Yup...

But a newbie often is looking at what the experienced flyer considers a "quality" plane based upon all of the discussions of more advanced pilots.


So to them, rarely does "a quality plane" simply mean a good trainer... look at the sheer number of people coming here trying to start out with totally inappropriate planes for a beginner because they "look good" or "look cool".

A newbie asking about a "good trainer", illicits less of a viceraly negative response from me, as that implies they are looking for the right thing.

A subtle but important distinction, but part of it is perceptual. A few people actually do mean "good or well built trainer" instead.

Still there's that image of the teen with a Ferrari...

I'll agree with you that that is sometimes what the beginners want- a plane that can do advanced aerobatics so that they don't have to buy something else once they are through the learning phase. At church I occasionally see teenagers driving Camaros or one of the imported hot rods and I just shake my head and wonder what their parents are thinking.

When I say high quaility I meant something good and stable to learn with (defenitly something slow), the slow stick and the slow flier both look like good starter planes, the sig also looks good (really high quaility) but I'm not so sure about balsa now.
I'm really going to have to get on youtube and watch and narrow down the good points and bad points of each.

I forgot to mention that I also have a name brand lipo charger (I fight 3lb robots and for my hpi blitz).

Oh, well if you already have a charger, then you should be able to get it all for ~$100. I'm still voting for the Magpie.

I had a slow stick for a while and while it was fun to tool around the city park at walking pace, it was not nearly as easy to fly as my trainer was at the club field. Any wind at all tossed it around a lot and it couldn't take much abuse. I was apprehensive about getting a balsa plane too when I first started because of all the comments about one mishap turning them into toothpicks. It's not true. The vast majority of wrecks are not totals and can be fixed. It is much more involved to fix a balsa model than a foamy, but the balsa model will also survive abuse that would break a foamy. The upshot is that a good balsa trainer like the Sigs are very predictable and stable flyers, even in moderate winds. That gives you more flying days and much better chances at getting over the initial learning curve before getting discouraged.

I was watching videos of the slowstick and I think I may have to mark it off my list because it looked a little hard to keep it in the air (I live in florida so their's almost always wind.
So it's between the magpie and the sig, I'll have to take my time and narrow them down (and I will also check the priceof the replacement parts).
I haven't been able the find any videos of the magpie.

I like the Sig Kadet Seniorita.

Parts for the Sig will mostly be sheets of balsa and plywood and your trusty hobby knife. Some covering will usually be involved too. Each mistake you make will be followed by a few hours repairing during which time your building skills will improve enough to get you ready to build or put together the next plane you want to fly. The Sig is the best choice if you want to move on to aerobatic planes and take the hobby seriously. The various foamies are easy to fix and a better choice if you want to go fly once every month or two when the weather is nice.

The video at the SIG web site for the Sinorita EP shows it all. That's a great trainer. If you decide to go with that, spend a few extra bucks and get at least one spare battery pack. I assure you that once you fly that thing, you will want more and not wait for a battery pack to recharge...

CGr