I'm building a PT-40 for my first rc plane. How good is it? Please tell me.

If you already bought the kit it is a bit late to be asking if it is any good. I do think it is a good choice among the available trainer kits.

Great Planes kits are usually good quality and the hardware they come with is the same as the Great Planes stuff you buy off the wall at the hobby shop. Their manuals are very good and most are available online.

I built (as my first kit) the PT-60 which is very similar construction, just a little bigger.

I totally disagree with page 4 of the manual where it strongly recommends building the 'trainer' wing and flying without functional ailerons. I would definitely build the "Sport(B)" wing configuration. I have seen two of these with the trainer wing. The slightest breeze from the side would turn them over.

I also prefer building the bolt-on wing rather than using rubber bands. My experience with rubber bands, on my ARF trainer, has been that using enough to hold the wing tightly in place resulted in torn up the leading and trailing edges when I cartwheeled the plane. When I cartwheeled my PT-60 the wing bolts broke and there was little damage to the wing. Maybe I was just lucky, but I am convinced that bolts are the way to go.

I am getting a little better, I have not cartwheeled a plane in a while. I still knock out a landing gear on occasion.

I love the PT-40.
It's the one plane I have flown with the attributes that a trainer should have. If you're high enough, let go of the sticks and it flies itself out of trouble.
It's easy to build, robust, and flies slowly enough so that you have a little time to react.

MANY trainers are 'WAY too fast. You don't have to peg the throttle to get the PT to fly.

Enjoy.

If you are not in an airplane club, especially if you do not already know how to fly RC planes, you might want to check some out.
I entered zip code 77379 on http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx and it returned 10 results within 25 miles.
Most AMA chartered clubs have volunteer instructors who will teach you how to operate the models safely and will teach you to fly. You will have to spend some money to join the club but the instruction is free. And, you get to meet a group of peope who like model planes.

Like others have said, build the sport wing. I built the PT-60 for my first plane. Did the sport wing, bolts, no washout and made the plane a taildragger. I've never flown in my life and never been on a simulator and after getting over the heebee-jeebies on my first few flights find the plane very easy to fly. If you have an instructor, which is an absolute must IMO, you won't have any problems. Good luck.

Ditto on building the Sport wing - This is a must