After several years of little activity, I have started trying to fly again. Dumb thumbed a couple of models that I had flown several hunderd times. Has shattered my confidence, and I am thinking about buying a trainer to get back into the swing of things. What is a good ARF trainer in the .40 size range? The World Models Frontier 40F looks good for $99, but so do several others. Any suggestions? I have bought a simulator and have put in several hundred hours of time, but it is not the same although it does help.

Mike H.

Everyone has a bad day now and then, even when flying models. Don't let a crash shake you up too much. The best remedy is to get back flying as soon as possible and to stay at it.

With several hundred hours on the sim, you don't really need a basic trainer, although it wouldn't hurt to fly one just for the heck of it. I like the Sig LT-40 ARF or Tower's Big Stik models. The latter is probably more appropriate for a seasoned flyer that just had a simple dumb thumbs event. I've been there too, so don't feel alone.


Ed Cregger

I've seen a couple guys in the club who were out of practice a bit rave about the World Models Sky Raiders - there's a high and low wing one. They're really cheap, like 70 bucks, and fly well.

I agree that you need to keep flying and not let a couple mishaps discourage you. I started in the 80s and let some crashes get to me and didn't get back to try again until 2000. Now I lament the time I lost without airplanes!

Get a Tower Hobbies trainer from Tower Hobbies. They fly well and are a good value at under $70.00. It a good size trainer with a 62" wing and 52" fuselage and its an ARF to boot for that price! http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCAS2&P=ML [8D]

I'm just getting ready to assemble a Tower Hobbies .40 Mk II ARF. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how nicely put together and complete the model was when I opened the box. If you pick a trainer that you like the looks of, it will likely become an enjoyable float plane or ski plane for you after you're "back in the groove" and flying more advanced models again.

Personally, I can't imagine not having a nice trainer in my hangar.

You might read through RC Ken's list of available trainers over on the Beginners forum just to refresh yourself with all the choices that are available:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

I have a couple students using the Hobico Avistar and it is as good as any of the rest.

If you are just getting back in, maybe a couple flights with an instructor on a buddy box will help the confidence gig.

ENJOY !!! RED