What is the difference between a trainer and other planes. Is it necessary to start out with a trainer?

The (Trainer) plane like the popular Nexstar Trainer is disigned for the new pilot who has never flown an RC plane before.It has a flat bottom wing with alot of wing area. The trainer is disigned to teach the new pilot how to make left & right turns or roll, less sensitive pitch up and down on elevator movement, and Yaw or up and down with the elevator. When combining all three movements along with the forward thrust (engine) makes the trainer less sensitive and the pilots sucsess in comleteing his first solo flight (without an instructor) much more suscessfull and less stressfull.
Well I tried to best explain a trainer planes function, and Im sure you get more opinions to follow.
NEDYOB

Most trainers are also high wing, and are designed to stabilize themselves for the most part if you let go of the sticks. Sort of "self correcting". They are also designed to fly slower.

and most trainers are built a little tougher and have a trike gear setup which makes landing much easier

Austin

But usually not tough enough

There really isn't one answer fits all. It just depends how much assistance you have, and how quick on the uptake you are. Some go though several flat bottom "trainers" while others do fine with ugly sticks with little difficulty. One common theme seems to be going for too much airplane before they are ready after the "trainer". Stay away from anything with tapered wings and higher wing loading until you've got two or three airplanes like ugly stiks and sig 4-stars under your belt. You will get in more flying and be able to enjoy the hobby more than those that over reach too soon.

Trainers fly slowly, and they're stable. The student has time to correct for mistaken control inputs, and the plane won't do wierd things like stall & spin.

Aerobatic planes usually must fly faster (to keep from stalling) and are much less stable (will stall or roll or yaw quickly), requiring the flyer to make quick control responses.

Many of the key control moves can be learned by using a flight simulator. It is, nonetheless, a good idea to fly a stable plane long enough that the responses become automatic. That's about the same as saying "Yes, it is a good idea to start with a trainer."

Good luck,
Dave Olson

i started with a flat bottom wing trainer, then built one semi symmetrical and then onto a four star 40 as recommended above, but i have heard the pros say a flat bottom trainer, for reasons i can't remember, is not a good way to start. anybody?

The reason is that flat bottom wings fight you so much of the time. They are very speed sensitive, and really are holdovers from the days when RC airplanes flew themselves with occasional interferrence from the pilot. If you have a good instructor, and buddy box setup, a much better airplane will have a semi-symmetrical or symmetrical wing and a low wing loading. Something along the lines of the H9 Arrow, or any Ugly Stik, or a Goldberg Sr Falcon flys much better than the typical trainer.

If you must have the flat bottom wing, the Sig LT-40 is the best of the lot. I have flown them all with an endless stream of beginners. In total fairness, the worst of the lot is any airplane with dura in the name.

The main question is...."is the pilot going to be using an instructor/buddy cord"? If not,the you'd better get a trainer plane and only fly it when there is almost no wind at all that day. If the pilot has an instuctor/buddy cord,then forget the trainer and get a semi-symetrical wing like on a Big Stick. You'll want to stick to a tricycle landing gear for sure. And a flight sim is a must before actual flying.

I learned with a trainer plane(PT-40) and a good instructor with a buddy box and some sim experience. I didnt realize it until after I solo'd(maybe good for me,I dont know),but trainer planes fly like crap.......and especially in the wind. I think wind is the worst enemy of new pilots and trainer planes. 5-10 mph winds will throw a 5 or 6lb trainer plane with some dihedral all over the place. I think this is mostly because of their flat bottom with dihedral wings. A semi-symetrical wing with little to no dihedral will tend to cut through the air rather than be thrown all over the place.

I wouldnt even say they fly alot slower than some of your high wing planes like the Big Stik. Semi-symetrical winged planes (big stick again) are IMO MUCH more stable because of its wing design. The only good thing to trainers is that if you can fly a flat bottom trainer with dihedral by yourself with a tad bit of wind,you can fly about anything. Adn they do tend to be a bit tougher....my PT-40 sure was. But as my instructor always says...."planes are meant for flyin',not crashin' ".

Personally I think given an instructor....trainers are overrated.

And on a side note....Your first plane should be a kit,not an arf just for the building/fixing experience.

answer 1
a trainer is generally slower, more forgiving, and with enough altitude and no wind almost self correcting...this gives a student time to think and react....even the 4 Star series of aircraft aren't as forgiving..in other words thumbs off and the airplane will pretty much stay in the attitude it was in until it reaches the crash site...
answer 2
No...but you should....it would depend on your instructor....best to learn to walk before you run
answer 2 amended
you do plan on using an instructor don't you?...if the answer is no then answer 2 is yes and a roll of trash bags

answer 1
a trainer is generally slower, more forgiving, and with enough altitude and no wind almost self correcting...this gives a student time to think and react....even the 4 Star series of aircraft aren't as forgiving..in other words thumbs off and the airplane will pretty much stay in the attitude it was in until it reaches the crash site...
answer 2
No...but you should....it would depend on your instructor....best to learn to walk before you run
answer 2 amended
you do plan on using an instructor don't you?...if the answer is no then answer 2 is yes and a roll of trash bags

Maybe that's because the pros have sponsors who will buy them new planes when they smush them . . . and those same sponsors also sell new planes to new pilots.

Trainers should have beefy landing gear, be of a mostly self righting design, and be relatively "input free" on take-off and landing. Flat bottomed wings allow you to rise or drop on throttle alone, making takoffs and landings much easier. The trade off is that level cruising or neutral altitude occurs at only one throttle setting. Most pilots don't like that after they begin to get familiar with the rest of the flight controls and the model's performance.

The cons of a trainer is it has the self righting or slower roll rates.

Sometimes the model can get into a wierd angle closer to the deck.lol
Not having enough roll rates dosen't help in certain situations.

Generally a newbie trying to fly without an instructor, not getting enough speed
or altitude before banking the model, or pulling too much.
or encountering engine problems due to not knowing how to tune it properly at first.

A miss conception..it flys slower.
it's relatively, fast, fast when you're new.lol

If you are teaching yourself go with one of the tough trainers and not one of the light trainers. i taught myself with an AIrmadillo which is made out of corplast and aluminum and I still tore it up pretty well

Stall resistance, or a very benign stall is one of the hallmark traits of a good trainer and the flat bottom airfoil excels here. This allows the plane to be recovered if the student does stall it on final approach or just after take-off.

I recently demonstrated to a student how resistant to a stall his NextStar is, and how easy it is to recover. I had him doing stalls, then just hold full up elevator and all the plane did was bobble – while being fully controllable in roll to the point I was able to do a 360 deg. turn with it stalled. After that I performed a maximum performance departure entering into a full power stall at 100' or so. The plane just mushed and immediately recovered as soon as I let off just a bit of the full up elevator I was holding.

There have been a couple of situations he’s gotten into (mostly on take-off) that if we would have been flying something other than a flat bottom trainer he would also be learning the art of aircraft repair – but that’s part of training, learning from your mistakes. Same for landing – there have been a couple of situations that flat bottom airfoil has really paid off.

Hogflyer

A Trainer (Such as the Hobbico Nexstar) is designed specifically for Beginners. The Trainers are made with the little details that make it very easy to learn. Trainers are made with high wings and speed brakes for slow flight and plenty of time to see what the plane is doing - it's slow speed give the plane time to react to what you want it to do. Other planes aren't made with little specific details - they are made for those who know how to fly and have low wings for higher speeds. Other planes are planes that are made for either aerobatics, high speeds, or even for looks. Yes. Trainers are necessary if you want to learn to fly PROPERLY !!! So, many people make that mistake to start with an aerobatic plane - it just doesn't work.


-- TakingFlight96

I second the Sig LT-40. Awesome trainer which after learning 5 years later I continue to teach with it. That little sucker with a old TT 40 will not die.