pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

Which of these trainers is the most durable, easiest to fly and better flier for a beginer?

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

IMHO...

1. The Aircore is 100 times more durable.

2. To a newbie, the PT-40 will be slightly "easier", but that doesn't mean you'll learn any faster.

3. Neither is "better".

Some other differences:

The Aircore is a kit. It builds faster than a balsa plane, but it's not an ARF (I'm not sure if you're talking about the PT-40 ARF or kit). If you're thinking of building the PT-40 kit, the Aircore will build much faster.
The Aircore needs a ball-bearing .46, the PT can probably fly fine with an inexpensive .40.
Some people don't like the Aircore, saying it's heavy and sluggish (it is, but that can be a good thing for a trainer). If your instructor is one of these folks, the PT-40 would be a better choice.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

The Aircore is way more durable. Good thing, because your going to crash it more. It flys terrible compaired to a PT-40. Better yet get a LT.40 from Sig.
Later David

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

Agree with David,

All things considered, get the PT-40 over the Aircore.

I learned on a PT-40 and flew it for a year and a half after soloing. It survived a number of crashes of varying intensity, and was always repairable. (It could have been repaired the last time, but I felt I didn't need it anymore; wish I'd fixed it.)

You ARE going to join a club and get an instructor, right?
Dennis-

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

You ARE going to join a club and get an instructor, right?
Dennis-

Yes, There is an airfield 15 minutes from Hannibal, MO.


And Mike in DC I would get a kit.

Thanks for the advice.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

I don't know why you are looking at the Aircore, but if you are interested in the durability aspect, there are some SPAD trainers that are much better flyers than the Aircore, and every bit as good as the PT-40. Take a quick look at http://www.spadtothebone.com

That said, between the PT-40 and the Aircore, I'd go with the PT-40.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

Dave, I have seen scores, maybe hundreds of beginners crash planes such as the LT-40, PT-40, etc., and I've only been flying a few years. In most cases, the front end of the plane from the leading edge to the firewall is destroyed, a pretty difficult repair. It doesn't seem possible to me that newbies would crash an Aircore more than they do their balsa planes. What do you mean by "terrible"? Why do you think they crash more?

I started learning on a GP Trainer 40, an exalted design by the great Bridi, so you know it must fly way better than "terrible". I switched to the Aircore about half way through my training, because I got tired of repairing the Trainer 40. Here's the amazing thing that no experienced pilot will believe: To me, the Aircore flew exactly the same as the Bridi design. I know this is blasphemy, but as a beginner, I honestly could not tell the difference.

I think experienced pilots lose sight of what beginners are working on, and therefore think the plane is more important than it is. I remember that for me, the hardest things to learn were 1) right/left reversal when the plane came toward me, 2) lining up with the runway (understanding where the plane was), 3) what I call the "Escher effect", when you lose perspective on the plane, and think it's in a different orientation than it is, 4) the timing of the landing approach, 5) throttle control (doing two things at once), and 6) the effect of wind on what a turn looked like. When you are working on these basic skills, you don't really have time to notice what an experienced pilot might call "how well the plane flies".

I will grant you that an intermediate flyer will not be happy trying to learn aerobatics on the Aircore. But for training, I think it flies just fine. And for many students, not having to worry about repairs is the difference between enjoying their training sessions or not.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

Ill sugest you the GP PT-40, is an excelent plane for begginers. you havent specified if you r interested on kit or ARF, i never saw a PT40 ARF, but the kit, ill guarantee that is excelent, really easy to fly. If you want to see how it flyes, i have my first solo recorded in a 60Mb file, its a little large, but... better than nothing, if u want the file, just add me in MSN, [email protected]

Scolpit
Portugal

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

I had an Aircore Colt 40, and it was simply the most fun I've had with an airplane. It was slightly heavier than a balsa model, but for the type of flying I did with it it was perfect. Over the years it took quite a bashing. I couldn't get it out of an inverted flat spin one afternoon, and it slammed in pretty hard. 10 minutes later I was back up in the air again. It tumbled better than any sport model I've flown. Knife-edge spins were a favorite of mine with that. I finally killed it two years ago with a figure 9. Broke the wing spar, and I just figured it was time for it to be retired. One of these days I'll pick up another.

One thing I've noticed is that you have to be very careful when assembling an Aircore wing. If you don't pay attention to what you're doing you'll end up with a wing-warp.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

I have both an Aircore and an Avistar. The Aircore is not a "floater" and must be flown in somewhat. As long as you run a .46 on it and give it plenty of throw on the control surfaces, it will do most anything a balsa trainer will. I was buddy-cording a friend with it and started daydreaming. He managed to plant it square in the drylake at full throttle. I had to glue some seams back together (not many), install a new prop, and do minor repairs to the landing gear. Less than an hour, and it was ready to go again.
It is ugly, and not quite as nimble as a balsa trainer, but great for the first two dozen flights or so.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

I started with a Tower 46. Always reglue the servo board in a ARF. I now know this.
Next plane was aircore 40 trainer. Flew it once and NO LIE gave it away. Next got a PT-40. Best planer ever. Did fly bys 2 feet off the ground wide open within 2 hours of having it. Pulled any stick and all the sticks just to find what happens. When it got ugly all that was needed was to let go. Two seconds later it's upright flying again.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

When I said it would be crashed more I was refering to it's landing ability mostly.
The Aircore is harder to land and harder to fly. The wing loading is just higher than most balsa trainers. Why make someones first plane harder to fly?


Mike ,I am sure there are a lot of guys that have great luck with Aircore. The main thing I got out of the original question was which is the best overall trainer. So i'll refine my comments this way. If your learning on a buddy box get a balsa trainer. If your going to teach yourself get the Aircore.
Later David

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

I learned to fly with an AirCore so it can be done but it is not the greatest flying plane out there. Also building the wing with out warping it is a chore. Another thing I noticed on a dead stick it flys like a shoe.

RE: pt-40 or the aircore 40 trainer?
 

If you go the Aircore way.. by all means choose the Colt 40 as MIke L says
I had one (lost in the swamp) and with a good .46 up front will not only be used to trarin you but will do more advanced stuff without having to glue balsa together ;)
Easy to assemble and tough... but not pretty :)