point.

For .25 sized planes, it's darn near anyone's guess. There are .25 sized aircraft out there that are meant to fly very slow (say, a .25-sized trainer), and thus have long wingspans as compared to what a "scale counterpart" might have....meaning that the airplane itself might be, say, roughly 1/8th scale, but the wingspan 1/5 of a similar scale airplane. In that case, you really have no choice but to measure the cockpit room, and find a pilot that "looks right".

One thing I've noticed...just personal opinion here...imo, many pilot busts are MUCH smaller than they should be...or perhaps ARF makers are making cockpits too big, not sure which. Stroll around an airshow some time, and you'll see that the cockpit of many planes...particular aerobatic aircraft such as Extras and Edges, or GA aircraft (especially the current fad of LSAs)...is quite "cramped"...which is to say that when a pilot sits in them, he appears to take up nearly all of the available room. Wander around your local RC field later, and you'll see large 50cc and above gassers with pilot figures that look almost lost in the cavernous cockpits and canopies sported by their aircraft.

Since many aircraft are equipped with busts, and not full pilot figures, it's really hard to say "Well...the average person is so-and-so inches tall from their belly button to their head, or whatever....so, in those cases, rather than saying "my 25% plane must have a 25% pilot", it looks better...at least imo....to select a pilot that appears "wedged in" to the cockpit. After all, even Patty Wagstaff, as small as she is, takes up a hefty chunk of the space in her Extra 300.

Anywho, hope some of that helps.

Yup, the scale depends on the airplane being modeled.

And you'd best simply work it out from the airplane you're interested in "piloting". The Ultimate just mentioned sounds like a 1/4 or 1/5 scale pilot would suit and it's a .40 size. I've got a couple of Corsair models. The Corsair had a 40foot 11inch wing. My 50size Corsair model has a 58" wingspan and that works out to 8.5:1 scale. It's a larger engined model than the Ultimate gboulton mentions yet would take almost half the size pilot. Even Hangar9's Corsair with it's 65" wingspan is a 1/7.5 scale and it's a 60-90 size model.

Thanks for the input.
Right now I am looking at the EFL 25 Cub and HAN9 40 Cub.
Just got the GP 1/5 civil painted pilot and it looks about right in back seat on 40 Cub if the top of head will be even with top of window but not sure about 25 cub.
Bill PTC