I have no doubt that a commercial full-scale pilot can afford the H-9 Cessna with all the trimmings. And yes, a Cessna can be flown with trainer experience. I am testimony to that. Just make sure the engine is reliable and the radio equipment fully tested. If the weight and control settings are within specs, then it shouldn't be too difficult to trim the Cessna. But, my Great Planes Cessna 182 had some issues with the engine and the radio was set up poorly. That, and I also reinforced some areas that really didn't need it, adding some un-necessary weight.

It still flew just fine, in spite of the dead sticks caused by an engine that wasn't tuned properly. It wasn't much more difficult to fly than my trainer, but it still required more airspeed and I had to get into the habit of keeping the nose down to keep the controls effective and mitigate stalls. This was especially important when the engine died, but I still managed to get it back in one piece. It was also hard back then for me to differentiate between aerodynamics, and radio problems. More experience taught me to recognize the difference, though, and I have since learned how to better recover from mistakes.

I'm not saying that a Cessna is a bad second plane. The GP Cessna is, more or less, considered as suitable for a novice, or someone who is just transitioning from a trainer. But still, the introduction explicitly stated that it was NOT a beginner's airplane. None the less, the instructions on my ARF were reasonably well detailed, enough to where I was able to get it airworthy even though I had very limited building experience and no help from others. It was a bit more involved than other ARFs, but it could still be put together by someone fairly new to the hobby. My understanding is that the Top-Flite 182 has very good flight characteristics, and is forgiving in its flight tendencies. Since the ARF shares essentially the same airframe as the kit, it should fly similar. But, again, one MUST anticipate the limitations of this scale craft and others like it during the selection process.

NorfolkSouthern