I have been an avid ARF buyer as I get a lot more enjoyment flying planes than building them. I think it's because most of the kits in the past have been not very good. Bad plans, missing parts, poor documentation and bad flying characteristics. Some of these have been my faul and some the manufacturers. Recently, I have started building again and forgot how much enjoyment I can get from making a plane from a bunch of balsa wood It's very relaxing and fun to see the progress along the way. My new project (Do 335) is going great and the kit is going together well. It's my second one and the first was a MAJOR pain. It was a prototype and helped to work out the bugs with this kit. I think it's about even now building and flying for me. It is very rewarding to make a plane from a kit (bunch of wood) then fly it sucessfully. Can't wait to retire and have more time


Jeff

Why do we love RC scale-Because we are all channeling the ghost of Walter Mitty.

Another point if it has not already been mentioned is, the models can fly closely to how the full scale flew. Especially in the larger scales. This really brings home the scale aspect from a piloting standpoint. I mostly have WW1 models but they certainly act as described in all of the reading I have done.

Yeah, I don't think I would have been too exicted to fly a WWI plane if they behave like my scale RC planes I would have been dead long ago trying to make a landing in my Sopwith or Nieuport 17. Tough planes to land cleanly.


Jeff

That's easy to fix. Just buy a 1.80 Saito

I've read that 50% RFC casualties occurred in training. Don't know for certain whether that's true but it was certainly a major change moving on from the Avro 504 to the Sopwith Camel, or even from the Pup to the Camel.

Dave.

Ditto. I should never be allowed anywhere near the cockpit of a REAL aircraft. I'm not a "fast learner." [)]

Yeah I think a lot of pilots were injured or killed just trying to take off or land. It still wasn't too much better in the Wildcats, 109s and Spitfires.


Jeff

Man, am I happy they made flying a 747-400 so much easier than those fighters.
I would have been without a job if they haddened :-)

Scale-kites... hmm, I can still remember back in the day when they showed "Black Sheep Squadron" on TV, I was hooked on the Corsair from that moment, have been for over 25 years...

It's like driving a bike, real men drive stripped Harleys (wearing pink offcourse, another thing real men do ), the rest drive plastic playstations from Japan.

Cheers,

Scale subjects just take it to the next level. I told my brother this yesterday. Walking into a store, then handing someone my Visa, then walking out with an ARF doesn't do it for me. But when I spend 7 or 8 hundred on parts, then about 15,000 in my own labor, I now have a 300 dollar model that I can scare myself half to death with. Thats priceless.

Proflighter

Your lucky it only 300.00

True Brits ride their Triumphs to Turkey on holiday!

Happy Landings (model and full sized!)

Dave Davis

As long as they don't do it in leathers. Lawrence would never have worn leathers.

Why do we love them? To the flyers that love scale, no answer is needed. To the ones that do not love scale, no answer is understood.

My main interest in scale comes from seeing the old Cox C/L planes flying at parks, many years ago. While not particularly interested in the full-scale counterparts, I considered the models as a form of recreation on a pleasant summer evening. Those little two-strokes and the smell of that caster oil always got my interest. Since I don't fly, I don't consider it as being worthwhile to model an actual full-scale aircraft, but I do see utility in some scale models, like a Citabria with a cabin large enough for a video system. I may consider upgrading to a video downlink, so I can take advantage of its usefulness. One example would be scouting a cornfield for a downed plane. I'm not a builder in any sense of the word, I don't even like building an ARF. But, that's what I have to do in order to enjoy my time at the sticks. Maybe I should take up boating or snowmobiling...

NorfolkSouthern

Wow, that's deep! Can I use that? - John.

It also works for golf, skydiving, and almost anything else.

For me it's the history that I am learning while researching a project. I am currently researching the spitfire (MKVB to be exact) and the knowledge and fascinating facts I am finding are a treasure trove of history. Not to mention the pride I have when something that started with a box of sticks and or plain ole pices of wood become a magnificent flying machine. trying to get the model flying in a scale fashion is a challenge as well and not just "punching holes in the sky". I have the arfs to do that with, and a crash is just no big deal with an arf as long as the electronics survive. To get a taste of this go ahead and add some detail and changes to an arf and make it your own. This will hopefully give you the "SCALE BUG".