I'm not saying that people are wrong by using a flat bottom wing trainer. I am saying that they are wasting their money and will outgrow it within twenty five to thirty flights at the most.

Most "average" people will progress past the flat bottom wing trainer very quickly, IF they can fly because the wind cooperated and didn't keep them grounded.

Most old timers remember the Goldberg "Falcon 56". The Falcon 56 and the RCM Trainer Jr. were the defacto standard trainers for many years. We taught people how to fly them long before the buddy box became popular. Heck, we even used wide band AM rigs back then, without a single problem. Both planes did NOT use a flat bottomed airfoil.

Forcing a newbie to learn how to fly a box kite with a flat bottomed airfoil is tantamount to forcing the new power boater to learn how to sail a sail boat first. It is a waste of time. Sure, they would be better boaters, but it would be gross over kill for the average power boater. Same thing.