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ORIGINAL: blabree-RCU

The Hangar 9 Alpha Trainer, which is a RTF training package that comes with the radio and engine installed is as complete and ready to fly as is humanly possible and still able to be shipped in a box to your door.

I had a trip to Florida planned to visit my son in Punta Gorda over the end of March- first of April time frame. Not having a plane in Florida seemed wrong, and since my son wanted to learn to fly, I had Horizon Hobby send an Alpha Trainer to him along with the Hangar 9 field starter pack.

The packages arrived three days before I did. When I arrived at the house, I found that he had completed the airplane except for putting the tape around the center of the wing. The reason he didn't do this was that he had read in the RCM review that their reviewer did not like that the wing joining tape was only one half inch wide, and had used a wider tape (personal preference). We went ahead and used the tape supplied in the box, and then went to the local hobby shop for some white trim Monokote. We then cut a one inch strip and covered the one half inch clear tape that we had used earlier.

The instructions were straight forward and Scott, who had never built any kind of plane before said that they were easy to follow and logical. The instructions suggested the addidtion of a fuel filter (not supplied in the box) which we obtained, and an extra prop, fuel, some extra fuel line and fuel cap hose device to facilitate fueling operations.

The assembly proceedure includes mounting the tail group with screws and blind nuts with thread locking compound, joining the wing halves with the aluminum tube and tape, mounting the wheels and landing gear, adjusting the control clevises, and hooking them up.

The control rods needed only a few turns one way or another to get them in range of being neutral. The screw on tail group was strong and square when done.

After charging the batteries overnight, we fueled up and ran the engine. Hangar 9 has adjusted the engine and run it in at the factory. They did a very good job of setting the engine to fire up and run on the second flip. The engine was set to be running slightly rich at the top end and very rich on the idle which is prudent and cautious. The engine did not quit on throttle up but did hesitate considerably until the richness burned off. The adjustments have limiting collars on them so a person unfamiliar with engine tuning cannot go too far and mess it up bad enough to cause a lean run or no start/run situation.

To get the idle lean enough to transition immediately I had to get a metric allen wrench and loosen the setscrew on the collar, turn the idle mixture screw about 1/4 turn leaner and re tighten the setscrew. This put the adjusting tab in range. With only a little more leaning of the idle mixture screw the engine came alive with an instantaneous transition from idle to full throttle. Hangar 9 has a real winner with this .46 size engine. It is not a screaming powerhouse but it is no slouch either! The three blade propeller worked very well and the large square prop tips are way less scary than some of the more knife like high performance props available. The engine comes with a small flywheel behind the prop which aids considerable in the engines good manners.

We took the plane to Hudson field where the JR challenge was flown this year in North Punta Gorda and prepared for flight. Scott attached the wing with rubber bands and fueled up. The engine fired right away. The new JR 4 channel radio was range checked and found OK. The plane was placed on the runway and all controls were checked for proper direction. I advanced the throttle and the plane took off after about a 60 foot run. I had to add all the down trim available to keep the plane from climbing out of site and still this was not enough down. The plane has a very effecient flat bottom airfoil. The way the incedences are set all add up to a plane that wants to climb like Spiderman! This is a good thing for a trainer with a newcomer learning to fly.

After initial trimming, I handed the transmitter to my son and he flew around for most of the tankfull. The Alpha Trainer is covered with heat shrink plastic covering and is very attractive and the covering job is excellent. The colors are mostly white with trim colors on top and red on the bottom of the wing and tail. The color scheme is very highly visible and helps considerably in keeping the airplane oriented. Scott gave me the transmitter and I set up the first landing. This plane lands extremely well! It was a little breezy that day and the plane was buffeted a bit while it was at about 20 feet high but settled down to rock steady when within 10 feet of the ground. This characteristic was later noted by others. After landing, trying to taxi back to the flight line ended up in the upwind wing lifting and the prop contacting the ground stopping the engine. The prop showed zero damage again, due to it's configuration. Three subsequent similar crosswind taxi tipovers(I said it was breezy) resulted in no damage also. About four turns of down were cranked in to the elevator clevis to center the elevator trim. The elevator was about three degrees down at neutral now.

The second flight, Scott took off, flew around most of the tank, and gave me the transmitter to land for him. Same thing for third flight but I talked him into doing some ten foot high touch and go's before I landed. On the FOURTH flight he took off, flew landing patterns the whole flight (about six) getting progressively lower, and then landed unassisted from me. He had soloed on his first outing with this plane! His only prior R/C experience was when he was sixteen with a PT40 which he never took off or landed, only flew around high with me at his side. He is 27 now. He has been flying The Real Flight Simulator for about six months (a college graduation gift from mom and dad).

The next flying day three days later, he did everything himself! Folks at the field were impressed with the plane, and the fact that he was flying himself after one day. Yes, I am proud of him!, but more than that, I am impressed and amazed at the Alpha Trainer product. Every bit of advertisement about this trainer is true.

The fact is, this plane would have flown without any of my coaching and would have provided a stark newcomer a viable trainer on which to learn. The plane flies very well, it is stable and the control throws are what a beginner needs. The ailerons are effective without being overly sensitive. Things happen slowly enough to give time for a new pilot to stay up with the plane. It lands like a dream. The JR radio provided has trainer capability but we did not have a second transmitter at hand, so we went with the "Hand over the transmitter and stand real close" method.

This package is a real value both in the way that it meets the needs of the targeted market and the price. I only wish they had these in 1971 when I started flying!

blabree