panther3001

I disagree with this. I understand the norm for club instruction remains balsa/ply glow planes with monokote, but I feel the reason for this isn't because foamies aren't good for beginners, I would argue rather that the reason is that the people dominant in clubs are retired folks who have been flying since long before I was born, and are simply used to what they've always been using and afraid to make the transition to what they have always known to be "inferior." Electric planes have been light, expensive, underpowered, weak, and just plain lousy as long as they've been around...up until just a few years ago. They were always inferior, and have only been able to compete with balsa/ply/gas/glow planes for a few years now, and I think it's just "too new" for most old-timers (I say this respectfully) to feel comfortable with using them.

Foamies aren't what they used to be....at all, and I have grown to have a great respect for them. I've flown the Hawk Sky. I've trained a buddy on the Airfield Sky Trainer 182 (both planes are in the PDF I posted), and I love them both. EPO foam is not styrofoam (EPS). Good planes aren't made from styrofoam anymore. Motors aren't brushed anymore. Motor batteries aren't AA NiMH/NiCad's anymore. I was trained on a Tower Trainer 40 with an OS 46 FX engine. I was 11 years old when I bought it, and I had to raise and sell cows for years to afford it all. I wish I'd started when I was 8, when I first was serious about it, but I hadn't sold enough cows by then yet. Chinese foamies are very high quality these daysIF you read reviews and choose somewhat carefully.

So back to balsa: I was frustrated with my Tower 40 at age 11. I wanted to fly fly fly, not struggle through a build. Foamies are put together in just a couple hrs. Now durability: I've crashed my Tower Trainer 40 and broke it in half twice. It was tough to repair. I watched my friend I was training plow his Hawk Sky into the ground at full speed from 200 ft high (the wing fell offnote: TAPE IT ON), and we had it fixed with tape and epoxy (I'd now recommend hot glue and tape more than epoxy and tape) and flyign again in just 1 hr.

Also, good foamie planes are bulky enough, powerful enough, and streamlined enough now to only have slight handling disadvantages to balsa planes. Additionally, a good club guy will throw a $9 Detrum GY48V gyro (from xheli.com) on the ailerons for the newbie if he really knows what he's doing, and then it flies more like a balsa plane anyway, and acts like a heavier plane. I want experts at teh field to learn what I'm saying just as much as I want newbies to learn it.

-but as for the club. YES definitely get help and join a club! And YES look into buying members' used stuff for good priceseven if it's balsa!

PS. I mean all this with the deepest respect. My trainer was a very nice 60-some-odd-year old Don Sandquist, and I very much appreciate him and his serious help. When I busted my plane in half the second time a very nice 70 yr old club member is who helped me repair it. I couldn't have done it without you guys! However, keep in mind the average club member has way more money and time than a kid who needs a good, ECONOMICAL EPO foam (or EPP) trainer to get started, and I am looking out for those guys. I've always been the youngest member of any club I join (to this day even, at age 27) and I'd like to change that!