Your next airplane ??

Not real nuts about the "Toy plane" thing in the description. Anything that can hit 275 Mph is far from a toy.

John

It has no serious application (accept to make money for manufacturers and resellers) so what exactly is it if not a plaything?

"KT" wrote in news:d60ago$1g7s$ snipped-for-privacy@gnd.k- net.dk:

Yanno, the jets look cool, and they draw a crowd at the field, and I'm very impressed at the engineering behind them, but . . .

But I like to fly, and I like to build, and I like to design.

And as for flying, when I've seen people bring the big jets out, it seems like sometimes they do one flight and the other times they don't do any. Each flight is such a big deal, and you're risking so much money on a random radio glitch, that it would be hard for me to relax and enjoy it. Also, the things they can do in flight have always seemed rather limited. Yes, they go past fast (and look great doing it), and they'll do really big loops and some nice axial rolls, but as far as casual aerobatics, I'm not sure they'd beat out a 4-Star.

As for building, I like building graceful balsa structures. I love the open-trusswork old-timer fuselages and built-up multi-spar wings. Preferably with capstrips. But none of that seems to apply to the jets.

As for the designing (which I particularly like) - I like to try odd things. The recent generation of small electrics has been marvelous for that because I can throw together a quick sheet-balsa profile plane in a few hours, take it to the field, and try it. If it doesn't work, I make a few adjustments and try again. If it *really* doesn't work, or if I forget that I've reversed the *&#%$^&@ aileron stick (doh!), then all I've lost is a couple bucks worth of balsa and a couple of hours of my time - the radio, battery, and motor always survive these crashes- and I'll have learned something in the process. But if I was designing a plane for a $6,000 motor, $800 of radio, and $900 worth of landing gear, I couldn't take chances, and everything would have to be very carefully calculated and worked out . . .

So, to each his own. I certainly respect those big jets, and whenever one takes off, I stop to watch just like everyone else. But I don't feel envious, or dream of getting my own.

i've seen that video, and was really jonsing a long time for one. mark brings up a good point. here's a well-known video of what happens to $thousands when a glitch happens:

OK, you are right. It is a ten thousand dollar toy.

Yes, I'm not sure what defines "toy," exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's not price.

| Not real nuts about the "Toy plane" thing in the description. | Anything that can hit 275 Mph is far from a toy.

From

toy (toi) pronunciation n.

1. An object for children to play with. 2. Something of little importance; a trifle. 3. An amusement; a pastime: thought of the business as a toy. 4. A small ornament; a bauble. 5. A diminutive thing or person. 6. A dog of a very small breed or of a variety smaller than the standard variety of its breed. 7. Scots. A loose covering for the head, formerly worn by women. 8. Chiefly Southern U.S. A shooter marble.

Well, it's certainly not #1. Not #2. Definately is #3. Not 4-8.

Since it fits one definition (that's all it takes), it's a toy.

Or if we go to the Wikipedia at

A toy is something to play with, for children, adults or both. They may either be the sole device used in an enjoyable activity or one of many. A number of toys are associated with particular decades.

I'd say it definately fits that. Though I'm not sure why it dwells so much on movie related toys -- I guess somebody just felt that was important. (Anybody can edit wikipedia if they want.)

It's an expensive toy, but it's a toy nonetheless. You know what they say about the difference between men and boys ...

I prefer cheaper planes, planes that when I crash them spectacularly I can go `did you see that?!!?!? that was cool!@!$!' rather than cry. I guess that means I'm closer to a boy than some of these guys, and I can certainly live with that.

I'm looking forward to my kids getting a little older (right now they're 2 and 4) so I can start showing them more about daddy's toys. I'm getting the oldest one ready with the little R/C cars (the sort that goes 2 mph tops) and she certainly likes that. But she's definately most interested in daddy's toy planes ...

It's a matter of pride. Pride makes the world go around, not love or money. Pride is also where every post on this NG comes from too :) mk

It's a shame that the pilot had to follow it around like a lost little puppy dog... Great plane, insecure pilot.