ORIGINAL: Fastsky
Some other things to consider. With glow planes, when you have finished a normal flight which lasts about 10 minutes you refuel and go again. Most epowered planes will only give you about 8 minutes and then you either have to swap the battery pack out for a recharged one or sit and wait until you recharge the battery pack in the plane. This could take 40 minutes to an hour. Normally a days training consists of 6, ten minute flights. Do you want to buy 6 battery packs for the plane?? The best thing is to do it right and go glow power! Also get a 46 engine for the 40 trainer. The price is almost the same, the weight is the same and the extra power can come in handy. [8D]
I disagree, with a typical trainer like plane with a decent lipo pack you'll get 20min+ flights. My E-Starter flies for 25 minutes on 1500mAh (Stock Speed 400 motor).
I always bring a GWS Formosa with me to the field and three 1500mAh lipo packs that gives me app. 18 minutes of full aerobatics each, and I always seem to end up with more flight hours on the Formosa than any glow powered planes. If I start charging as the packages are used I can get through 5-6 flights on a good Sunday, thats more than 90 minutes effective flying.
For maximizing air-time, electrics is the way to go.
Of course, to replace a .40 engine you'll need to spend a small fortune on lipos, esc and motor, but you'll get just as much or even more power, and if you build the plane from a kit you can replace all the plywood and hardwood parts with balsa to save weight (with an electric motor the fuse doesn't have to hande vibrations or an electric starter), and you'll end up with a lighter plane than the eq. glow powered.