You don`t need bones, when you are in max you have to define the Fuselage, name it that way, as a primary knot. All you have to do is to name the parts right and conect them in the right way. right aileron to right outer wing ---> right wing ---> fuselage. Some animations needs animation slots, like canopy, airbrakes gear ... the other parts like rudder, ailerons are directed via ini entry. I`m not such an expert in this still working on my first real new plane.
The size matters, every modell can be created in inches or meters, I prefer meter cause I`m european an it works better for me. Sometimes you have to use 2 sided textures for canopy TGA`s so if you open the canopy you can see the glass from the other side!