New Classic Floor-plan

[Zybane]

OK - that title was a bit of click-bait!

I had sent an email to Airstream with the request to offer a 30' Classic, but simply with the floor plan flipped making the new one a front bedroom/rear living.

They claimed they hadn't thought of it and would send it to their design team. I am curious, who else would be interested in such a trailer? Please think about it and simply do not vote "RB" just because that is what you have.

[66Overlander]

I forget the exact year, but Airstream offered a 30' front bedroom model Classic with Hickory cabinets and a king bed a few years before the new Classic came out in 2015. They sold very few. You rarely see them. I guess they were not popular at that time.

In any case, we own a 2016 Classic and love the rear bedroom floorplan. We would never consider a front bedroom floorplan for a variety of reasons that are important to us (i.e. not just because we own a RB model). But others tastes differ, so it will be interesting to see if others might be interested.

[Zybane]

Joe, would you be able to share your top 3 reasons why you would stick with the RB?

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Zybane

Joe, would you be able to share your top 3 reasons why you would stick with the RB?

Bingo! I was thinking same thing! Another suggestion; We love our 28', but would have been nice to have the living area in the rear...as it is, the dinette is on the side which is fine, except the door covers one of the windows so you can not leave it open when the door is open...poor thinking. They could have reversed the hinges on the door. Other models have it reversed....

[gypsydad]

Who did you write to with that suggestion anyway? I would love to get them to consider changing the lounge set up in the 25 and 27' models to include wrap around seating (like the 26'), and a work surface with drawers and perhaps a wine fridge--as an option-- like Airstream Adventures North West does in their custom options, as shown in the attached photo...also see the PDF file below with wine refer and storage drawers...doesn't that option look useable?....

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by Zybane

Joe, would you be able to share your top 3 reasons why you would stick with the RB?

I totally understand why some prefer the FB, so that their living area at the rear is overlooking the lake, etc. That's not us. The campground is rarely the destination for us. We like to travel with our Airstream, so the campsite is merely a basecamp from which we can go see things. Thus, we rarely end up in a spot that the rear view is much other than the rear of another trailer.

That said, here are our top 3 reasons we prefer an RB:

1. We are light sleepers, so want to sleep at the end of the trailer farthest from the campground road.

2. A front door is more likely to open into a level part of the campsite. We rented a rear door white box trailer once when we were between usable Airstreams and found some camp sites that there was a big drop off out the rear door, once putting the door over a large puddle. There would have been no such issue with a front door.

3. It is likely just psychological, but we feel more secure with the door nearer the truck when overnighting in a Walmart and nearer the more open, often more lighted, front of a campsite in a campground.

These are our opinions. Others mileage may vary. There are no wrong answers.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

I do like the setup of the 33ft front bed with the door still upfront. Are you proposing to put the bed up front with the door on the rear like the 27? Or keep the door up front as well?

If anything, I would love that hatch door that comes on the Tommy Bahamas offered in the classic somehow. That’s the one feature that almost made us choose against the 30 classic but we opted for the classic.

[Acheron2010]

As long as we are wishing, I wish they would make a 27-foot Classic with the same interior quality, Alde system and same bathroom. I would prefer a front bedroom and have my awake hours focused out the back, not the camp road.

[NWRVR]

66Overlander x2. We had the front bed 25 Serenity thinking that the rear is where the view is, but when we decided to upgrade, we could only find the rear bed Classic 30. As it turns out when we are eating or sitting in our recliners we are facing the view and most importantly, we find that we have been able to get into much smaller sites with ten feet of the rear hanging over the pad which usually is sloping away. If we had a rear door we would need additional steps. The front door makes more sense for us.

[rbs]

We much prefer the setup for the dinette, and living area of the rear bedroom. We removed the recliner sofa and installed euro style recliner chairs, works great for us. The location of the entry door is more convenient a majority of times. The biggest most obvious attraction of the 33 is the rear bath, but with everything considered, I think we'll stay with the 30. Plus, when we open all of the windows you have a beautiful view no matter where you're at

[KU9L]

My wife's complaint about the Classic 30 is that she has to look at the back of my head at the dinette to watch TV from the recliners as I run my home business on the road. This would be the same whether FB or RB models. We aren't sure of the solution here that would suit both of us. The Classic 33 offers a different conflict in that often I need to work long days and nights to launch a product and making her watch only the bedroom TV during those periods isn't fair to her. I watch about 30 minutes of TV per month whether I need it or not. Maybe having all of the shades up and windows open would be inspiring to cause new ideas not previously discovered though ...

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by KU9L

My wife's complaint about the Classic 30 is that she has to look at the back of my head at the dinette to watch TV from the recliners as I run my home business on the road. This would be the same whether FB or RB models. We aren't sure of the solution here that would suit both of us. The Classic 33 offers a different conflict in that often I need to work long days and nights to launch a product and making her watch only the bedroom TV during those periods isn't fair to her. I watch about 30 minutes of TV per month whether I need it or not. Maybe having all of the shades up and windows open would be inspiring to cause new ideas not previously discovered though ...

Not sure if you have decided yet, but here are a few suggestions that may work:
1) get a 25' or 27' and you can sit on the "door" side of the dinette while she watches tv on the lounge side against the windows...no head in the way.
2) get a 28' or 30' and replace the TV mount with a swing-arm type mount like in the 23' and 26' models. This way you could swing TV over to the hallway and she would be missing your "head in the way" issue.
3) get a 26' where everybody has a view from the U shaped lounge and no one is sitting in the way.
Hope I did not offend...but seems like pretty good solutions to me!

[KU9L]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Not sure if you have decided yet, but here are a few suggestions that may work:
1) get a 25' or 27' and you can sit on the "door" side of the dinette while she watches tv on the lounge side against the windows...no head in the way.
2) get a 28' or 30' and replace the TV mount with a swing-arm type mount like in the 23' and 26' models. This way you could swing TV over to the hallway and she would be missing your "head in the way" issue.
3) get a 26' where everybody has a view from the U shaped lounge and no one is sitting in the way.
Hope I did not offend...but seems like pretty good solutions to me!

No offense taken and I have watched Patrick Botticelli's 2018 FC 26RBT video quite a few times trying to solve my unique workstation issue. She does not like the "L" configs of the others either but we will sit in them all at the 2018 Tampa RV Supershow Tuesday, January 16th on Industry Day.

Pros of 26RBT FP:
- It would just fit in our current driveway on concrete so I would not have to park it in our grassy storage areas at the campground. Too many guests playing bumper pool.
- We can keep our 2017 F150 with w/10.1K# towing since 26fbt GVWR is 7.6K#.
- Has quite a bit of storage for available GVWR compared to other FP's.
Cons:
- The FC Series are really nice units, but why can't they build the Classic version of the 26RBT? AS says they do not have enough sales of the shorter units, but I am on the forums of many full-timer lists and there are many complaints from folks who want to upgrade to a new coach and it is very hard to find quality brands in a shorter coach used for boondocking. If the Classic 26RBT were a possibility, I would already own it, but Sheila is partially disabled and we will never go back to a manual awning again. We have had many close calls with our awnings and sometimes out west if you can't be quick on the trigger, an afternoon dust devil will take out your awning if you are old and slow and a little loving of the shade it provides ...

Sorry, I won't keep hijacking this thread, picking my forever home after owning 5 boxy rectangles previously is like waiting for the stork to bring me the correct grand baby! ;-)

[mojoe7009]

The Classic TV in the salon is mounted on a swing arm. Swing it out towards the hallway and have her sit in the curbside lounge and viola...no more back of the head.

[KU9L]

Thanks for your perspective & perhaps the beagle dog bed then goes in the cubby on the right side of the lounge. The decreased tongue weight of the 30 vs 33 would mean it is okay to go with the F250, simplifying things.

The Tampa RV Supershow is in a week after this weekend, so will be taking good notes & making sure she is happy with her TV access.

Now, 30RB vs. 30FB? Both affect hitch setup, in the shifting of those RV accessories from rear to front storage will surely change it slightly, on initial setup.

I still want to see that Classic 26RBT also. :-)

[mojoe7009]

The Classic 30 only comes in a rear bedroom configuration. The choice is twin beds or queen. We chose twins because I am tall and they are actually longer than the queen plus you have a nice big aisle to get dressed in and more hanging storage.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by KU9L

No offense taken and I have watched Patrick Botticelli's 2018 FC 26RBT video quite a few times trying to solve my unique workstation issue. She does not like the "L" configs of the others either but we will sit in them all at the 2018 Tampa RV Supershow Tuesday, January 16th on Industry Day.

Pros of 26RBT FP:
- It would just fit in our current driveway on concrete so I would not have to park it in our grassy storage areas at the campground. Too many guests playing bumper pool.
- We can keep our 2017 F150 with w/10.1K# towing since 26fbt GVWR is 7.6K#.
- Has quite a bit of storage for available GVWR compared to other FP's.
Cons:
- The FC Series are really nice units, but why can't they build the Classic version of the 26RBT? AS says they do not have enough sales of the shorter units, but I am on the forums of many full-timer lists and there are many complaints from folks who want to upgrade to a new coach and it is very hard to find quality brands in a shorter coach used for boondocking. If the Classic 26RBT were a possibility, I would already own it, but Sheila is partially disabled and we will never go back to a manual awning again. We have had many close calls with our awnings and sometimes out west if you can't be quick on the trigger, an afternoon dust devil will take out your awning if you are old and slow and a little loving of the shade it provides ...

Sorry, I won't keep hijacking this thread, picking my forever home after owning 5 boxy rectangles previously is like waiting for the stork to bring me the correct grand baby! ;-)

Well, you can always get power awnings on any of the AS's; either order from factory or dealer can install also. A bit costly of course.

If parking is an issue, the 26' is actually 26'.11";both the 27' and the 28' are just a foot longer. Have you considered a "slightly used" 25 or 27', and perhaps doing a modification to the seating area, like I mentioned earlier in this thread #5, to include U shaped lounge and perhaps a desk and work surface at the curb side lounge? Another suggestion may work as shown below...note the desk with TV above; could swing the TV out into the hall, as suggested earlier. AS Adventures NW offers this combination. You may find they can hook you up with someone in your area for this type modification, or someone else on the Forum may know. Just some suggestions again...

[Roadtech]

Originally Posted by KU9L

We have had many close calls with our awnings and sometimes out west if you can't be quick on the trigger, an afternoon dust devil will take out your awning if you are old and slow and a little loving of the shade it provides ..

That's assuming that when you press the button on your power awning, it retracts. (or the wind detecting system works). The last time, mine didn't...

[skyguyscott]

I must say I really really like the wrap around dinette mods, and the desk mods are really handy if you work on the road. The way the dinette converts to a big bed is so much better than the comparatively cheap looking way airstream does it now. Wow. Thanks for posting those, I will have to file those away for future.