Goldberg Eagle II with a SuperTigre 51. Dowel rod failure sent it to it's grave too soon, but the wing still lives on! The wing has flown on a Hanger 9 Alpha since then, and now has been uncovered for mods to semi-symmetrical to mount on a extra easy 2.

goldberg Skylane 62 with a HP.40 PDP engine and it was the most tempermental engine I have ever owned but the plane was such a sweet flyer. I sold it about 20 years ago and wish I hadn't but a friend in the Navy found me a partially built one and it sits in the shop waiting its turn and one day it will fly, ah the memories.

A Sig Kadet back in 1973 with a K&B.40 engine and an MRC 5ch. Radio. Great 3 channel plane. Then moved into the original TopFlite Contender.

After serveral years of Ukies it was a 1957 Airco Aero 9 that I first successfully acheved remote control after a year of trying and flyaways (what a dream that was), powered by a throttless Torp .09 and sorta guided by a kit built Babcock. Never really stopped flying ever since RC or Ukies. Got a nifty photo of the original Airco but no scanner. These are photos of the replica built about two years ago and powered with that original engine only this time one of the remarkable modern radios we all take so much for granted. This time its flown with a rudder and a pinch off to prevent those flyaways (can,t chase the thing as effectively with my wheelchair as I once did with my bicycle).

Wow, it looks like I'm the only one here that learned to fly on a contraption. All you others had some kind of real looking plane, not to mention they were all glow powered. I'm impressed.

Mine's the one on the right -- H9 Alpha .40

Hangar 9 80" cub with a Saito 56.

I had many months of practice with AFP before this though.

I learned on an Avistar with an OS46FX. Would post pictures of it, but I had it prior to my digital camera, and a bird hit it head on last year. Not much left, but the electronics and engine. The motor still flies a Something Extra...and the receiver is in a Tower Voyager. I filled out the organ donation card prior to the demise of the Avistar.

My trainer was a Hobbico Avistar with and OS .50 SX... it was a great flying plane, may she RIP !

Learned on a GP Big Stik 40 with an OS 40LA. Jumped up pretty quickly to a GP Extra 300 40, Kyosho Pitts S2C, Funtana 90, 90" Flybaby bipe (still not flown). Big Stik met its demise a month or so ago. Flew the tail feathers off of it! In my opinion, the construction was sub-par, the way the stab mounting point was manufactured. It was my first plane, so I didnt realize how badly made it was. After the feathers flew away, and I looked at how everything went together, I would have added some triangle stock or something on the original build! but, it served its purpose, got 300+ flights out of it, and it taught me well!
C2K

Stirdy Birdy II JR PROPO 4CH w/ O.S. 40LA- Self taught on an old military base (Fentress Airfield VA)

I lost the plane after attempting to do an inverted loop- It smacked the ground inverted and nearly horizontal.. The damage wasn't so bad but it gave me an excuse to buy a Goldberg Tiger II kit which I flew for about five years....

Here's pictures of the airplane I learned to fly on about 15 years ago. It's called a Black Baron Special. Both photos are from Model Airlpane News dated April 1987. I ended up crashing mine while trying to do a slow roll.[:@] It was a great plane while it lasted.

I am just getting back into rc and I found two of these kits that my wife and I are both in the process of building. If you want to see how far along we are, we have been posting our progress at the [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/Here%27s_our_trainer%21_%28A_work_in_progress%29/m_2496426/tm.htm]Here's our Trainer![/link] post on RCU.

We hope to have both planes done in time for spring maiden flights. Til then, it's plenty of sanding, sniffing CA, and flying on Reflex XTR for us!

Wow, so long ago I don't remember what it was but it had two strings coming out of the left wing and it's .049 plug was heated with a No. 6 dry cell (does this count?). Move ahead a few decades. Got a Great Planes PT-40 (kit) as a birthday gift. Serious damage once (fixed), still have it. Can't say that about a couple of other planes since then.

Sig Kadet and dorky looking pilot, 1984.

Not only was the plane a kit. The radio was too! It was a Heathkit. I even had to put together the servos. I can see my old ham radio call sign on the wing of the Kadet.

I learned on an Avistar Select with an OS 40la two years ago thanks to Marv at Propmasters RC Club and RCU Now it is mostly flown by my 12 year old daugher on a buddy box. The only issue is that the 40LA isn't that usable for upgrades so I left it on the Avistar. I now flya 40 Supersportster with an OS 46FX. The Avistar was great preparation for this plane. I am finishing a four star 40 (TT46pro) kit to try kit building. I have GP T34 40 (OS 46FX) and VF Edge 540 (Magnum 91) ARFs waiting for assembly this winter. I replaced my Futaba 4 channel with a 6EXA and wish now that I had known the 7C was coming since it has better mixing and programming but the 6EXA is fine.

My take on a trainer is that if you think you will be pretty quick in learning (aka have used a flight sim or play a lot of video games) get a semi-symmetric wing. If not get a flat bottom of the many from which to choose. The MOST important thing is get a good instructor.

AA1NT this is KC0DJH

LT-40, OS.46AX......still learning though! Only has 3 flights on it.

First powered flight was a Cox PT-19 control line then moved to 2m RC gliders. I now only build and fly 1/2a RC stuff. All self taught.

Later,
Tim

back in the early 70's, self taught on a Goldberg Falcon 56 with un-muffled K&B 40 controlled by Hobby Lobby 6 (EK in disguise) radio. great plane. When I got back into hobby a while back I got another on EBAY and still fly it now and then along with the rest of my fleet. Never had any radio problems but thumbs got real stupid a few times.(still do)

Balsa USA Stick 40 Plus

I learned on this plane.
Sturdy, simple, and a good flyer.
I started out with a OS 40 LA (not a fan of that engine). Soon put a Tower 46, ok but also had problems with leaks.
A good 40 or any 46 (Thunder Tiger pro 46, good BB engine and good price) will be more than enough.
I used cheap 4 channel Hitec with cheap standard servos, like the 311's. This setup worked great.

The nose wheel on mine has been fixed several times. It's a weak area in the design.

Bill

A 1976 Midwest Tri-squire with a Veco .19 and a 1974 Kraft radio and a 1978 World Engines J-3 Cub with an O.S Max .25 and a Kraft 1969 Gold Medal series radio. The Cub is similar to the Pilot brand kits of the 80's.
Tom

My first attempt at flight was with a Telemaster 40 my father and I(mostly him) built around 1989. I only got a few flights in at that point before it crashed and I lost interest, but it was enough to set the hook and inspire me to take up r/c again 4 years ago with a GWS cub--self taught. That old telemaster still lives(it's probably only 50% original) and my father is rebuilding it at the moment.

Avistar. Replaced the OS 40LA with a 46fx. Still flying it after over 2 years and a couple of repair jobs. An absolutely first rate trainer and all around fun airplane IMHO.

Self-taught in 1970, using a Sterling 'Fledgling' ($22.95) with K&B .40 ($20.45) and Orbit 4 Channel radio system ($419.95). Second place was Midwest 'Sweet Stik,' then bought a Goldberg 'Falcon 56' in late 1971 Used the same K&B in all of them. Built 'EK Logictrol' transmitter, receiver and servo (4) kits and used in several planes between 1974 and 1980.

I learned to fly R/C with the plane my son seems to be trying to crank in the first picture. It was scratch built and roughly a copy of a model appearing in Model Airplanes News, sometime in 1954. It was single channel with an escapement on rudder only. The radio was built from a kit and was Dr. Walt Good’s design. It had three vacuum tubes and a Sigma 4F relay. The transmitter was also home built from a kit and is shown in the next picture. It had a nine-foot tall antenna. By pressing the button on the end the chord, you could alternate left and right rudder. There was, of course, no throttle and every landing was dead stick when you ran out of fuel. Yes we had to have a “citizen band” license to operate. We thought it was all very amazing.

My first model using modern equipment was the “Miss America” shown in the last picture. It was also scratch built from plans enlarged from an old magazine and has an O.S. 10 for power. I still have it and have flown it this year. I've retired it several times over the past eight years, but always seem to bring it back.