Bought my dad a Top Flite Flite Streak before Christmas and was looking at all the RC planes while I was in the store. Finally got around to getting one just last week. Did alot of reading around on the forums and decided on the Tower Trainer since I really don't need to spend much money right now. Still got to go out to the club near my house and see about joining up. Got an OS 46LA to power it and a Futaba 4yf controller. The packaging was very thorough with nothing having the ability to shift around in transit. The pieces all have wrinkles on them but nothing it looks like the heat gun cant remove. I posted some pics and will post a few more later.

It is true, then, there is a sucker born every minute! Welcome and have fun!

Run that OS 46 LA a little rich and it will be a great running little engine for you. They aren't power houses but I've had one on my Trainer for 8 months and have had no problems with it. I'm actually moving all my gear to my next plane, Hanger 9 Twist. Have fun and good luck.

Had to go to the LHS and buy some stuff, not a small feat in Houston around 6pm. The guy hooked me up, three standard servos, epoxy, CA, reciever/charge switch, and a prop for $72. The guy was a little peeved that I bought online, but agreed that the cheapest trainer he sold was $140. He'd seen me in there buying car stuff all the time anyway. Hour and a half round trip. Touched up the covering before I left. Only concern I have is the covering on the rudder. It was trimmed so closely that even when on low heat it shrunk back from leading edge. I wondering if I should try recovering it or just leave it as is. I don't want to get too far ahead and then figure out i should have done diffently. Heres a few picks of the rudder.

Ahhh, the old Tower Trainer! Thats what I learned on back in 96. Only it wasnt an ARF then, they had a kit and then they came out with the RTC version. Anyway, I wouldnt worry about the covering shrinking back on the rudder. Put it together and dont look back! More then likley it will have all kinds of dents and dings and field repairs done to her by the time you graduate to another air frame anyway. Enjoy and welcome! [8D]

Yep, I have to agree that the Tower Trainer is a nice one. I too learned on this trainer. I learned on the trainer with an OS 40 FP. I still have the plane to this day. It's been recovered twice, the engine has almost no compression but still runs like a champ, and it's got somewhere around 600 flights on it now!!! [X(] I keep it around for sentimental reasons because I got it from my dad after he passed away, unfortunately he never got a chance to learn to fly with it before he died. For that reason I'll always have it around. But I still like to take it out to the field about once a month or so. I think that everybody should keep their trainers even after they have learned. This may sound silly to some, but I love flying the trainer for a relaxing day of flying. It's fun to fly after flying hotter planes. It's funny in that when you are learning to fly that trainer looks like it's moving SOOOOOOOO fast, but after you have learned and you come back to it you're amazed that a plane can fly SOOOOOOOOOOO slow!!!!!!!!! I've also found that trying to fly acrobatic maneuvers with a trainer can actually improve your skills on them. That's because with the trainer you have to actually FLY the plane through the maneuver. It's really good for teaching your fingers which way to move the sticks to get through a maneuver.

Ken

I cant wait. Got the wing set up now on the kitchen counter letting the epoxy set up. I new there was a use for the raised counter Anyway, the directions said the raised wing tip should be 5 1/4" give or take 1/2". I got it joined perfectly snug and set at 5 1/2" with moderate sanding of the joiner and rib. It's 30min epoxy but I think I'll give it an hour. P.S. - Nevermind the messy counter

The 30 minute epoxy really needs to set up for about 24 hours to achieve full strength

Alright, need to go help some friends online tonight and work tommorow anyway. I think I can be patient[]

got up and looked at my wing first thing this morning. I had a little more epoxy squeeze out while it was taped down. I was wondering if should try to remove the excees or just let it be?

I wouldn't worry about the extra epoxy that has leaked out. Remember, like the other guy said, if your expecting this plane to be all neat and nice (perfectly put together), that's ok, but the moment you make a mistake and ding something, you'll be very disappointed aftyer all the work you put in it. Same your precisness for a nice kit/scale plane build. Don't get me wrong, you want things to be "almost perfect" so the plane flys good, but it's a trainer, subject to abuse (and it will get it). For the price, let this plane "train" you and then move on to something better. Good Luck. (I bought a Nexstar RTF to train on, and it took a load of abuse. Had to recover the firewall area due to fuel pealing the covering, peal off some of the falling off decals, tighten the covering every once in a while, and CA some area that came loose, plus a few more things).

Looks like all I'm going to get done this morning. Got the ailerons mounted and going to let the epoxy set while i am at work this evening. When I get home I'll CA the hinges and maybe fit the servo and linkages. Only had to do a little trimming to get torque rod to fit snug. Also used two t-pins on each hinge instead of one to help keep them aligned. Overall I think it coming together nicely as long as I keep going slow and pay attention. This is a lot different than anything I have ever built before. Just about everything else i built was mechanical or electronic in nature.

Strange the Tower Hobbies trainer I bought for my son came with a steel rod as wing joiner no need for epoxy...hmm maybe the RTF is a bit different than the ARF, who knows.

Got the wing finished. Just a couple of notes. After I installed the ailerons I noticed they kept binding. I had to carrefully trim the exit holes on the bottom of the wing where the clevises attach. They still feel a little stiff though. Since this is a trainer I figure it shouldn't have a whole lot of travel. I read at the back of the manual it says 5/8" up and down. I'm going to have someone help me measure it in a little bit. I used 6 drops of CA per hinge top and bottom like the directions said and was wondering, does it just seep in or can it stiffen the hinges. The ailerons more considerably better when just the torque rods were attached.

Got it measured, around 3/8". Earlier I quoted the manual as saying 5/8", that was for high throw, When set for low throw it should be at least 1/2".

You may get the needed throws by simply working the hinges a bit harder. CA hinges will usually loosen a little. Don't worry about breaking them, (unless you are trying to, you won't). Better to find a weak hinge now than on your maiden, anyway. Sometimes, if the surfaces are too close, simply um....amending the balsa, by working the hinges will do.

Good luck and...

Welcome to the end of 'free-time' and 'disposable-income' as you now know them.

Thanks. It worked. I put the wing leading edge down on a towel, disconnected the pushrods, and started working the ailerons back and forth with my hand. After less than a minute they started loosening up. On to the fuselage

Well I got the stab, fin, and wing dowels installed with no problems and minimal needed adjustments. Interesting side note. Was in my garage looking for a small square and came across a perfect workbench. When my brother and I were younger my dad had bought us a bunk bed from an old military surplus store. I just found one of the frames. Gonna mount a sheet of plywood to it. Needs a heavy cleaning first.