Which is the best trainer in your opinion?

Seeing as most people (unless your an instructor) have only flown 1 trainer your not gonna get good results on this poll. Everybody is going to pick the bird they learned on.
That said, I have flown both the Alpha and Tower Trainer, I choose the Tower Trainer only because it is cheaper.
Seems all your choices fly pretty much the same.

I'll second that. And don't forget the posts like "Hey, what about the LT-40? It's the bestest plane EVER!"

Hey, What about the Hanger 9 Arrow. Shouldn't it be on the list?

I say the LT-25. My instructor had one and flying it was a blast. I had a superstar and it was ok.., but the lt-25 was a hot rod and i loved it being a tail dragger.

You are missing the whole fleet of Kadets. The LT-40 and LT-40 ARF beat all the others hands down. I been teaching folks to fly since the mid sixties. Have flown almost everything that has shown up at fields over all those years. Nothing works for beginners like an LT-40. That's why our club has 7 of them for instruction.

I agree and disagree.

I'm another old time instructor -- started flying models in the 40's. There isn't a "best" because there is a very wide range of aptitudes within the student population.

Most of the "standard" trainer types are more or less indistinguishable as flying machines. Having said that, my preferences for an absolute know-nothing new student with only average skills, are the Hobbico Superstar & the LT-40 -- and there is absolutely nothing in it between them as teaching tools.

For a born-to-fly natural student pilot, I like the Hobbico Avistar, because that sweet-flying bird will keep him entertained long after the others will begin to bore him. The Blackhorse Excel 2000, if equipped with a good BB .46, is also not too far behind the Avistar for a "natural" pilot, but ultimately it will be put aside before the Avistar..

In the case of a raw beginner who is foolish enough, or is forced by circumstances to teach himself, the Hobbico Nexstar is the only game in town.

As alluded to in previous posts, my reply is somewhat biased as I have experience on only one trainer....the Nexstar. I can say this for the Nexstar...I was able to solo with little instruction and never flew on a buddy box so in that respect I would call the Nexstar an excellent trainer. I unhooked all the tools used to help the rookie pilot such as the AFS system, wing flaps etc. The plane flys much better w/o them.

The down side of the Nexstar is that after about 2 months of flying it with probably 30-40 flights on it, I'm starting to get a little bored with it. I can do most all basic aerobatic maneuvers. Next weekend as suggested by someone here on RCU I'm going to try the old flying a figure 8 inverted about 10 feet off the deck, and if successful I'm going to be moving on to a 4* 60.

Joe

Although I learned on the PT-40, as an instructor that's flown a few my vote would go to the LT-40. It's not necessarily all that much better than any other, but it's a good all around plane and light for it's size.

Today, pretty much all of them are good primary trainers.
Dennis-

Hi,

IMHO I have yet to find a "bad trainer" model that will not allow the student to learn and progress although as has been stated earlier some trainers are better to allow "quick learners" to progress.

However I would recommend that the second plane be built from a kit to allow the tyro to be exposed to the hobby side of the sport of R/C flying. There are many, many options to choose a second model kit from. This approach serves a purely selfish purpose to keep kit builders comming into the fold otherwise there won't be any kits in a few years.[&o]

Cheers,

Colin

I can understand those who say the basic run of the mill trainer will become boring to a natural student after a little time, but there are several avenues to take to make that trainer bite a bit harder! Convert that LT-40 to a taildragger, increase the throws a little, put on an Evo .46nt with an 11x6 prop, take out a little of the wing incidence, and it is ANYTHING but boring!! I've never even flown my LT-40 in it's stock, out of the box configuration!

Hey, what about the LT-40? It's the bestest plane EVER!

Didn't we have a poll like this a wee while back and the outcome was pretty much the same? BTW guess what I trained with..... yup LT-40

there just isn't that much difference. i've flown the kyosho calmato, WM skyraider, sonic 30's and some very cheap china trainers and they have all been decent flyers once trimmed. as long as you don't try to pylon race them, trainers of the same size pretty much fly the same. i think the WM skyraider, which is not on the list, would be my suggestion. it's cheap, very easy to built, and a delight to fly.

I've flown three trainers, the Tower 40, PT 40, and the NexSTAR Select. Don't ask me why, I just did.. yep, I owned them all (still own the PT 40 and the NexSTAR, sold the Tower 40 which still flys today). All three were great, but the NexSTAR was the superior to all three (in my opinion) and I solo'ed with it.

Right now, we have four students at the club field. Three have NexSTAR and one has a PT-40. All will solo. Who solo's first is difficult mainly because two of the four have previously solo'ed (over 10 years ago) and are re-learning. But, one of the NexSTAR people, a 12 year old boy, is very quickly catching up.

It's fun watching these people progress.

I have flown a Avistar and a H9 Xtra East II with a Easy Fly 40 wing (long story). IMO, they fly about the same, just the Avistar is more aerobatic and flies a little faster.

I think, for the money, the best purchase is an RC flight simulator.

If you buy a plane with an engine, I would say to stay away from the ones you can't adjust. (You want to learn how to adjust your needle valves, right?)

For extended use, I would stay away from the one with the wing brakes and dams. All the others will fly fine, expecially if you have an instructor with buddy box & cord.

Otherwise, no preference. Good luck,
Dave Olson

The PT 40 with the " trainer dihedral setting" is a pain to fly in the wind and to train with. With the "sport wing dihedral setting" it flys pretty much the same as other trainers. For new flyers that don't know the rudder from the ailerons, for older new flyers or very young new flyers the LT40 is the easiest trainer to learn how to fly. For new flyers that can handle a bit more performance in a trainer the rest are all pretty much the same. The LT25 is really good in the wind and makes a good tail dragger trainer as well. I sold my original LT40 but still have an LT25. [8D]

One thing nobody mentioned is with the LT-25 and LT-40, all you have to do is build a straight wing with ailerons and you have very quickly made a Quasi-Cub. They are able to do some aerobatics and are great for converting to twin floats, just like a Cub, without having to spend all the money and/or time to build/set up a new plane from ground up. I'm building a Kadet JR from plans and doing that mod from the start. I'm also building two different wings for it, the stock 48", and a 54" for use with floats. Next mod will be going from a bushed OS 25FP to a bearing .25 or .40.

Are you referring to the Evolution engines? If so, I dont know where you get the impression they are not adjustable. True, they come from the factory with a set RANGE of adjustment, but that range is adjustable also, in the event that the engine doesnt run well within the factory set range. I had to adjust mine the first time I ran it. Aside from that, the needles adjust just like any other engine. If you're not talking Evo's, I apologize.

The Midwest trainers have taught many many new people and still do a great job. Lately I like to see new students use the Aerobat as it will fly just like the Aerostar but at the same time it can be set up more advanced without having to make any modifications, most have already been made. If you want to see some good run downs of trainers check out the AMA web sight (masportaviator.com ) and click into the kit reviews. ENJOY!!!! RED

I think G3 is the best trainer you can get. I have it and have been using it for about 4 months now. I did my first solo 2 weeks ago and i took off and landed and everything went fine. G3 will give you the ability to pratice with out costing you alot of planes. I also flew a 3d plane on my first solo and did fine, no buddy box eighter.

nextar, hands down, for one reason someone mentiond sorta, buy a sim, it comes with one, but i taught myself on warbirds (electric) so i dont do trainers, cubs but no trainer

nothing beats an instructor that can take you from takeoff to landing. yes, you can learn on a sim. you can fly to your hearts content on the sim... but if you're going to fork out the money for the sim, why not use it to pay for a club membership and get started really flying.

if someone were to approach me on learning how to get into the hobby, i would NOT say, go get a sim. i'd probably ask them for their budget and give them a recommendation based on that. i might lend them my G2 but i wouldn't ask them to go buy it. the nexstar is a good package, yes, but it isn't cheap. so for those that can afford spending that kind of money on a trainer, power to you. but i would rather see someone with a 380 budget (not including starting equipment) something he can grow out of:

- 6 channel radio ~$180 (Futaba 6EXA)
- Trainer ~$70 (PT40 or WM Skyraider)
- Decent 46 Engine ~$80 (TT 46Pro)
- 2 nice 11 x 6 props ~ $6 (APC)

even that added up is only $336 and it gives you things that you reuse easily. I guess the main diffference is in the radio. I just don't believe that 4 channel radio is good. Rather start with a 6 channel computer radio.

once all the gear is together i'd say borrow a sim. hell i'd lend my to anyone that wanted to learn. sim will get you so far. then it's out to the field with an instructor. i don't have any credentials but i have buddy boxed two dozen people without incident and taught three people to fly from theory to solo.

forestroke, and espeacially the young ones like me who want to get into the hobby. I paid 1 dollar for my AMA and i didn't pay anything for the club. Some people don't know this