Give your opinion by voting on the best of the trainers listed...[:-]

Bigger is better. Really I'd rather train on a Robin Hood 80 or 99. But since you dont list those the .60 size is next
with .40-46 size last. We trained a ton of students the past two summers on Hobbico 40 size trainers. Have a love hate relationship with them. Good planes but motor, plane combo's sucked big time. That .40La is the worst engine known to man. I dont know why OS went to the LA engines.........gimics I guess.

That's my story and I'm stick'n to it.

JDS

Xtra Easy II is not 60 size. It's 40 size,

What is the best? Not a fair question. The best is what you can get or need.

If you have no chance of having an instructor, NO CHANCE!, then do the Nexstar, no question.

If at all possible, GET AN INSTRUCTOR!!!!!!! Do not be too proud to ask for help.

If you are on a Budget, do the Super Star Select. For the 300 it is the best value on the market.

If you can afford to take the step and this is something you want to do; 60 size trainer, I like the Hobbico 60 size trainer myself, (don't remember the name) a OS Max 61 FS motor and at least a 6 channel radio. Don't worry about computer radio or any of that stuff.

Either way, if you get hooked on this, as most of us have, you are going to buy another radio with in the next 6 months and at least one more engine.

Every trainer on the market are the same planes. High wing, flat bottom, stab on the thrust line, nothing spectacular to look at. Most current trainers with aielrons are still based off the PT 40 which is the old Bridi Trainer 40.

Advice in R/C. Get the best you can afford at this time.

Keep your eyes and ears tuned toward the NexSTAR....turning a lot of heads around here - and all favorable!

Jerry

I dont like any of those choices. Here is a write in vote for the Sig Lt-40 and the Sig Senior

you have opened up the dreaded question. you do know though that most people are going to vote for the trainer they learned on because that is the only one they have flown. i am that way. i am not afraid to admit it. however, i do mention that i just liked the plane because it wasn't so docile you had to fight it all the time, but was a great trainer and would fly about as slow as i could run fast. (about 13mph) keep in mind, while bigger may be better to some people, as bigger gets better, the cost gets significantly bigger too. your choice, but trainers are all pretty much the same. before you reply in protest, some do have litle tricks up their sleeve, but all trainers are built for the same purpose (to be easy to fly, sel righting, no bad habbits, glide well) so they are going to fly pretty much the same. they all will have a high wing, most will have dihedral, they will mostly be trycicle gears, they will have cheaoper plank wings and boxy fuselages with cheeks instead of cowls. they will also have fairly small surfaces, a flat bottom airfoil, will fly very slowly without a problem and set up for a two stroke motor. any plane that fits these criteria will be a decent trainer.

i dont know gas but as far as electric goes the super star select ep IS the best

I agree with YNOT, the Hobbico SuperStar 60 Trainer ARF (I have one), $105 At Tower Hobbies is a good price. Since it's bigger, it's more stable than that of smaller size trainer's. A Thunder Tiger 61 Pro ($106)dosen't cost much more than a OS46 FX, Plus it has more power than any 46.

except what if you got the superstar .40 and a tt .46? cheaper. bigger is more expensive inherently than getting the smaller but same grade equipment. honestly though, in a trainer, all .40 trainers are pretty stable. the only difference is they respond quicker than the larger ones. it would say that because the benifits are minimal in regards to going bigger on a trainer, go with the smaller one. it's cheaper. some people prefer the larger size planes. myself included. but trainerwise, they both do as good of a job.your question is bigger or cheaper. it's a matter of preferance.

I don't think this is a meaningful question. Any trainer can do the job. There are too many other variables for it to make much difference. A student pilot needs:
1. A trainer that's responsive enough, stable enough, and durable. It should be covered with one of the genuine iron-on films.
2. An engine that provides enough power, is very easy to start and adjust, and is totally reliable.
3. The setup of any airplane makes as much difference as the physical airframe does. Getting the fuel system right, landing gear tracking right, and control surfaces operating freely and precisely matter as much as which trainer you buy. These setup qualities are dependent on who is giving expert assistance regardless of which trainer is selected. Get the best trainer and the 4th best setup helper and it won't fly as well as the 4th best trainer set up by a true expert.
4. Any trainer is going to be different before the student pilot is through with it. A trainer is a "beater" and is going to take a beating. After a couple of "rough landings" the quality of the repairs can make more difference in the flight qualities than the original selection of trainer did.

My first was a superstar 40 RTF and it has taken so many hard "landings" and nose dives into the ground and not tip stalls but tree stalls, when you just barely hit a tree with the wing and the plane spirals to the ground, and I just recently trashed it because of radio interference. I just bought another one just to get the morning jitters out of me before flying one of my four other planes. I've also flown an Avistar and an Eagle 2 and they were both garbage.

Thats like asking who makes the best truck. Everyone is going to have their own opinion. Pick the one you like the best. It will be fine. Get a good instructor and go for it. You can learn the same on any of them and won't know the difference. Pick the one you like the best, and go have a ball.

Sig Kadet LT-40! Great trainer and easy to handle. I fly the Sig Kadet LT-40. Its worth your money and you will love it! [8D]

They're all good but my vote for this years newest easy to fly it the Super Flying Models "Eindecker" $119.00 Flys like a trainer, but is a tail dragger and pretty in the air. I put a 4 stroke 61 in mine. Sounds and looks great. Not the everyday High wing plane you see.

I really like what I have seen about the Nexstar, all the innovations makes it a very stable and forgiving airplane that would allow any beginner to succed very quickly at soloing. However, I get mixed feelings when I compare it to the LT-40, thats a very forgiving and stable platform without the additional innovations included on the Nexstar. I believe if Sig would add the removable flaps and the AFS system to the LT-40 it could possibly become the best trainer ever built, IMHO.

well, here's how i see it. there is no real comparrison between trainers and the lt-40 because they are two completely different designs, not necessarily for the same purpose. gas planes usually are more hot-shot oriented. even the trainers. the gas trainers are stable, easy to fly, and self righting, but they are also more maneuverable and are capable of doing more afterward. the lt-40 however is more like a park flyer than a gas plane. park flyers are designed to fly slow, and be almost irritatingly stable (but not quite) and usually greatly sacrifice maneuverability. what the nextstar thing is doing is trying to pridge the gap betwen them a bit but without sacrificing performance. that's actually pretty clever. here's the thing. i learned to prophang my trainer (it had a power-weight ratio of about 1-1 so it wasn't as cooperative as it could have been) just after soloing. i have never seen anybody even attempt that with a lt-40, because it is designed to be more like a park flyer. you never see anybody prophang a mini-max or something like that. as far as i am concerned, the lt-40 is designed to be a park flyer with a gas engine. a conventional trainer isn't designed to do that, so it usually won't. it is a preferance. if you are into park flyers and want to go gas, that's your ideal plane right there. that's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong at all. it is a choice. like i prefer aerobatics while other kids my age prefer speed or just an all around plane like an untra-stick or smething.

Hey bobs_201,

Please state the purpose of your poll. Are you looking to buy? Are you formulating a recommendation for someone? Or just playing around?

All of those who have responded know that a recommendation for you or someone else will depend things varying from cost to visibility to noise limits to size (for transportation) to... well, various other requirements.

One guy I know has a big old Telemaster he trains people with. Super easy to fly around, you can see it a mile off, but it requires a large vehicle to transport. Some places don't allow noisy engines, so people have to buy electrics. His Telemaster would not apply.

Not being critical or smart@$$, just need to know where you're going with this to make any kind of response.

And, if you're just playing around, don't waste the bandwidth.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

ive never built nay but the sig and with how much i love sigs kits, there cant be anythign better so il lvote for the lt 40.

mods, maybe you coult "top" this so that there wil lbe less inquiries into the "best trainer"

Why leave the AeroStar out? Why leave any of them out? I think Swooper's post sums it up best. Why do some people have a love/hate relationship with certain planes - "It's the setup".

Ed M.

The best trainer is one that you build and then learn how to fly.

for an rtf trainer-
I would say the TT60, but didn't see it up there.

don't get rtfs. they usually have a lot of little problems that are just waiting to go off at the wrong time, and you have ne experiance when you start the inevitable repairs. even all you seasoned modelers out there, get an arf. there is a whole nother dimension to rc model building.

None of the ones on the list

My vote be for the one that I built, I had a lot more fun with it and it kept my interest longer than the other trainers did for their owners:

Great Planes Trainer 40 (out of production - damn!)

Not the PT 40 (perfect trainer) the Trainer 40.

0) Fully symmetrical wings
1) Rubber Band/Nylon Bolt high wing design
2) Good power/weight ratio
3) Tricycle Gear (this is the best part - curbs are hell!)
4) Simple construction
5) Pretty much fully acrobatic in the hands of a good pilot with control throws/CG modified accordingly.

It was a bit more trouble to learn on, and demanded total attention and a good instructor by your side.

But was a blast! I could never hold a knife edge on it, but there was a good pilot at a field that I flew at who managed to keep it on edge for about 5 seconds (with a royal 45(?) engine)!

The only complaint that I had was that the wing plans didn't include/require a dihedral piece and that they only used fiberglass tape/epoxy to hold the wing halves together(and also the cheezy nosewheel). I buried my first royal 40 engine about 18 inches into a cow pasture when the wings cleanly split in half during a tight loop. Rebuilt the plane that time and 3 more times with a new wing kit (and a homemade dihedral piece!) . . . I could fly this plane again, but there really is too much epoxy. Just wish that made that plane again . . . I am hoping that GP will sell me the plans, I might scratch build it . . .

Regards,
Mark F. Sanderson