I bought a .40LA for my trainer when I started flying a little more than a year ago and once I had put a .46fx on it for more power, I doubt I will ever use the LA again. You can always fly around at half throttle with the .46, but why buy an engine you will use for a couple of months and then put in a drawer forever because no one will buy it from you cause a new one is so cheap? There are however .40 sized engines out there that have much more power than a .40LA, and those aren't so bad. Don't get me wrong I have never had a problem with my .40LA, but they lack the power. I think some of the posts above prove that you will want more power on your trainer soon after you learn how to fly. And if you are worried about reliability, you should be using an instructor to teach you how to fly and that person will be able to show you how to work out any problems you may encounter with any .40 or .46 sized engine(which will probably be almost zero). Just my opinion.