<div>Ed,</div> <div> </div> <div>A lot has been said about the smaller planes being less expensive, but as soon as the smaller size is established then the expense will come right back in the way of high tech composite airframes and all the other equipment.</div> <div> </div> <div>What you are saying about size makes perfect sense -- being able to transport easily. I have a full size Ford van, and before the 2m limit was imposed, there were no 2m planes, everything was was smaller based on the displacement limit. I could fit my Finesse (and the Runaround before that) in the back of my van in one piece, which made my practice sessions very quick and convenient. Very little setup time, pretty much fuel and fly.</div> <div> </div> <div>Bigger does fly better, however. There was a similar situation considered in IMAC, they created the Mini-MAC class. To my knowlege, there has not been the Mini-MAC class flown at any of the recent IMAC contests, apparently
since there has not been much interest in it.</div> <div> </div> <div>The video that someone posted of a profile pattern plane is interesting. There are a few guys in our club that have flown the OMP Fusion, and it does pattern pretty well. I've bought one, and my son may end up flying that in a few pattern contests if we get the chance.</div> <div> </div> <div><A href="http://ohiomodelplanes.com/67fusionarf/">http://ohiomodelplanes.com/67fusionarf/</A></div> <div> </div> <div>As for using a pickup, I have a small Nisson Frontier. I have considered building a custom box to fit, which would extend past the tailgate so I could transport larger planes than would fit in a normal shell.</div> <div> </div> <div>Bob R.</div> <div><BR><BR><B><I>Ed Miller <edbon85@charter.net></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">>From a practical standpoint what has been
going on in auto industry is 180 <BR>degrees to what pattern has done, we have grown BIG, Guppy like 2M planes <BR>while cars and trucks are getting smaller. I've been out recently looking <BR>at a replacement ( about 2 or 3 years away ) for my 2001 Astro van which <BR>easily fits 2 - 2M planes and could carry 4 just as easily along with a <BR>driver and passenger. In light of GM and Ford's decision to stop producing <BR>minivans and the demise of the Astro van in '05, it looks like domestic <BR>full size vans/pickup trucks or foreign minivans is all that will be left. <BR>I chose the Astro in '01 to carry 2 - 2M planes with support gear AND it's <BR>ability to tow more than a paperweight. An Astro van set up like mine <BR>easily tows my 6x12 enclosed trailer with my Harley dresser inside ( approx. <BR>2600 lbs ) AND it has also towed an 1800 lb flat trailer with 6 Harley's on <BR>it over 250 miles several times, figure a total weight of approximately 5500 <BR>lbs. With
tape measure in hand I have been measuring P/U beds and it seems <BR>the GM full size "short bed" is 80" from inside the forward wall to the <BR>inside of the tailgate. To me the fwd minivan offerings, though they make <BR>great people and plane movers, cannot tow anything more than 1,000 lbs <BR>reliably over the long haul, so they are not an option at least for me. <BR>Besides, as long as I can I will buy from one of the big 2, I consider <BR>Chrysler a foreign company now. I'd hate to "downsize" from the 2M planes <BR>as they fly much better than their older, smaller counterparts but it would <BR>be nice to be able to buy smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles to transport <BR>them. Is anyone out there using an extended cab ( 2 rear mini suicide <BR>doors ) GM P/U with the standard 6.5ft bed to transport 2M planes ?? I know <BR>the same truck is available with the 8ft but it is really too <BR>looonnnggg.........<BR>Ed M.<BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Dean
Pappas" <D.PAPPAS@KODEOS.COM><BR>To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <NSRCA-DISCUSSION@LISTS.NSRCA.ORG><BR>Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 9:39 PM<BR>Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Header Brace<BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>