From what I can see at our local club, more and more guys starting off in the hobby are opting to begin flying with small 3D planes vs actual Trainers. Reason being, is apparantly, many of the 3D planes have excellent slow speed handling characteristics due to the large wing areas, and they are very reasonably priced.
It seems that the Stik types are getting very popular and even some of the UCD's and similar for starting off. I actually watched one guy with a trainer (Tower 60 I think), and a 3D (Razzle 3D), and the razzle could actually fly slower and more controlled than the Tower model.
Loaded up, they were also about the same price, which is why I just picked one up to start playing around with. Neat little plane. And the price was hard to beat.

But, there are many like it on the market, ARF's and kits. I can see in the near future that 3D planes may get designed and built to a point where they will be easily prefered by beginners instead trainers for their flight characteristics.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Patriot