I was at the feild today working out my 50 size extra 260. By far the nicest day of the year for flying with almost no wind. It is so much easier to fly presice manouvers on a calm day... Well an older (retired) gentleman shows up at the feild with some foam 4 channel electic Cessna. He asks if I would hand launch it for him so he could have both hands on the controller. I happly help him out. I quickly learn his experience level is limited as I watch him fight to keep the plane flying. I calmly advise hime to just make gentle circles and get some altitude so he would have some room for error. The plane gets away from him and he can't bring it back. So he quickly hands me the controller and says bring it back[X(] I find the underpowered Cessna a challenge to orientate at the distance he had it out but some how manged to avoid crashing his plane and return it to the landing strip for him. I then find he charged his NmHi batteries last week. I advised him to ensure he has a fresh charge on them before flying them (at least within 24 hours). He then gets a battery out and has me fly the plane. This battery had more power so I take the plane to about 100 ft and hand him the controller. After about 3 minutes of porposing due to over controlling the plane the wing sepperates from the fuse and lawn darts to the ground. Upon inspection the wing bolts were firmly mounted to the fuse with chunks of the wings foam still being retained from where the rest of the wing ripped it's self free.

I really do not like these foam planes that are being marketed for "beginners". Many will never get past the initial disapointment and just give up before seeing how much better flying is with a nicer model that of course will cost more.

It sounds like an eBay special. I bought a RTF foam Cessna 182 on there once just to play around with in my neighborhood when I wasn't at the field. It was the biggest piece of junk I had ever seen. The aileron serve worked in reverse and there was no way to switch it on the cheapo transmitter. I thought about switching the wiring inside the servo but there were no screws holding it together, just glue.

It's unfortunate really. I wonder how many people think they can fly a plane with no experience or instruction, go out and by some crappy, generic airplane, have a trerrible experience and give up a hobby they might have really enjoyed had they just done it right.

As for foam planes, they aren't my favorite either but if it is from one of the reputable manufacturers they aren't so bad. At least the give you instructions that make sense and stand behind the product. I actually do own one foam airplane: the Parkzone T-28. It flys very nice and usually goes to the field with me every weekend along with all of my regular airplanes.

A good foam cessna is a different story. I have an E-Flite cessna 182 with hitec servos, 25A ESC and brushless 370 motor. The functional struts help with the wing but I didn't trust the wing bolt and added a fender washer to keep the bolt from ripping through.
Even though the E-Flite is better I still would not recommend it for a beginner.

I can't speak for the Cessna but I purchased a Super Cub foam plane that came highly recommended to putt around with while my son was on the buddy cord with our Kadet LT-40. I was a head of the game when it was my turn to get on the buddy cord. I have no doubt the little Super Cub sped up my training. With that said, I would find it hard to believe some one could go from the Super Cub to a glow powered trainer without an instructor, I am sure there is the possibility. I found the Super Cub to be very durable and served its purpose well. Myself or my son no longer fly the Super Cub but I always take it to the feild, it is great for letting people get a taste for flying with out much risk. It has been crashed several times and glued back together, I think it flys a little better with every ounce of glue!

Yup, I agree. I've seen this happen on several occasions...

People arrive at our field ( note: they don't even realize that clubs exist, nor what the AMA is about, etc. ) with things like Cubs recommended by the LHS's only to launch them and end up with a bad crash and experience.

Our field sits on a bit of a plateau, so even when the air is still, a light gust will pick up speed and hit the plane with a quick 8mph blast of air... usually sending these things into the ground.

Dismayed at the damage, these people never come back.