Lee250

I have a coworker that told me he has a tower hobbies trainer RTF with a tower pro .46. I see that tower doesn't make that engine anymore so I was wondering how old is this kit? It's brand new still wrapped up in the box and he doesn't want much for it. Also when I look for parts on tower hobbies it only shows the tower hobbies .46 and I don't see anything about a tower pro .46. Are they the same engine?

thestik

My Feedback: (8)

The plane is OK for a trainer, but the engine is junk, don't spend a dime on it. Or if you do, be prepared to replace it. Tower no longer sells it, they sell an OS engine for it now. A friend bought the same setup, and we worked on it off and on for 3 months; never could get it adjusted properly. A glow engine is usually an easy engine to run. The tower engine ran great on the bench, but once in air, it would not reliably, going rich or lean, always leading to a dead stick. Switch to OS and avoid the frustration.

TFF

The carb can be junk. It actually has pretty good horsepower if you get a good one. Plane is from the mid 2000s. I would not pay too much. I guess 4 channel Tower radio which Futaba made. $150 is not a bad price. Batteries are probably bad. $100 better. They probably payed $250 for it.

Lee250

I do know how to fly and have a bunch of planes but there all electric and wanted to get back into nitro I have a nitro truck and used to fly nitro. I was going more for it being a complete ready to go plane for cheap. I'm pretty sure I could get it for about $70. Is it problems with air leaks that cause the problems? I have had issues with trucks with air leaks so I sealed everything good and didn't have problems since.

thestik

My Feedback: (8)

For $70, get it, the plane is worth that, just might have to replace the engine later on.

maukaonyx

The plane is good. I had one for years till lost by my son hitting my tail with his plane, and there went my Tower trainer to terra firma, lol. Plane flies well and is durable. Get it as cheap as you can from your friend and then get a OS 40LA (do they make it still?) or a used OS40 or OS46 of some sort on RCU for cheap. You will enjoy the plane. Mine kept losing covering trim over the years but flew, flew, flew.

KitCrasher

My Tower Trainer 40 is my "Frankenstein" plane. Holes in the covering are repaired with clear packing tape. I replaced one aileron due to flutter, and have had to piece it back together after a training incident or two. I pull the parts apart just enough to get some 5min epoxy in the gap and she is ready to go. I have a Thunder Tiger .46pro engine which is a little much (I do most flying at half throttle) but it has earned its battle scars. Good luck!

Lee250

I picked it up and have been breaking in the engine on a stand I made. Before starting it I removed the carb and back cover and sealed everything up good with some silicone and it fired right up and runs great. I've run a couple of tanks thru it and it's running great and will idle down nice. I'm going to put it back in the plane and finish putting the plane together. I'm going to work on my runway this weekend and hopefully try it out soon

init4fun

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maukaonyx

Work on YOUR runway? Holy moly that is cool. WOuld love to have my own too, so I could stop being at the mercy of the owners (sod farm company)...when they work, we cannot play. THey work all the time. If not the harvest and planting, they are watering and mowing. Have fun with the plane and your very own runway. Invite some guys over though because there is much fun in the social side of the flying field.

ratshooter

Years ago I picked up a tower trainer from a kid who had built it from a kit but never covered it. I finished it and flew it with either a tower 40 plain bearing engine or an OS Max FP-40. Any way it was a good match on power and I absolutely loved flying that plane. Here is the only pic I have of it. I have given a lot of thought to building another one. And if you need batteries check Ebay. I have bought several packs from there and they have all been just fine. I still use NiCad by the way.

J330

My Feedback: (3)

Most trainers have the same life expectancy as the engine, they're disposable, $70 is a great price for the learning experience. The fuel for your car and boat might have more nitro content than the trainer engine requires. 10% nitro, 18% oil, which is all I've even found in a hobby shop these days.
Tower trainers are decent trainers.

ratshooter

I made a goof in post #11. That is a PT-40 and not a tower trainer. I do have a tower trainer and its a nice flying plane. And it only cost me $80 with free shipping a few months ago. Mine is not listed as being covered with Monokote but does have iron on covering. I peeled the Tower decals off the wings. I think it looks better. Here are some correct pictures.

J330

My Feedback: (3)

You're forgiven. But on RCGroups, they'll humiliate you for such a gross error! lol Both planes look good! I made a mistake too, you can modify a trainer to be your second model.
Take out the dihedral, convert to tail dragger,
replace the control surfaces with larger ones for aerobatics,
add a 5th servo, take some length out of the wingspan, and with negligible costs for covering and balsa materials, and one servo, you can do more with it, if it survives the training step in one piece.