I bought a Piece O Cake awhile ago. It's basically a sailplane with a .049 engine. Going to begin building it soon and was wondering how good a plane it is to learn on? Thanks guys!
Mark

It is a pretty neat little airplane. I had one in the 1970's. It was a bit anemic with the unthrottled Cox Babe Bee .049 (and great big Kraft KPS 10 servos). I think you would enjoy it more with one of the Norvel Big Mig .074 engines.

Now that we have micro servos and reliable, throttleable 1/2a engines, building it as a three channel jobbie is quite realistic. I've been tempted to do one with a trio of Hitec HS-81's.

Anyway it is an easy to fly, putt-putt around airplane. Use the engine to get it up high, then throttle back to a tick-over idle and sniff around for some thermals. When it gets too low, run it back up to altitude again. If you get into trouble, just let go of the sticks and it will settle into a nice circular flight path. If you are unsure of your ability to land, you can just keep it in the general vicinity and let her land on her own when she runs out of gas. The model flies so slowly that it is doubtful she will hurt herself when she comes down.

Set the transmitter on the ground next to you and watch her fly around in lazy circles. Don't get so relaxed you fall asleep though!

My 7 year old daughter learned to fly on hers when she was 5. I have an ASP 12 in the nose of hers. We have flown here plane on a 2oz tank of gas for over an hour. Easy to fly and fun.

I had one in the 70's also! They are FANTASTIC for learning to fly on, and I have also wondered how many pilots who get out of the hobby from frustration would have better success if they would have gone for a motorglider to start with. Plenty of time to think, and pure enjoyment. The only drawback is they don't like wind, and in Kansas that's not good

It's a fun plane ,color the wings so it's easy to see,the plane can get out of sight with a good thermal.