Of all those on the list I most highly recommend the Hangar 9 Arrow. If you have an engine and radio gear already you can buy just the plane and hardware, you don't have to get the ready to fly version. If you don't already have the parts then the ready to fly version is good, but if it is your second plane you might want to make a couple of modifications like I did. I am an instructor in my club and found the need to purchase my own trainer to let students fly on the buddy box. Having a well maintained, properly set up, good flying trainer on hand is a lot of fun on the side too! I am going to try floats with my Arrow sometime this Summer.[8D]

Take a look at these pictures to see how I put this H9 Arrow together to make it more of an aerobatic trainer, yet it still retains its teaching qualities for a complete newbie. The plane is solid, assembled with laser cut parts and good glue. The only structural modification I had to make was to put some triangle stock under the bottom of the horizontal stabilizer to make sure it held on...others have had their stabilizer and vertical fin break off in flight.

All the stock hardware is supurb and completely usable. I used everything but the spinner and 3-bladed prop since they won't work with my motor. I LOVE how the wing slides together. I could have glued the halves together if I wanted, but there's no need with the included Ultracote pieces to just seal it up. The rubber bands won't let the wing slide apart as long as the Ultracote is applied...there's tape too if you want to use it. The horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin bolt on with a little glue to secure them in place, they are already aligned...no measuring! I have built/assembled many kits and ARFs and this semi-semetrical, aerobatics capable trainer is the best so far.

The Arrow flies straight and true and lands with forgiving slowness. Most of the dihedral has been taken out of the wing, so it doesn't have the self-recovery characteristics that most flat bottom winged trainers do, so make sure to have an instructor standing next to you. When you are ready to progress to your "second plane" you have it already in front of you...just push up the power a little and you can do huge loops, hammer heads, slow rolls, inverted flight, point rolls and more! You won't get bored with this plane, even put floats under it as many others have mentioned.

The O.S. .52 Surpass gives this plane a lightweight engine that can pull it unlimited in the vertical, sounds great and is not too expensive. The .70 four-strokes are just too heavy and the plane doesn't need that much power. The .52 can turn a 12x6 prop, but there's no ground clearance so I am running an APC 11x5 which slows the plane down a little and unloads the motor for cooler head temperatures, longer flight times per tank of fuel and longer motor life. I don't fly around at full throttle, so I don't have to worry about over revving the motor and on uplines the extra power is welcome!

Good luck! Take time to just sit and watch others and you might find you learn a lot...after flying for 18 years I still love to sit, watch, talk and learn more about this wonderful hobby.[&:]