I'm just starting out with this hobby and am looking for my first real plane. I owned a couple RTF 3-CH planes and want to move up to a gas with more functions. My question is, what exactly is a trainer airplane, and what is a good one to purchase.

Most of the trainers on the market are as good as the next, however, if you've already honed your skills on 3 channel planes, you may want to skip the "Basic Trainer" and go right into an "Advanced Trainer". They are much more maneuverable, and actually easier to fly (Once you know the basics).

An excellent one is the Midwest Aerobat (ARF). It's an excellent flier, it builds very easily, and the price is excellent!

Here's a closer look:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=164

Or the Alpha .40

The Avistar would also work well and its about $50.00 cheaper.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXPY56&P=ML:D

I too would recommend the Avistar.
This is a trainer that will take you a long time to outgrow.

I have the Aerobat and it was my first airplane. I would disagree with the Avistar being one that takes a long time to outgrow because if I remember right, it has more dihedral than the aerobat, and the Aerobat has a few other neat advantages over the Avistar as well....

With the Aerobat, you can set up flaperons if you so choose, you can also convert it later to a taildragger without much trouble (the blocks to move the mains forward are already installed), and there is less dihedral.

With less dihedral, you'll be able to pull more areobatics off without as much slop. Granted, they are still sloppy because the plane tends to roll a little with rudder input and the rolls are less than axial, but its still more plane for your buck. Thow it on high rates and the roll improves significantly.

Just my few pesos.

What do you mean by dihedral? Which is easier to take off/land, conventional or taildragger? How does a high wing fly differently than a low wing, and why would I not want a low wing to start off with.
Thank you everyone for replying to my messages and helping me out.

Low wing tends to be a little more unstable and I think trike is easier to takeoff/land, but TD is not much harder.

dihedral is the angle of the wings. The more dihedral you have the more the wing looks like a "V". Dihedral is good for a trainer because it makes it really stable in flight, but the downside is that roll's are difficult because of the airflow. with the aerobat you don't get as much dehidral which makes it more aerobatic then most trainers.

my first plane was the avistar and i must say it was an easy builder like it almost built it self and it was a pretty good flier but i've also flown the aerobat and its better in my opinion

i was like you, i learned flew the crap out of a 3 ch. electric flyer until i could fly it with my eyes closed, then i felt that i could move up to a bigger plane. i went with the Xtra Easy 2.... it has the largest wingspan out of any trainer i've seen, 69" .... and the Evolution Engine couldnt be easier to tune and control ....... i learned completely without a trainer, which is not recommended, but i did it ... and i did it with an Xtra Easy 2 .... take a look at it ....

I also started with an [link=http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/services/advanceresultsDetail.asp?strProd=&strInCategory=AR G&tag=dir]Xtra Easy 2[/link]. The plane comes with a 5 channel computer radio and the Evolution Training Power System engine can be converted to a regular engine by removing the flywheel and putting on a two blade prop. This means that you can transfer the radio and engine to your 2nd plane later on. I believe the XE2 is a good buy.

sounds like you're taking the same path I took. I started with a 3 ch electric then moved to a four channel glow. I got the Hobbico Superstar. Its a real nice flying plane, can do just about any basic aerobatics and if memory serves, it costs about $100.