Scale Pilots
 

I have been flying and judging scale and War Birds since the mid 70's and nothing makes me tear my hair out (something I can no longer afford to do:p) than to see a nicely done plane at a war bird or scale contest with a pilot that is too small or not placed correctly in the cockpit.
The pilot too often seems like an after thought. Please look at a picture of the plane your modelling with someone in the cockpit and put close to the right size guy in there. The pilot of a fighter sits up front in the canopy, he has to be able to reach the stick and switches and read the gages. I wish I had a dollar for every p-51 or p-47 I've seen with the pilot so far back in the cockpit he would have to unbuckle and walk forward to reach the rudder pedals or read the instruments. Same goes for a P-51 with a Barbie doll or Smerf head! Just had to vent.
Larry

Larry, I am no judge, but stand 100% behind you. I've seen many, many planes as you describe...

a Pilot gives "scale" and "tone" to a model. For example in a Corsair the pilot head is very close to the top of the canopy as the pilots cranked their seats up to be able to see over the nose during landings.