Originally posted by raymcm
What about rule
12. must spend $20 a day on fuel like a typical 40 trainer 
If you cannot find an electric to suit these rules then its because you dont want to.........
Forget the $400 and spend more on the motor and batteries because its basically a one off buy unlike fuel for a typical 40 trainer.
That's funny... $20 a day on fuel? Fuel costs an average of $15 a gallon, and a gallon will usually last MONTHS if all you're flying is .40-size.
You've got to look at this from a totally clueless newbie's perspective: All they see is the immediate cost. A reasonably sized electric trainer that's going to teach them more than how to keep the airplane from crashing is going to cost far more than $400. It doesn't matter that there are supposedly no recurring costs, it's more expensive up front, and no amount of reasoning is going to overcome most newbies' aversion to spending that much money.
Goofup, I said this electric trainer had to be able to perform the functions, not that it had to be a .40 trainer.
You said it yourself, the Wingo can't satisfy requirements 5 and 8. I'm also pretty sure it can't satisfy requirements 4, 7 and 9 either. We have problems taxiing .25-size glow planes on our smooth, well-groomed field. I don't see how a Wingo can taxi on anything but pavement. We routinely train in 20MPH winds. If we trained on Wingos, we'd lose about half our training days. As far as requirement 9 goes, progressing through multiple park fliers ends up being much more expensive in the long run than a single glow trainer.
The fact is, a 4-channel trainer is no harder to learn on than a 3-channel. They're only using the right stick in either case. Most first-time students at my field are able to fly crude circuits within the first five minutes of the first flight. If you tell me that someone flying a GWS Slow Stick is doing anything more advanced at that stage, you're lying. Generally, the self-starters crash, and crash hard within the first few seconds of the first flight. On a buddy cord, that almost never happens at all, and never happens due to pilot error.
The fact is, if you ask a glow flier how to learn to fly, he will tell you how he learned, and how he sees most people learning. It's rare to find someone flying glow planes that will tell you to go get a Wingo or a Slow Stick. Now, if you find someone who's flying a Wingo, they'll probably hand you the transmitter and walk away!
If you don't like glow, fine. If you don't like clubs, fine, be antisocial. Just don't bash glow planes and clubs out of ignrance.