I downloaded several planes from wc3. I wanted to try several before buying the 3d plane of choice. The Twist was my favorite because of reviews & price. Man on the Reflex sim, it's real agile, but it can't hardly be hovered & if the engine dies, straight in to ground with it seems like no glide rate. The UCD hovers well, flys well, glides real well on glide, but according to reviews, falls apart. My question is not about sims, but does the real Twist act like that?

groran,

The TWIST is just about the best value around and has been for quite a while...

I have 467 flights on mine and fly it now as a back up...
It is VERY strong and in being so, is a little on the heavy side..
It is not the greatest 3d plane but can do some with practice..
LIGHT motor and battery over tank 12x4 prop ( OS 46ax on mine)
Flat and inverted spins GREAT.. Rolling circles GREAT...
If you are hovering low to the ground and the motor quits
it WILL head for the ground fast but that is the chance you take...[8D]

I just completed a review on the Hangar 9 Tribute 4D. I can say with complete honesty, that the Plug N Play version that comes with the evolution is the stuff. It does everything well and it is very stable. The engine is plenty of power and runs perfectly. I would recommend it without hesitation for $230. All you need to add is a receiver, prop and fuel. Everything else is included.

I certainly don't want to step on anyone's toes here, but I have to tell you that I really don't think that you can consider the Twist as a viable 3D type airplane. Although I've never had one personally, my flying buddy had one and although it is a nice fun flyer, it's far removed from a real 3D capable plane. It's not real nimble, it's not real light, and the wing on my buddy's plane came flying off during a blender. Instant lawn dart. The remaining pieces were not distinguishable. Now I'm sure that there are guys out there who can fly excellent 3D stuff with a Twist. The same guys could probably do it with almost any plane, they're just that good.

You didn't mention whether you were willing to build or not. Are you looking for a kit or an ARF? Makes a big difference.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and tell you that dollar for dollar, pound for pound, the very best airplane for learning 3D is a profile. Some guys here will smirk, because it's a profile, but in all honesty, for learning 3D, that's your best bet. They're light, have great wing loading, will knife edge like nobody's business, and if you get the 40 size, you can flip them all over the place while you're learning all the different maneuvers. They are so easy to fly that if you kept them on low rates, I'm sure you could use one for a trainer. Put it on high rates and look out. They're relatively small and easy to transport, and some of them are darn hard to break and very easy to repair when broken. Unfortunately, most profiles come as kits, but one company, OMP, offers several profile ARF's and they're all good. I don't want to single any one company out, there are several out there offering good profiles.

Here's a couple of links for you to look at-these are my two favorites: http://www.swanyshouse.com/index.html or http://www.ohiomodelplanes.com/. Paul Swanson is an outstanding designer, his airplanes are highly regarded as some of the best flying profiles around. His fuselages feature a very tough construction method, as do some of the planes offered by OMP.

Do yourself a favor, just go to the forum here on RCU titled "Profiles and fun flying planes". Ask for advice about which 3D plane would be a good 3D trainer and sort through the replies. If you decide that you're dead set against a profile, that's fine, there are lots of "fatties" that would be a much better learning tool for you than that Twist, but keep in mind, they are much more fragile than most profiles and much harder to repair when you crash them. Do some more reading here before you make up your mind.

Good luck.

I have both planes the Twist and the U Can Do and for the money the twist is a fun plane to fly.I would not classify it as a 3-d plane .but it makes a good 2nd plane as it is very docile.I would say it is a good fun flyer. But the U Can Do will do anything that you are capable of doing. I have a Sato 91 on mine and have been flying it for two years now and have over a 100 flights on it and it is still as good as the day I bought it.My hanger will always have one in it.