My first plane was a Tower trainer and I cannot say how good or bad a trainer it was. When it crashed shortly into its first flight, it spread balsa over a big area.

With a few mods its not hard to reduce the weight of a Duraplane by a 1/4 lb. and besides, a slightly higher wing loading makes them less affected by gusts. I replaced the aluminum section of the fusalage with a box section of pine (I did this to eliminate radio interference, but it was lighter as well). I also replaced the supplied engine mount with 1" maple and a Sullivan engine mount (also lighter). At 5.25 lbs. it flies great and when I do land hard (crash) it can usually be fixed at the field or at home that evening and be flying the next day. I think most folks hate this plane because it's ugly, but when it's windy their planes are on the ground or at home.