ORIGINAL: airplaneclem
You say that theRadian Pro wouldn't be a good trainer.... Do you mean trainer or first glider plane?Because I fly alot of speed and aerobatics, but I've never flown a glider before. Would the Pro be a good introduction into gliding? Or should I get the Radian Original?
Thermal soaring is VERYdifferent from other forms of flying. The primary skill is not in flying the plane. The primary skill is reading the air. So, you may fly 3D and pattern and be world champion. That won't help you much here.
So the difference between the R/E nature of the original Radian and the full house Radian Pro is not the ability to do aerobatics, it is the options you have to work that air IF and only IFyour radio can handle the surface mixing.
The original Radian is, in my opinion, one of the best thermal trainers around. It really reports lift well and is very easy to get into lift and to work it. Because the plane is simple, the pilots focus is on the air and the lift, not the controls, flight modes and all the switches.
The Radian Pro will provide additional options when working lift.
Case in point. I just returned from a 2 day thermal soaring competition - pure gliders off winches. I fly in Sportsman Class.
The top pilot in Sportsman for the two days was flying a Super AVA, a R/E glider like the Orignial Radian. The Super AVAalso has spoilers.
I took Second on Sunday flying a full house Supra. The top pilot on Saturday was also flying a full house plane.
The guy who won, won with a simpler plane because he can read air better than I can. I can do things he can't do, and he still beat me.