I have been flying small parkflyer electrics for a while now and want to graduate to fuel planes. So I figured a niro trainer would be in order an ARF.

Now I am between two choices tower hobbies tower trainer 40 with their tower .46 motor or a Hangar 9 Arrow with evolution motor.

I already have a futaba 6ch transmitter and reciever and starting equipment is no big deal...

Now since i have been flying slowsticks and lil rascals... I should be abel to fly a trainer. Arrow is semisymetrical wing with very little diheareal (bad spelling) and the Tower one is your standard trainer.

Help... what should I choose?

Either one of those two planes will suit you well to learn on. They are both great trainers.

Ken

Hi,

I would go with the TOWER TRAINER/ENGINE.
You could buy both and save $20.00 on the combo.
The TOWER TRAINER is a great flying plane.
The Engine is dependable too.

either will be fine.

dihedral is a tough word

I have flown the Arrow and alpha and the tower trainer many times over the last few years training newbees and I would lean toward the hanger 9 planes and EVO engine. The tower would probably be cheaper.
Fred

The Tower is a good buy for the money and once you get sometime on the trainer you`ll be wanting to go to something else. When you do, the engine can go in it. The Tower .46 is one heck of a power house and would work well in your second plane.
Just a way to keep the cost down.

Why not go with a World Models Sky Raider Mach I?

http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...p?ProductID=15

At $69.99, it boasts the same kind of semi-symmetrical airfoil as the Hangar 9 Arrow, but at half the price. You could pair this trainer with Super Tigre's excellent GS-40 ringed ball-bearing 2-stroke engine for only $49.99 and get both the engine and airframe for the cost of the Arrow alone. This might be the best value on the market for a high quality trainer airframe and engine.

The two options you're currently considering are both terrific as well. I just built and maidened a new Tower Trainer .40 MkII ARF to replace my old Hangar 9 Easy Fly 40. The Easy Fly 40 was still flying great, but I bought it used and there wasn't a straight line left anywhere on the plane. Crooked tail, cockeyed wing, bent landing gear... I just thought a nicer looking trainer might be nice.

I had a few minor build issues with my Tower Trainer ARF, so I'm more inclined to recommend a Hangar 9 or World Models ARF now. There were a couple of spots on the Tower ARF that required some minor Dremel surgery to get servos fitted properly, and the plane came out very nose heavy with an O.S. Max .46 FX on the nose. I just shimmed out the upthrust from the engine mount though, and it's flying very nicely.

You hit the nail on the head when you said, "Too many trainers to choose from." Good luck and good shopping!

Never heard of the World Models Sky Raider Mach I.

Any reviews on the plane anywhere?

I'll let you in on a little secret, Menthol, but you have to promise not to tell anybody. RC Universe has a huge User Review section with reviews and comments about virtually every make and model of kit, ARF, RTF airplane, radio system, and engine on the market. You can view the World Models Sky Raider Mach I reviews here:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/product_gu...fm?kit_id=3240

While there aren't any full-length reviews here at RC Universe, there are a lot of user ratings and they're virtually all very positive. Reading the detailed comments will give you a good idea of the experiences various owners have had with the plane. Compare them to ratings and comments left for the other trainers you're considering.

Be careful to guard this secret section as best you can. If word gets out about this feature, then everyone will be leaving feedback about various products and more and more people will go comparison shopping.

The couple of mag reviews floating around are just the usual quid pro quo inspired infommercials.

Have a look at the user ratings here. [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/product_guide/kitratings.cfm?kit_id=3240[/link]

TWM's Sky Raider Mach 1 is arguably the best trainer airframe out there today bar none, and pitched at a killer pricepoint. It comes with a full compliment of hardware, all usable. It has one glaring fault, and I say this as a fan of TWM generally and the Sky Raiders in particular. Its (basketweave in particular) Toughlon covering is absolute rubbish which will consistantly fail within 20 - 40 hours airtime ..often less, which is approximately 100 - 200 flights ...assuming you keep it/it survives without being 'reformated' into sticks that long.

Looking at all the options and pricing put in a order for the tower trainer. I figured that IF it lasts one summer for me I'll be happy and next summer I'll just get a plain ARF that is a low wing sport model. Getting the sport model is going to happen only If I master the trainer... Slow start so not to put me off from the glow models and steady progress to more advanced models might just be the key here.

I do appreciate all the good info and suggestions and have taken them into heart.

Thank you very much for a great community!

-M

Much better than any reviews are threads dedicated to various models. Spending a couple of hours using the search engine and reading will give you quite a bit of insight into each model.

The Tower Trainer .40 MKII ARF is a good choice. My two best pieces of advice are:

1) Be patient carving out the servo trays for the aileron and throttle servos. I had to sand mine out a lot to fit my Futaba S3003s.

2) Watch your engine weight. The ideal power plant should weigh in around 10 to 12 ounces. I went with a .46 FX at around 16 to 17 ounces with muffler that I happened to have on hand and the plane came out quite nose heavy. The plane doesn't need the power, either. I would have gone with a Thunder Tiger Pro .36 or GP-42 if I had to order an engine for it.

Mine also built with a fair amount of upthrust in the engine mount. When I first maidened the plane, the overpowered .46 FX combined with the upthrust in the engine mount to provide a nearly vertical take-off. I've never seen a trainer leap off the ground like that before; it was pretty funny. I put a couple of nylon washers behind the top of the engine mount to adjust the verticle thrust angle, so now it's flying much better. I need to reprop the .46 FX to an APC 11x4, I'm trying to reduce the top end "peakiness" of the engine and give it smoother, less aggressive performance.

The wife came out to the field Friday evening with her Digital Rebel XT and got a couple of nice shots of my Tower Trainer including this one:

Several people have said that either of those airplanes will be fine, but I will caution that even though you're flying electrics, if you go with the Arrow or any other semi-symmetrical wing plane, you should get help before going out and try to fly it by yourself.

Thankfully I fly at a field with mostly nitro pilots and all of them are willing to buddy box it with me to get the hang of it.

-M

glad to hear you'll get some buddy box time. always a good idea! even if your an old flyer but going to a new type of plane a buddy box for the first flight can save you a lot of glue! and don't forget the all important preflight ( a fresh set of eyes can see problems we often overlook)

glad to hear you'll get some buddy box time. always a good idea! even if your an old flyer but going to a new type of plane a buddy box for the first flight can save you a lot of glue! and don't forget the all important preflight ( a fresh set of eyes can see problems we often overlook)

favorite trainer SIG LT 40 with OS 46

you know if you are allready getting stick time with your electrics and you have someone to buddy box you,you might want to think about something more stick like.
trainers are a great learning tool and without a doubt the best way to start but you will get boored fast with any trainer if you are already flying sucessully,and if you have a sim to practice on, then you will have advanced through the trainer before the covering has time to peel off.
if your club members have any planes in the mid level range they would be willing to let you try with supervision you might be surprised at how well you can handle a more advanced plane and skip the trainer curve.
its the engine tuning that can be tough to get the hang of.

I apologize for not directing my comments to the question of the thread but bigtim got me thinking. I'm a believer that industry often takes the liberty to define things to promote sales and IMHO the self described trainers such as the Alpha are somewhere between a true trainer and an intermediate. A true trainer yields as much reaction time as possible for an airframe as well as a fair amount of forgiveness and the strongly powered alpha doesn't do that. An intermediate offers fair parity between inverted/upright and the dihedral of the alpha doesn't allow that either... hence why I say it is betwixt the two.

Is this good or bad? IMHO it slows the training process but makes the transition to intermediate easier. Generally I'd observe that it makes for more bunged up trainers but less re-kitted intermediates.

I went with the Tower Trainer RTF and it is very easy to fly and the motor runs very smooth and solid. The plane seems pretty fast at wide open, but still can come in very slow for landings. I picked up a Futaba buddy cord and i let my friends fly it.

The CG Eagle 2 is a nice Trainer but I still say if you have help to go with something like the H9 PTS Mustang. You can learn on it then when you get it down rip the trainer stuff off it, You now have your 2nd plane & tear up the sky.