I love your screen-name..

There are do many things a beginner needs to learn before getting anywhere proficient, and your on the right track by saying you will find a club and someone with experience to help you out.

One thing that can be overwhelming to someone new is what he/she needs to do with a plane such as what you bought. First of all, the Tower Trainer was my first trainer, in my second stint of learning RC flight.. Long story, but what started and ended in 1977, re-started up on my retirement from the US Coast Guard back in 1997.

Aaaaanyway, when I got back into it, I bought the Tower trainer with a Tower 46 engine. I flew that with an instructor with a buddy box for a few weeks, but my work schedule got in the way again (as it did in 1977) and I basically dropped out for a couple of years. Later, I moved up to a Hobbico Nexstar Select RTF and solo'ed with that. I sold the Tower to a friend, who still has it, by the way, and still flys it!!!

Ok, back to my original point. I don't know your mechanical abilities, so I will assume you are like most of us and have a limited amount of ability in that area. The main thing is to make sure that when you take things apart to check them, as suggested above, that you put them back together correctly AND securely, AND straight!!! There is no room for sloppy when it comes to this hobby, things really should be as straight and tight, and secure as possible. Any issues that happen up there, well, the results can ruin your whole day.

That's where a good instructor will come in handy. That person should be willing and able to really examine your plane and determine if it is airworthy or not, and show you how to correct anything that is not correct.

What I find the most is probably the most detremental to the life of your plane. If, for instance, you remove a servo, make darned sure you put it back in correctly AND make the connection to the linkage is not only straight, but secure in that the clevis is held in place with some sort of keeper.

Engines can also be a problem, and bench testing it, as suggested, is really the only way you can tell if it is running correctly. But, you, being a novice, probably won't be able to tell the difference between a good running engine and one that is not tuned properly or has a problem. Again, trust in an instructor to guide you along with this test, which can be done either at home (if you don't mind the smoke and noise) or at the field. But, this is a sure way to check the engine to make sure the throttle responds and that you are getting the right performance out of the engine.

Oh, you never did say what engine it was on that Tower Trainer... what is that engine? Size, manufacturer?? That way, if you do have questions about the engine, we can give you a quick and definitive answer.

Best of luck with learning to fly.

CGr.