Flying scale and semi-scale is indeed more like "work" than sport flying, IMHO. You "fly" a warbird from the time you taxi it out until you finish taxing it back and shutting it down. The terms "relaxing" and "flying scale" are not compatible, again IMHO. On the other hand, it has its own satisfactions and feelings of accomplishment.

I know I'm probably the odd man out here but I enjoy flying scale and relax more doing it. I believe it's because a good scale plane must be flown more in line with a full size plane and cannot just be tossed around the sky, which is easy to do. I have scale and non-scale stuff but I kind of liken flying scale to flying and sport planes as playing. Just my 2 cents.

Know what you mean. I enjoy flying scale as well, just need to be in a certain frame of mind, so to speak. I do feel like I`ve accomplished more when I fly a scale model well than when I fly a sport plane. That`s not to knock sport flying at all because I am hardly an accomplished aerobatic pilot.

Don't get me wrong, I fly only scale most of the time. My Extra is a Semi- Sport Scale. I'm a little more stressed with the scale because of all the work and detail I put in my scale planes to make it look more real. So I'm careful, and fly and putt around. When I show up with my Extra, I just slap it together and go crazy. (With-in the AMA rules.)

If I crash... no biggie with my Extra. If I crash my Scale planes, then I'm devistated.

I understand completely but I lost a FW 190 on it's second flight last month, it never pays to fly in the face of a fast approaching thunderstorm in the mountains. But you know it was just another plane. I kind of have the same feeling whenever I loose one. A little despair but mainly I spend my time trying to analyze just what happened so I don't do it again ( first one I lost in about 6 years).

I have a really old Dazzler that I almost never fly. It's smaller than most stuff I fly and last weekend I took it out for the first time in a year. I think my wife about had heart failure when I rolled it inverted at about 6 feet. Now I won't do that with a warbird but will with a scale aerobatic plane. Heck I guess if it flies I like it. For years I told people "big or small I'll fly them all". Which was true. 10" or 10' let me at it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just was out flying today and seen the first flight on a GP Extra 300 with a 1.6 OS Max engine. Even though he was out of practice and been brushing up with a trainer...he flew the Extra 300 very good. In fact it was like dream come true. I did not know that plane flew so good. He was doing some knife edge flight on 2nd flight!!!! It was defiantly a keeper, and landed real nice. Capt,n P.S. Here is a photo!