George,

I took a closer look at the Sky Hawk and frankly it wouldn't be my choice.

Personally I'd spend a little more in the beginning purchasing a trainer like the Tower MKII ARF 40 or something similar, you'll miles ahead.

The Sky Hawk is park flyer designed to fly somewhere between a powered glider and an airplane. Take a look at the radio's range and limitations. Students have tendency to fly over pretty large areas in the beginning. Not that the Sky Hawk doesn't probably fly well but its not going to be as forgiving as a good trainer designed for the task. If you go with the Sky Hawk your going to endup with a hybrid of sorts having to add the needed landing gear and tailwheel. Then the question arises in just how well the Sky Hawk perform after being modified adding the extra weight?

IMO its better to get an airplane from the GET-GO that is designed to meet your goal which is training your son and yourself as well.

Its not uncommon at the flying field to see new pilots spent their hard earned dollars on trying to modify or upgrade airplanes into something they are not intended to be used for. Most often ending up with something flying at less than expectations. Where they could have purchased the correct setup in the first place avoiding the expensive, time, problems of modification, and disappointment.

IMO you'd be better off finding a used Trainer in good condition over what your thinking about. We often have total packages for sale at our club offered on the bulletin board, pilots either moving up or leaving the hobby. In fact I'm looking for a good used trainer to train my grandson sometime soon, I already had him flying a two channel park flier he's just turned four. The next time one comes available I'll most likely purchase if its in good enough condition. In many cases all thats needed are minor repairs and a new covering job to make the airplane look like new.


I appreciate the complexity of the choices facing you its difficult in the beginning. The manufacturers all paint a good picture of how their product will perform, and in the right hands most do. Many of us have been in around this hobby for a good while in my case since I was your son's age and I'm 61 now. Made some mistakes along the way not purchasing the right equipment in the beginning then being faced with having to spend more money to correct what I should have done in the first place.

My advice would be to visit the local club before buying anything! Talk to an instructor and take his/her advice to heart and go from there.