ORIGINAL: av8r1

I've been flying electrics for about 2 years now and have recently been bitten by the glow bug. It started when I was given an old Hobbico Sturdy Birdy by a beginner who could not get it to fly. I got it flying over the hayfield in my backyard with no problem. This is where I fly my electrics. No problem that is, except for landings. My "runway" is a portion of my backyard next to the hayfield that is about 150 feet long and 25 feet wide with an open approach from one end only. The Sturdy Birdy is a fairly fast, heavy plane and it's very hard to get it down safely on such a small runway. It's also a little difficult to get it to take off with such a short run, but that I can manage with a little headwind.

I want to buy a new glow trainer-type plane that I can fly (and land) at home, so it needs to have good short field capability. I will also fly it at the club field. The .40 size RTF complete package trainers from Hangar 9 have caught my eye, including the Alpha, the Arrow and the Xtra Easy 2.

My problem is deciding which plane will work the best for the short field at home while still having enough advanced capabilities for aerobatics to suit my experience and ability. They all are about the same price so that's not really an issue. I expect they should all have pretty good short field take off capability due to the Evolution Trainer Power System they all have, which to the best of what I can find out is about a .45 size and I'm told has lots of power. But I need to know how well they will slow down for landing. I believe the flat bottom wings will be better at this, but I don't want to sacrifice too much advanced capability by going this route. The semi-symmetrical airfoil of the Arrow should give better advanced-flying capabilities, but will it slow down enough for the landings?

In a nutshell (which I probably should have done to begin with), I'm looking for an RTF complete package .40 size advanced trainer for about $300 that's capable of at least basic aerobatics, that also has lots of power for short takeoffs and the ability to slow down well for short landings.

Any advice anybody has to offer would be much appreciated.

Thanks.