[edb157]

Just opened my VA-106 Skyhawk.....looks small....is it true 1/72 ? has anyone measured them out ? Looked weird next to my Dragon 1/72 F/A-18E. Other than this, model is great and I may have to pick up the Top Gun or John McCain version.

Thanks
Ed

[PappyB]

Hello -- I haven't bothered to measure it, but it looks right to me. They didn't call it the "Scooter" for nothing right

The issue might be you're comparing it with a more modern, larger airframe? I've got my Skyhawk displayed with other vietnam era birds -- Sabre, Super-Sabre, Mig-15, F-4 -- and it looks right to me.... nice little model (I've the McCain version).

[David Hingtgen]

If you really want to mess people up, put a same-scale 737 and 747 next to each other (preferably of the same airline). A lot of people just will not believe you that there could be that much of a size difference and that there must be something wrong.

[Saeta]

Originally Posted by edb157

Just opened my VA-106 Skyhawk.....looks small....is it true 1/72 ? has anyone measured them out ? Looked weird next to my Dragon 1/72 F/A-18E. Other than this, model is great and I may have to pick up the Top Gun or John McCain version.

Thanks
Ed

Hi edb
I have the HM Argentinian A-4B and it is indeed a small model in 1:72. However, Pappy is right, the A-4 was itself a very small aircraft in real life. Ed Einemann designed the smallest plane that could neet the requirements, and it ended up being so small that it did not even require wing folding for its storage on board aircraft carriers and was only one third of the USN expected weight...

However, just to prove it to you, the wingspan of a real A-4, quoted in a book I have on it, is 838 centimetres ( sorry I have no clue how much that is in inches or yards, and for the purpose of the calculation, it does not matter ). Then I measured, not very accuratelly, the wing span of my HM 1:72 A-4, and it was 11.6 centimetres. If you multiply the model's span by 72, you get 835 cms, which is within 99.7% accuracy of the real life measurement. Hence, your model is perfectly to scale.

David is also right that you have to keep in mind what you are comparing. The F-18E is a big aeroplane. I have seen the Spanish Air Force F-18A from close. They are in size bigger than an F-16 but smaller that a F-15. The F-18E is then even bigger that an F-18A, so in size it is far closer to an F-15. Hence you are comparing a big aircraft with a very small one.

[edb157]

Thanks for all the info guys....sometimes it hard to keep relative size in perspective.

Ed

[ZS-VAN]

Originally Posted by David Hingtgen

If you really want to mess people up, put a same-scale 737 and 747 next to each other (preferably of the same airline). A lot of people just will not believe you that there could be that much of a size difference and that there must be something wrong.

Absolutely agree! I did that with my SAA 1/400s. Startling size difference.

[JETFAN]

Please note that it was Ed Heinemann, not Einemann who designed theScooter AKA Heinemann's Hotrod. He and R.G. Smith, the well known aviation artist, worked together on this. R.G. did the initial drawings while Ed set the design parameters.