RE: Trainer plane fun
see how low you can go inverted with your trainer! i've got a Spadet I built to do just what y'all are talking about. it's fun at fun flies because people think you're a beginner, then you take off, do a 90+ degree turn, using your rudder to kick the back end around while holding it flat with the ailerons. try holding a good crab all the way down the runway. if you've got an alternate runway (ours is perpendicular to and in the middle of the normal runway. they form a "T"), fly in to your normal runway, but a little high, then do the rudder kick and land perfectly on the alternate runway. i also love to take it up high and kill the engine, then float around for a while before making a nice, mains only landing, holding the nose up till the last second. i first rediscovered trainers when i built one for my dad about a year ago. i had to "test" it out for him and just couldn't get enough!
of course, mine's got crazy throws, so inverted flying and other maneuvers are possible. you can really wake a trainer up with a little rearward cg and some throws! if it's overpowered, you might even be able to hover it. pull that one down low when someone's got their $3000+ bird out there! all too often you see new guys just soloed going out and getting new planes, then flying them around like they did their trainer because they haven't really progressed that far yet. trainers seem boring once you've soloed, but really, they are very fun, once you set them up right!