Experience comes with flying.  Of course they will say no experience needed.. they are trainers and designed to get you the experience you need to fly RC. 

We will preach the gospel of instructors and buddy box flying, which will get you in the air in the best, fastest, and safest mode.  After a few flights, all depends on your ability to catch on and learn, you will solo and then you are on your own to further your learning process and get that experience they say you don't need, but will in order to progress on to better flying aircraft.

CGr.

I won't say that trainers are easy for an inexperienced person to fly.  However, I will emphatically state that they are the least difficult.  Their high wing and dihedral give them the capability to self-right should you let go of the sticks.  Even the Hobbico Avistar and Hangar-9 Arrow advanced trainers have this capability built in.  Trainers are capable of very slow speeds with almost no stall tendencies.  They respond to control inputs in a slow and predictable manner, yet still offer enough maneuverability to evade trouble and even do some stunts.   

In comparrison, the Goldberg Tiger-2 is considered by many instructors I've come in contact with to be the most forgiving and easiest plane to fly on the market besides a primary trainer.  They are, in fact, comfortable starting out new pilots with it.  But unlike the Avistar and Arrow advanced trainers, the Tiger won't self-right if inverted.  Instead, it will most likely go into a dive and crash instead.  There really is a big difference!

NorfolkSouthern

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hansenr

I have done this a few times already, were pulling up is actually the wrong move

I think that the biggest reason for advertising a trainer as "No Experience Necessary" is because typically a beginning pilot who has no experience should begin with a trainer.  Is it wrong to advertise this way?  I guess it depends on how you look at it.  They don't say that you can just pick the trainer up at your LHS and take off to the field and fly without hooking up with an instructor.  They just say you don't need the experience to fly it.

Like most advertising, they leave lots out between the lines.  You just get to interpret it and figure that based on the advertisement, you're good to go.  Right or wrong, that's the game we play.

If you're looking to start flying, and haven't in the past, be both smarter and safer than the advertiser and find an instructor to help you.  You won't go wrong that way.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MinnFlyer

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hansenr

I have done this a few times already, were pulling up is actually the wrong move

Yup, I've trained many people, and have watched many others being trained. I have also seen countless videos of beginners making this mistake. It is probably THE most common mistake made by beginners.

And the big problem is: This mistake usually happens the first time they try to turn. Without an instructor, the first turn is often their last.

Regardless of what kind of aircraft it is, a trainer is still an aircraft and needs to be handled accordingly.  True, it may be designed to fly with a minimum amount of experience, thus a trainer, it still needs to be flown.

We constantly preach that new potential pilots really need the aid of an instructor.  Just place yourself in the front seat of a full scale aircraft, where your life depends on your ability to fly that aircraft.  So, you start out with a series of instructions with an experienced instructor pilot and, eventually you either learn to fly or you simply quit.  There are no other options, unless you are suicidal.

With RC, though, because you are not sitting in the aircraft, the risk to life is not there.  So the risk is to the aircraft.  Unfortunately, some are willing to take that chance not thinking about the consequences of what could happen.  So, we always recommend that students, those new to RC flight, choose the right trainer for them.. (key word.. trainer) and then choose to work with an instructor with a buddy box.  To the instructor, the trainer is an easy fly.  To the student, it is not an easy fly. 

I recall my first few flights with my trainer, at that time, it was a Tower 40 trainer with an OS 46 engine and Airtronics RD6000 radio.  I was, literally, all over the sky.  When I think back, I recall how difficult I thought all this RC stuff was and was not proud of my performance.  But, my instructor told me I did well.  I DID WELL???  Ok.. what's next?  Well, what was next was more of the same with that difficult to fly (for me) trainer. 

Eventually, I did manage to solo (or I wouldn't be here, right?) and have since flown several different types of aircraft.  Sure, I have my favorites, Venus II, Skylark 70 (just to mention two) but, I've said it in previous posts.. I go back to my trainer and fly it.. to get back to basics.  To fly something that does not "fly itself".  Our modern, highly capable aircraft go where we point them.  Use the aileron, roll 30 degrees left,  let go of the stick, and voila, it rolls 30 degrees left... and stays there.  What's going on here?  That's the design.  You have to fly it!!! You want to turn?  Well, pull in some elevator.

With a trainer, you roll 30 degrees left and let go and it self corrects to "straight and level".  How difficult is that?  To a student, it;s a potential life saver.  To more experienced flyers, it's getting back to basics.

So, Trainers... how hard are they?   Well, It all depends on your perspective.

CGr

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dumptrucker

 I've been looking around through several model plane sites and more that a few advertise that they'r trainer planes are very easy to fly.  No experience necessary.  My question is why do they say that. 

Yes, any self-correcting design that really can save the airplane is going to make it a pain to fly. The one thing I can say for the dihedral wings is that if you pull too much roll and sideslip it, they do straighten it out quickly. Otherwise, most beginners are better off with an Avistar or even a stick with the rates set mild.