Before you pick that first plane, you should understand what wing loading is and know the
loading of your new plane and how it compares to other planes. You want to have a plane that
is lightweight in relation to its wing area. (lifting capability)
High wing loading (say, above 20oz./sq.ft.) equals faster flying which equals less time to
react. Low wing loading means slower flight and a lot more time to think and react.
After being out of the hobby for 10 years, I got back in so that my son could learn
to fly. (and so I could have some fun, too!)
We chose a Duraplane thinking that it would be "rugged and crashproof". This was a mistake.
Even with my experience of over 150 flights, the Duraplane was no fun for me to fly.
With a wing loading of about 24oz., it has to fly very fast just to stay in the air. This
thing does not glide or "fly on the wing".
The reason the wing loading is so high is becuase of it's small wing area
(500 square inches) for the weight. (over 5 pounds)
That small wing is also hard to SEE. Believe me, if you can't see what attitude you plane
is in, it's SCARY. I couldn't even imagine handing the controls over to a beginner.
We tried to work with the Duraplane but finally realized that it was never going to be
fun to fly, at least not until we had a lot more experience.
Next we went for a 4 channel trainer with low wing loading, the SIG Kadet LT-40.
What a difference! With a huge 70 inch, 900 square inch wing, and only a little more
weight than the Duraplane, this trainer is built to fly! The wing loading is a very low
16 oz per square foot. It's easy to see in the air, and feels like it can fly at half
the speed of the Duraplane. Once we get in the air, we back the throttle off to about
1/4 or less and just cruise around nice and slow as we learn. It's not a glider, but
it's about as close as you're gonna get with a 4 channel glow plane of that size.
Just my $0.02. Hope it helps someone out there.