ORIGINAL: dicksoucy
I have a Midwest Aerobat which is stated to be a great second plane. It is a high-wing trainer "LOOKING" aircraft with an OS46ABX. Although this plane looks like a trainer, it is far from a trainer. Piper said it well, there is a big difference from a plane with no dihedral and one that has trainer like dihedral. The Aerobat does NOT give me time to recover as the trainer did when loosing focus or getting turned around during flight. Now, anything will work with the addition of a buddy box connection but that may not be possible if the radio is setup with end points, dual rates, and so on unless both radios are set up exactly the same. So, this is not a solution. Best way is for a beginner to use a basic setup with a buddy box and with a plane that allows recovery. The Aerobat, although it is a great flyer and I love it, won't do as a trainer very well.
I use Aerobat not the 3D you suggest because I am familiar with it and have flown it a lot since solo day last August. I also fly a Tiger 60, Four Star 40 and a Rapier Delta Wing. All different but none of them would do as a trainer even with minimum throws for minimal performance.
Stick with trainers for training and use the buddy box. You will get best results and minimum heart-break.
Dick I fly the Midwest Aerobat also and your comment about recovery got me to thinking about it. So when I was at the field today with 2 students, one with a Super Star and one with a Sig Kadet I decided to try a little experiment. I tried the recovery on both planes by putting them in odd positions and then letting go of the sticks and slow counted the recovery time. With each of them we counted about 8 counts to a safe recovery position. Then I did the same with the Aerobat and it's count came out 5-6 on all the checks. With the Aerobat I took it up and did a tumble and let go, it still counted 5, even releasing from knife edge it still counted 5-6. I did a lot with the Aerobat that I won't do with a students plane but with the results I got there is NO reason not to use the Aerobat for a trainer, I do it all the time but you got me to wondering about it. I don't mean to be insulting but if you need more time then it will give you, you might want to pay more attention to what you are getting yourself into. Granted this isn't a very technical way to check something but it was kind of fun and the students got a kick out of it so thanks for getting me to thinking about it.
ENJOY your Aerobat I ENJOY all of mine. ENJOY !!!!! RED