Here this tuesday when i get my paycheck im going to order a GP PT-40 MKII from tower hobbies to build and eventually fly and I was just wondering if there is any tips or advice you expert model builders would like to give me. And theres something else i would like to know, what do you guys think of the tower hobbies website, are they good and reliable cause from surfing around on the net they look like the best place to buy model supplies from. Well anyway wish me luck, ill probably be around to ask questions and stuff.

Hi jkkissick, first off Tower Hobbies are good people to deal with. I am in Canada and buy stuff from them now and then with no problems. Pt40 kit tips: If they still list 2 different dihedral settings for the wings, I believe they call the smaller setting a sport wing then go with the smaller setting. Ie, if they list either 4" diehdral or 2" dihedral then go with the 2" setting! This determines the angle from level that the 2 wing halves are attached. The higher setting listed is way too much even for a trainer, trust me on this one!! The higher setting makes the plane difficult to control when it gets windy. Other than that just take your time, follow the directions and have a pencil to check off each step. That way when you quit for the night you can tell where you left off the next day. Find out where you are going to fly. If you have been following the threads then you know that you will need to find an RC club to learn to fly. Most RC clubs have buddy boxes available for instructors use for training new flyers but the buddy boxes are brand specific. No point buying Airtronics radio if the club only has Futaba buddy boxes so check it out before you buy. If the club has both brands then see what feels better in your hands or which one you like the looks of better. Both are considered the standard brands and are of good quality so take your pick. Have fun, Fast!

Welcome to the club,
Sound's like the plane you've selected is a kit, you'll need thick and thin CA, 5-minute epoxy, mixing cups and sticks, small and large T-pins, covering, covering iron, exato knife with a bunch of #11 blades, (bandaids) rubber bands (to hold the wing on) a set of small allen wrenches or ball drivers, and later a bunch of other stuff.

You can eliminate most of this stuff for now and get into the air fast with a ARF (almost ready to fly).
The World Models Mach 1 trainer is a great first plane, only 4 things to glue, no rubber bands, covered with shrink film and cost only $69.95 and has a 65" wing span for any 40 to 50 two stroke engine.

You can't go wrong with Tower, Chief, Hobby Lobby, Hobby People or Sheldon's. You can get most of what a newbee need at Tower so look around their site for what you need. Also, look around in the "Question & Answer" and "How To" forum for when you when you get stuck, OH YA, get some CA solvent too. Thats for when you stick your fingers together of too something.

Another thing I forgot to mention is to go for a 46 size engine and put a Master Airscrew 11-5 prop on it. I know its a 40 trainer but the extra power can really come in handy on grass runways or if the wind whips up and you are trying to make it back to the runway. If you check the price is almost the same as well. For me the most reliable standard brands of engine I suggest are Thunder Tiger or OS. There are other brands that may be as good if you get a good one but the quality is consistantly high on these two brands.

And I will second the "Go with the less dihedral setting" advice.

The PT 40 is a very good trainer, with good, clear instructions. I hope you enjoy the build!

Welcome to the insanity......I mean club

Tower is a reputable firm. I have delt with them on numerous occosions and have been quite satisfied. There are quite a few reputable firms out there - Horizon Hobby and Hobby-Lobby are a couple of others. If you have questions on a business ask here BEFORE ordering anything. The people here should be able to tell you if they are any good or to stay away from them.

I would like to make a few suggestions though. If you have a LHS (Local Hobby Shop ), get your first plane/engine/radio there. Yes, it will cost you a little more, HOWEVER, the LHS is going to provide free advice/information if (when ) you have a question/problem.

The PT-40 is one of several excellent trainers available. For a 1st plane I strongly suggest getting an ARF.

By getting an ARF instead of building a plane you will have 2 big pluses.

1. When building, it is easy to inadvertently build a warp or other defect into the plane and not realize it.

2. You will not have the "emotional attachment" to the plane. Remember, a trainer is to learn on. Expect the plane to get beat up and damaged (and repaired ) while you are learning.

I would also suggest getting a USER FRIENDLY ball bearing 46 to put in it. This engine will also be quite useable in your 2nd, 3rd, etc planes. Some user friendly engines I can recommend are OS 46 FX/AX, Thunder Tiger Pro 46 and the Evolution 46. By "User Friendly", I mean that 99%+ of the engines will run great right from the box with little or no "fiddling". There are many very good engines out there, however, many of them require a "bit of fiddling with" to get to run properly. The difference in cost between a bushed bearing engine and a ball bearing engine is minimal.

Another suggestion is to get a 6 channel (or more ) COMPUTER radio. Just starting, you will not be using the extra functions/features, but many fliers find that by their 3rd plane they want to have flaps or retracts. By buying the 6 channel (or more ) radio initially, you will save the cost of buying a second radio a little ways down the road. Some of the many features in a computer radio are the ability to store several models in "memory", electronic servo reversal instead of switch type servo reversal, mixing functions, etc. The difference in cost is usually not that great.

Now for the BIGGY !!

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT try to teach yourself to fly. I don't care how much time you have put in on a simulator or whether or not you are a full scale pilot. The differences between them and the "real thing" are usually quite daunting. FWIW - The first flight of someone trying to teach themselves to fly is normally less than 30 seconds and typically results in damage to the plane and/or equipment in it. Do not misunderstand me, simulators are very good and they WILL HELP you with your flying, but they are not flight instructors (reguardless of what SOME advertising may say ).

Find yourself a local club. Your LHS should be able to provide the names/numbers of some clubs. The club will provide an instructor at no cost to you. The learning experience will be a pleasurable one and you will learn THE PROPER WAY to pre-flight check a plane and how to fly. All the clubs I am aware of will require you to join the AMA (for the insurance ), cost is $50 a year and to join their club (dues normally range from $35 - $75 a year ).

Hope this helps.

jkkissick, you are on the right track. Campy, I have a real problem with "For a 1st plane I strongly suggest getting an ARF. " Reasons, I have watched on several occasions where new flyers that start off with arfs do ok with training because they are on the buddy box. Then they move on to the next plane, also an arf and something happens, like a deadstick in windy conditions. Then they are running around all in a panic begging other flyers to fix their planes for them because they haven't a clue as to how it was built!! Winter is starting and now is the time to build. I always suggest that the first plane be built from a kit so that you know where every piece of the plane comes together, how adjustments are made, ect. If it does get a hobby bump, you at least stand a chance of repairing it because you know how the parts are put together and you are not afraid of gluing 2 pieces of balsa together. On the part where you said "When building, it is easy to inadvertently build a warp or other defect into the plane and not realize it." This is almost impossible with the good trainer kits that are out there today. The parts have interlocking tabs where the balsa joins together at the correct locations and the correct angles. I have had several kits, not just trainers where you can join all the fuselage pieces together at once and then add CA glue to all the joints. As far as a trainer getting banged up while training, I have found that in most cases trainers are a solid design and don't mind a few bumps. Harder hits are also easily repaired with short time on the bench if you know how it was built. Arfs don't include the plans so it can make it tricky to piece back together if you don't have any building experience. So go with a kit first, then get what ever you want after! [8D]

In reverse: Websites makes no difference to me. I'd rather support my local H/Ss however driving 40 miles makes door-delivery look good. I use whomever has what I want when I want.

For your first model, the ARFs that you have to assemble like the Tower or Great Planes Trainers are very good. Kits are fine but sometimes the newbie may not have a good place to build a kit or the time and dedication for it. Only YOU can make that decision. The ready to fly units are not my choice as then, for certain, you don't know enough about the model to be able to converse with a flight-instructor the things you need to know about just to safely operate.

I've instructed with most any Trainer you care to mention. They are all good. I maintain the Club Trainer a GP PT-60 built from a kit with all the dihedral. It's a squirrel. Those recommending less dihedral are correct. Newbies have a problem with over-controlling due to the slow response to ailerons alone. Those that know how to pressure the rudder along with the ailerons and use rudder during the landing phase can do very well. That is too advanced for the normal newbie.

I recently completed a Tower Trainer 40 ARF for giving visitors a touch of stick time. It's a doll. It has a significant amount of work to be done. It can teach you how to install a tank, join the wings, install controls, and general assembly of engine, gear and mounting the tail surfaces. Still with my modifications, it was ready to go in about 8 hours over 4 days.

I made a modification of the top forward wing area and installed a dowel (3 in front) plus bolt-on wing assembly. (Rubber Bands are messy.) In addition I cut 3" off the ailerons and glued them at a angle-up of about 15-20 degrees (I use the very scientific TLAR engineering -- "that looks about right" ) on the far-ends of the aileron area. This makes for nice easy nose-up landings without wing wobble. Works well on any trainer and "second airplanes" such as 4*-40s.

Personally I like the smooth running engine better than the hi-power types for trainers. The OS LA series engines are fine for Trainers.

well thanks for the advice everyone i could sure use it. as for engines go i was planning on getting a OS .40 LA for a first engine. I here its a great realiable and simple engine and is perfect for trainers. One reason im planing on getting this engine is because im going to keep my trainer i want to fly it forever and when i do get another plane i was planning on getting the OS .70 ultimate for a second engine. I here its a good engine, expensive but good. So thanks everybody.

jkkissick-

If you're intent on getting an OS LA for your trainer, I would at least get the .46 instead of the .40. They are the same dimensions and almost the same price. I have a .46 LA in my Kadet Mk II. It has ample power with the muffler baffle removed (a common LA modification), but not too much to spare. For instance, I don't have enough power to do an outside loop, which I would like to be able to do. I tried using it on a SPAD Debonair on skiis last winter and could barely get it off the ground.

I wouldn't say that they are necessarily more reliable than other engines. The plastic backplate is cheap and the screws tend to loosen up. I had a major deadstick problem until I figured that one out. You will want to use loctite on the screws. For my first few months, probably 80% of my landings were deadstick. Good practice, but not necessarily ideal. I seem to have it running fine now and have no real complaints.

If I had it to do over again, I would have probably gotten an Evolution, Magnum, or SuperTigre instead of the LA. I don't deride the engine like some others on RCU do, but I do think there are better choices. I wish you the best.

hey thanks for the advice jagnweiner, i looked at the two engines and they are nearly the same size and the .46 is only 10 bucks more and it will work with the pt-40. so i think im deffently going to get the .46LA so thanks

Oh and i was looking at radios and i posted a comment in the radio forum but thought id post it here also to get more comments, but ive been told to get a good 6ch computer radio for my first instead of a basic 4ch and eventually having to buy the better radio later anyway so i was looking at the futaba 6EXA. its a computer radio with a 6 model memory and it comes with the s30004 servos i need for the pt-40 so what do you guys think of this radio. its not to much ore expensive either.The pricing is just in my range

I don't own the Futaba 6XEA but I did take the time to read the on-line users manual. It doesn't seem to be a bad radio. There are however a couple of things you should be aware of. One is the simple model numbering screen. If you get this radio, make SURE you write the model memory number on the plane somewhere.
Also, another feature that this radio doesn't have ( unless I missed something ) is sub trim. What this does is allow you to center the servo arms ( which usually WON"T be exactly centered ) electronically. To me, it's a big plus when setting up an airplane.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to flame this radio. It's just that for about $ 20.00 more you can get a six channel with model naming and sub trims. If you're going to keep this radio for a while you'll be glad you spent the extra bucks. Yes, this IS the voice of experience. I didn't spend a little extra cash when I started out and it wasn't long before I regretted it and spent a good bit more cash upgrading to the features I wanted.
Note, the above advice applies only if you're pretty sure you'll be in the hobby for a while. If you're uncommitted buy a basic 4ch to start with.

The Futaba 6EXA is a good radio but how much use will it be for you at this stage?? Have you checked as to which brand of buddy box the local flying club uses?? I like to keep things simple for training and I don't think a basic 4 channel would be a waste. You can keep it as a backup or use it as a buddy box to train your friends on. A 6 channel computer radio can complicate things. Bump the wrong switch at the wrong time and suddenly you can't control the plane! Another problem for example is new flyers want to set up dual rates right away and they usually like to have the high rate set higher than recomended and the low rate lower than recomended. Buddy boxes don't do dual rates!! It likes to keep things simple too, so it only uses the high rate setting of the main radio. If the instuctor switches back control to himself, he can use low rate but you being on the buddy box will only have high rate available! If that rate is set too high, it may be impossible for you to control the airplane. As far as model memory goes, you can easily get by without it. Just set up all your planes so that the servos all move in the same direction for the same function. Then adjust the trims by mechanically adjusting for good flight with the trims at centre. Then you can grab any plane, centre the tabs and go fly! So you really don't need a computer radio right now if you want to save some money! Computer radios are getting more features and cheaper all the time so you wouldn't be losing anything by waiting and maybe get a computer radio next year after you have moved past your trainer. I still have my Futaba Skysport 4 that I use if I want to take out 2 radios on different frequencys. That way at least 1 channel will be free for me to use to fly.

I do and I think it's great for people who need a basic computer radio.
Here's how I deal with this. I cut pieces of foam rubber, the kind for insulating receivers and battery packs, into something around 2x4 inches. I used a knife to make a slit in the center that's large enough to slip over a prop. Then I wrote a number for each plane on one piece of foam and slipped the foam over the prop. The number corresponds to the model number in the plane. Putting the foam on the prop forces me to remember to change the model setting on the transmitter before I fly. When I go to fly a plane I remove the foam from the prop, change the model number on the transmitter and slip the foam over the end of the transmitter antenna. The number usually stays on the transmitter until I chose another plane.
Funny you should mention this. When I was just using Futaba servos, this wasn't an issue, they always centered properly.
Last price check I did at Tower, the net price for the 6EXA was around $130.

To each his own. If you are happy with your radio, more power to you. I have had minor centering problems with several brands of servos, haven't used Futaba since my model boating days years ago. Also, if another brand of servos are ever used, the sub trims will come in handy.I just checked Tower BTW and the current cost for the 6XEA is $179.99 and yes, for $20.00 more you can get a radio with the features I mentioned. Here's just one [link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByCategory/Product/Default.aspx?ProdID=JRP6219**]example[/link].
Once again, it all comes down to personal choice. Fatsky did make a good point in that you should find out what brand of radio is most in use at the club you'll be flying at as trainer cords are not compatible between some brands of radios, although if I'm not mistaken, JR does have a trainer cord system out now that allows their radios to be compatible with most other brands. If it sounds like I'm a huge JR fan, rest assured that is not the case. Yes, I do own a JR( 9303 ) but I also sold the first one I bought ( XF421 ) to purchase a HiTec Eclipse which is now over three years old and still flies most of my planes and NO, I would not recommend either of those two radios for a beginner.

Sigh, wonder how many times I'm going to have to do this...
Tower price for 6EXA is $179.99. However, there is a $20 tower gift certificate, $15 manufacturer's rebate, and $15 discount for ordering over $150. By my math, that comes to $130. At this price, I think it's worth a serious look for beginners, and anyone else who needs a basic computer radio.

Tower may be a "reputable "firm to you I have quite a different experience with them and so do others. I dealt with them as far back as 1977(when they were honest businessmen)not so today. case in point- upon purchasing a scratch n dent engine I was subject to intense sales pressure to purchase props (on sale) for the engine that were completely unsuitable. also intense pressure to join their buying club which would have been of little benefit to me.real arm twisting. there are others.I have dealt with 4 other major mail orders and only one other has my experience been bad. none of the others sent me weekly sales bulitins urging me to buy or I'd get dropped.Tower is essentially a buying machine,both for whole sale & buying out the older hobby lines &eliminating them. Tower also spread false rumors at one time about SIG MFG being in finacial straits.many hobby shop dealers recieved the letter. i saw it myself. mostly because Hazel would not sell out to them..

I havren't found this to be the case at all. Yes, they always ask if you "want" props, or glue, or covering or.... to go with what you've purchased, and yes they always ask if you want to join their "Super Saver Club", but I find that a simple but firm, "No thank you" shuts them up.
Dennis-

You CALL them? The last time I phoned in an order to Tower was sometime in the '80s. I build my orders online. When I accumulate $150 worth of stuff (the minimum for free shipping and their discounts), I hit order. As for the super saver club, I joined last year because I was getting back into the hobby and knew I would be placing multiple orders. Between the free shipping and club specials on things I actually needed, I've saved a huge amount. Before I order I still check prices at other places but most of the time the combination of free shipping and discounts makes the Tower price the best. Can't say whether I will renew or not, but for someone just starting, it actually can be a good deal.

Really why would you call Tower? your online here, I always have ~$100 worth of stuff in my "wish list" then when I NEED something I hit the order button, and I gotta be honest, I've had great service from tower since around '92, only problem was a bad fuel pump and they sent out another the day I got it.....new guy I havent read all these posts but for $90 get an ARF it'll cost you less than building a kit,,build your second plane while you learn to fly....Rog