Can anyone suggest a suitable electric trainer with rudder, elavator & ailerons for outdoor use in less than perfect conditions (something similar to the Tutor 40 type of IC trainer)? I've looked at quite a few electric planes that I've seen suggested, but many look almost toy like! I looked on the GWS website which has quite a few video's of their models flying, but they appear to bounce around or be buffeted in flight.
The other range of electric planes are those that are more "jet" like to look at such as the Projeti or Picojet or wings, are these suitable for somebody with a bit of gliding experience but no powered experience?

I have flown my GWS E-starter in some pretty windy conditions and unless I do something stupid, it always comes back down to earth quite nicely. The Mountain Models Dandy Sport is also good but I have no idea about its capabilities in poor weather conditions.

The largest viable trainer-type plane I am aware of right now is the Hobbico Superstar EP. It does not have ailerons, though.

Unfortunately, the hobby industry has yet to come up with a large trainer aircraft that can come even close to the price of its glow-powered counterpart. A plane that's big enough to handle less-than-ideal conditions and sturdy enough to handle the rough handling from a newbie to flying, yet flies long enough for the student to actually learn something and has reasonable performance requires expensive brushless motors and lithium batteries. Basically, a conversion of a typical .40-size glow trainer.

Big planes mean big money. There's no way around it. People are inclined to spend as little of their money as possible on this hobby, which is why inexpensive park fliers are so popular.

If you want to talk turkey about converting that Tutor 40 into an electric, just say the word though.

Matt,
Thanks for the reply. I agree with you, looking through an RC magazine there are loads of glow trainers, but very few electric equivalents. I have found something called an "Impress" which looks similar. I quite like the look of things like the Projetti or PicoJet but don't know whether either of these would be suitable for a first foray into powered planes?
If you could advise on a suitable set up for converting an IC trainer to electric I'd be very interested. Going brushless is an option I would consider, but I wouldn't have a clue as to what would be a suitable set up regards motor size, battery pack, prop etc. How easy is it to get an idea of the likely flight times with a given motor/batteryplane etc combination? I realise that how you fly it would be a major factor i.e. flat out or gently.

Are you aware of any good websites that cover converting IC to electric?

Thanks again,
Phil

Multiplex Magister (64" span!!) - made of Elapor is coming next month. I want one RFN!!