Hi again,
Now I know( hopefully) that a high wing are usually Trainer and it's quite easy to control especially for beginners. Then there's is the 1/2A & 1/8 plane aircraft, combat planes, fun flying and profiles plane, Giant aircraft, gliders and sailplanes, Jets, Scale aircraft and S.P.A.D etc...
Come on, all this planes fly so why there's so much classification. Is there any special feature where they get their names from? What can each classification do?
How can I be flying if I didn't even know all this basic. Do you agree? Someone here please enlighten me so that I can enjoy the sheer pleasure of flying. I'm not ashame to ask.
Thank alot

Sawadee ... I personally would say that planes should first be classified on the basic aerodynamic design first i.e. High Wing/Mid Wing/Shoulder Wing/Low Wing/Bipe/Canard/Delta etc. This design will affect the planes handling and give its nature.

Scale/Warbird etc is more on the style of looks, namely your war planes, most people mean WWII planes. 1/2 and 1/8 scale is based on the size of the plane. They will then be scale planes.

3D is based on flying style. Yes you have 3D planes of a certain design (Model Tech Magic as an example) but there are many who fly 3D with scale acrobatic planes such as Extras, Yaks and Caps. So I would say 3D is based on flying style. For flying style you have missed out pattern flying.

Combat planes are used to 'fight' each other, usually they attach a ribbon the the tail and try to cut off as much of the rival's ribbon. Profile planes have literally a flat piece of wood for a fuse. Hence, profile.

Of course sailplanes and gliders generally means planes that are used to sail and glide through the air on thermals and up drafts. Some are powered but they are usually flown most of the time without power (no engine/motor or with the throttle down).

This is the little that I know ... what does all this classification do? Why it keeps the LHS owners rich!!!

TianCi,
I would say, GREAT, GREAT information. How am I going to fly without you. LOL
Trust me, there will be more question to come so bear with me.
One more thing, can we tell what kind of plane is it just by looking at it?
At least I know a high wing is absolutely a Trainer

regards,
Bemyself

Soon you will ... hahahaaa ... it will all be easy for you.

No, a high wing is NOT "absolutely a trainer". A Citabria or a Decathlon for example are both high wing, but can be extremely difficult to fly.

Unless it says "high wing Trainer", I wouldn't assume that it is. And as for a trainer being quite easy to fly, that's relative. A Trainer is easier to fly than a warbird, but certainly NOT easy for someone that's never flown one.

Sorry, don't want to make it more confusing, but don't want you getting any wrong ideas either.
Dennis-

DBCherry,
I find your info extremely useful. At least now I know there's a lot to learn. But with all of you around, why worry!!!!
Like Tianci said, soon I'll learn but that will be yearsssssss! LOL

What years? It will be months!!!

As tIANci pointed out, most categories are based on what the plane is used for. These include: Combat, Pattern, Pylon, SA (aka IMAC) (Scale Acrobatics), trainer, sport, 3D, fun fly, etc.

Some categories are based on size, such as the 1/2A and 1/8 as you mentioned. You also see "40" for planes designed around .40 class engines, for example. "Giant scale" usually means 1/4scale or 80" wingspan, "gasser" for a plane powered by gasoline rather than "glow" fuel or "electric".

You can combine categories. So you could have a 1/2A trainer, or a giant scale 3D plane.

There are also planes that fit more than one category, and planes that really don't fit any of them very well (Though "sport" is pretty much the "everything else" cagetory).

With experience, you can start to pick out what a plane is and how it will fly. It's a lot more than wing location, but you can tell a lot when you know what to look for. (Some, but not all, of the factors that make a Citabria NOT a trainer include the short tail lengh (tail moment), small tail size, airfoil, landing gear configuration, and wingloading (weight / wing area). Of those, the only one you can't tell by looking at it is the weight, and you can get that from the specs when shopping.

Also, note that most (but not all) of the useage categories up top are based on specific contest rules and regulations, or some variation of those. Those of us who fly in competitions obviously fly planes designed for that competition. We might also fly the same planes when just out goofing off, ie for "sport".

However, the big thing is to just not worry too much about it. It's less important than you might think. The most important thing is to start with a plane that is good to start with and work up from there. Once you get the basics down, you'll pick up enough info along the way to.

You have been pretty much set straight. I just want to add these. Scale usually referrs to an accurate reproduction of a real plane in a model form. In other words make a flying model of a real plane like a Cub or a Mustang. Jets these days refer to models that use a real miniature jet engine. There are quite a number of small jet engine manufactuers for models. They could be a scale model. But they also have "sport" models. They are just a model made for the jet engine. I hope this helps.

Mark Shuman

Thank you all. All these informations really help. Although I might still be a bit confuse but in every way,I'm glad to find a site and people like all of you, so helpful.

Just feel comfortable asking questions. Most of us like to talk enough so we'll answer almost anything.
Dennis-

Sometimes we just like to talk

Yea we're just a bunch of blabbermouths.

Mark Shuman

I was blabbing so much in the ARF thread that the thread got DELETED, hahahaa ... we have to behave!!!