I have an Alpha 40 rtr. I have had a couple of rough landings, so my front landing gear is messed up, so when the rudder steers the front wheel crucked. It is glued and barley put back together right, and i dont feel like trying to fix it. Can I use the trainer motor and servor in a arf? If so which one. Does it have to be hanger 9? I was thinking the Funtana arf.

if your still having rough landings with the alpha then you need more practice,you should have the basics wired, to many times people go to the next level before there ready and end up fixing that trainer they gave up on, because they vaporized that #2 plane.

now to the question, you can use the engine and radio in just about any plane you want as long as the radio,and engine fits the power specs and the radio has enough functions,ie;if the plane has retracts and flaps and your radio is 4ch. then no it won't work, otherwise any 4ch plane will do fine with a basic 4ch radio set up.

as I recall the Funtanna is a pretty light and squirley plane, not really a second plane, no matter how sexy it looks.

as well as being a tail dragger,and having its own set of problems,there's a level of skill needed to fly such a sensitive plane if you were to go that direction better talk to a instructor about getting some help flying it so its not just another pile of sticks.

whats so hard about fixing some landing gear, front stearable gear is easy to replace and not really that expensive,as well as the mains are also pretty simple to rebend as well if your not making perfect landings and performing basic manuevers keep working on your skills.

how "hard" are tail draggers to control?

when going from trike gear to tail dragger there's definatly a transition period.
tail draggers are way more sensitive to stearing inputs and require a light touch when taking off and landing,after you get tail draggers wired, trike geared planes seem really easy to control on T.O. and landing.

From the sound of your post your not ready for the Funtana. Fix your nose gear..work on greasing in your landings...remember on approach throttle is altitude and elevator is speed....learn to fly your trainer inverted and be able to do turns inverted..
most importantly get someone to help you
good luck

I have a tricycle gear plane, but it's not a trainer according to quite a few members at my club. In fact, I got a lot of comments that my GP Cessna is considerably more difficult to fly than a Sig Four-Star, or even a Hangar 9 Twist. OK, so beings that I am starting to get used to a plane that requires good throttle management and rudder control during all phases of flight, would I be ready to transition to a tail dragger such as the Sig? How about the Twist? My main interest here would be in getting a reduced work load during my time at the sticks. Would one of these two planes make my life a bit easier?

Hossbog: Don't get a Funtana just yet. Trust me, you don't want the headache. CA, balsa, epoxy, and covering are chores that can get very old, very soon. I'm just afraid that you'll be spending a lot of time at the bench with it. I think with my Cessna, I've learned enough about repairs that I'm probably ready to start, and complete one or two kits. I highly doubt a scratch build would be out of the question for me [:@].

NorfolkSouthern

The way I read it he may have damaged more than just the nose gear. If that is true then it may be time to transfer his gear to a new ARF. If that is true I'd recommend this one. It would be the perfect choice apparently to continue learning on until his landings improve.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2450

Your engine and radio equipment can be transferred to almost any 40 size ARF that requires a 4 channel radio.

I'd get another trainer and practice landings before moving up to a plane like a Funtana. The Funtana is built extremely light compared to most trainer planes. Rough landings will destroy it. There are dozens of good flying, fairly tough, trainers available

Trainers with flat bottom wing:
Hangar 9 Alpha 40
Hobbico Superstar 40
Tower Trainer 40
Sig LT-40
Thunder Tiger Trainer


For a semi-symmetrical wing (slightly more aerobatic) but still a trainer:
Hangar 9 Arrow
Hobbico Avistar
Thunder Tiger Trainer

I agree with Bruce. If you are landing an Alpha hard then you are not ready to move up. You should be able to spot the Alpha right in front of you on every landing with a smooth nose high touch down and shoot touch-n-go's with out touching the nose (I do it on my Alpha 60 all the time). Get another Alpha since you are already used to it and work on getting precision into your flying. If you have problems with the Alpha now, you'll have a lot of problems with a faster plane. Another benefit to another Alpha is you will have a parts plane if necessary, and you can always tear into your current one and learn how to do repairs.

Hogflyer

Yup like they said, either fix your plane or buy a new ARF kit and transfer your existing stuff to it.

Landings with trainers are a breeze compared to most other planes, so if you are having a hard time, you need to keep at it longer.

A nosewheel bracket is only a couple of bucks. Even if your whole firewall is ripped out, it is crazy to trash the plane at this point. It doesn't sound like you are ready for the next step yet. Fix your Alpha and keep flying it.

Hey Hoss , Don`t jump into thr Funtana or a Twist right now. They are built very lite, very good airplanes , but designed to fly on the edge, so their built liteand break easy .
Take a look at why your busting up your nose gear. If your landings are not so good, maybe a cheap ARF trainer , like the Towers hobby will help you perfect them .

I can land pretty well. I am more into electric planes, and getting pretty good. I just busted up the front landing gear and broke the firewall. I fixed it, but the steerable front wheel is all messed up. I am not worried about getting a faster harder to land plane. I got the Mini pulse xt, and can take off and land just fine. I just want to know what plane would be best to put that trainer motor on, so i could have fun with it. Crash, Idont care

How about a Super Sportster or a .40 Pulse XT?

Your experience with the Mini-Pulse will translate well to either plane.

how about makeing your traner a tail dragger ?