I was buddy boxed on a high wing gas trainer, then switched over to the T-34 Mentor RTF I had purchased and all my training up to that point seemed to go right out of the window. I spent 6 weeks buddy boxed on the T-34 and just couldn't seem to stay ahead of it. Then I bought a Flyzone Sensei high wing foam trainer. We put it on the buddy box and I was instantly back in business again.
Maybe I'll finally get the hang of my T-34 during the coming flying season, as I am finally off the buddy box, but I would not recommend it as a trainer from my experience.
ORIGINAL: acdii
E-flite T-34 Mentor PTS is also a good choice. As its name says, its a progressive trainer. Right out of the box it flies nice, slow, very easy to take off and land, preset with dual rates if you get the RTF, which comes with the DX6i radio. Very capable of aerobatics, and once you master it at the trainer level, removing the wing droops ups its performance window.
It can be converted to glow with a few minor changes and some fuel proofing.
It was my first choice as a plane, but after putting it together I was afraid of damaging it because it looked soo good, so I got an Apprentice 15e to do my first flights with a normal sized rc plane. I flew the Ultra Micros first to get my wings, but those planes you dont really take off and land the same as the larger ones. After about 10 flights on the Apprentice to get my takeoffs and landings down, I finally maidened the T-34, and it is very easy to fly. I have several good flights including 2 dead stick landings on it and really enjoy flying it.
Not only does it look good, it flies good, and its a trainer, just not the ones most people think of when trainer is mentioned.