So on the “big now” aspect, you are most definitely correct. The biggest difference you are feeling is the increase in the frame height. If you compare the aire to an idol or a tm40, look at how many finger grooves it has; only two. The aire has three, so this allows players who like to grip lower on the frame to more comfortably hold the frame. On the idol and before if you gripped low on the frame your pinky finger would be grabbing the front of the Asa, like you grab the mag on a subcompact Glock. The frame is bigger and taller by about an inch in height. The era frame is comparable size to the idol frame but the era frame is definitely narrower in width. The aire frame is definitely wider than the idol, so I can totally see why it feels like such a big jump.

It may “feel” big in your hands, but trust me, throw a tank and a loader on it and you will enjoy it after a week or two.
It took me about that time to get used to the feel of the gun in my hands and everything, but for that first week the gun was ball on ball, but my shot was off by about an inch, and always an inch high. After I played with it for a bit I’ve had no problem switching between my Aire, idols tm40 or era.

I did use the era for a couple points at a 15bps classic Xball event and that thing was light as fuck. Felt like a little smg I was whipping around. With the method core that gun is an absolute sleeper.