How long should a longbow be ?

How long is your draw length?
What wood is it made from?
Who is the bowyer?
What style of shooting are you going to use it for?
All of these questions, and more dictate how long the bow should be, so there is no one easy answer.
The best thing to do is to contact the bowyer, and have a chat with him, then get him to make the bow for you. Any good bowyer will ask you questions like those above (obviously not all of them) to decide how long to make the bow. One of the advantages of getting a bow custom made. (It shouldn't cost you any more either)

hi my longbow which was custom made by pip is 69" 45lb at 26" i am only 5,2 i prefered it to the longer ones i tried that my friends have.When i tried it it felt better and was more snappy them the ones preiously tried mind you they were 28 draw

I have heard that a longbow should be a couple of inches of so longer that the height of archer, or something like that. Can't remember where I read that now and I'm not an expert, infact I'm more of a beginner but there might be something in it.

It depends on personal preference, draw weight/length and the staves at your disposal.
With fabricated (laminated) bows you have much more choice.
My personal preference is same height as the archer, but for big warbows I can see that longer is sensible to accomodate the higher draw weight and longer draw.
What I don't like is bows which are much taller than the archer with only a short draw length, which appear to be hardly flexing at full draw.
Just my personal view... I like to see a bow really coming around 'full compass' not just a shallow arc... Ok I know you're unlikely to get an actual semi circle...but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Del

From the GNAS Rules of Shooting
......The bow shall be not less than five feet in length for an arrow of
less than 27 inches and; not less than five feet six inches in length for a 27” or longer
arrow, this being measured along the back between the string nocks.....
Don't know if this applies to any other organisations, but it may pay you to check first.

Thats all interesting info. I would suggest that for me anyway with a 28.5" arrow the minimum is 66" so a 69" bow is perfectly acceptable.
However, I revisited the shop yesterday and after a bit of time with a couple of bows again decided that although the 69" bow was very quick I didn't feel in control of it and have now gone for a 71" version which just felt that bit more relaxed.

I think 69" for 28 1/2" draw is the absolute minimum you could safely get away with, I have a 69" bow, draw slightly under 27" and worry sometimes in the winter. At nearly 3" shorter than my other 4 bows (all heavier), and due to its short length its so snappy, arrows which suit it well fly stiff in all the other bows, the heaviest of which is 15lbs more in draw weight.
Regards
Dreadnaught