For Jeff: You're right about 7-8 feet being pretty damn big. Hell, at  6'3" you'd probably intimidate me with your stature - I don't need someone to be 10 feet tall for me to think "wouldn't want to be around that person." So, although I may have quantified the ratio wrong with the word slightly, my overall point was that if you have a hugely muscular beast in front of you, it doesn't matter if said best is 7 feet tall or 10 - it is still scary.

Plus, with the Hulk (or the Thing, or whoever) being closer to human height, all the villains and monsters can be bigger and therefore more of a threat.

I don't have the issue here, but I remember The Thing in an FF issue getting off a plane with a smoking engine, and referencing an adventure that just happened in his solo series.  I think it was just before the big battle between the FF (er, F3) and Doom/Tyros/Silver Surfer.

He's a Marvel character, so some connection to reality is critical.

7 feet tall and 1,000 pounds is pretty darn impressive. The first shot of him by JB is how I think the Hulk should be depicted.

Issue 5 of the original series. In trenchcoat and hat, the Hulk sits in a regular commercial airliner seat.