I want to build my son (7 year old) a trainer (NO ARF) and wondered what is the consensus favorite. It needs to fairly easy to assemble because I want him to do most of the work. I have all the equipment (radio and .46 OS engine) for it. He's not ready for solo flight but I have buddy box for him as well.

I need a kit...adhesives...covering...

Ideas?

My vote would be for the Sig LT-40. I did a build thread on this plane a couple years ago. Take a look at it and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's involved with building this kit.

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3439708/tm.htm]Pay It Forward build thread!! LT-40 build.[/link]

Ken

gotta agree with Ken on this. great model, will fly plenty slowly, room to change things around later if wanted, such as a camera, etc.

Check out Globals RCM 40. Super easy Bolts together. No glue needed. nice looking plane. durable and a LOT MORE forgiving in flight than the LT 40. I have trained a lot of new pilots on this one.

My vote is the Sig Kadet MkII. My Dad has had one for 27 years and it has trained about 8 pilots! Lots of fixes over the years, but she's a little sportier that the LT-40, a little more challenging to build though. The kit can be built as 3 or 4 channel, but you'll definately want to add the ailerons.

We have a high performance NACA 0015 airfoil wing that we can swap out with the flat bottom wing and she fly's like a sport plane just slower and a little more stable.

By the way, my Dad's is done in the original Orange and Black. She still looks great.

Any Sig, but I favor the Kadet.

If you want something simple tp put together check out www.spadflyer.com. I have one with a K&B .45 on it and it performs very well. Cost is $49 plus you need 2 - 2.5 " wheels, a Dubro tail wheel, and a Hayes 8oz tank fits nicely.
One caution - needs a little down trim because the Clark Y airfoil has a lot of lift. Flys better than a Durastick and is very rugged.

RC for dad and 7 year old...good move dad he will love it
The Sig LT 40 with your motor will be perfect. One really good reason for the LT 40 is it will fit a 7 year old's developmental level if set to fly at a low throttle setting...more reaction time. I built one for my son but he was 16 and was more into cars and girls soooo its MY favorite plane now. The instructions and great fitting parts of any Sig kit will enhance the fun you and your kid are going to have.

Some dad to dad heads up here. You may experience some issues with a seven year old's ability to stick with a long build late in the flying season. depends on if he knows about this yet??? A trainer kit takes an average of 40 hours to build maybe a little longer with a kid helping (He will never forget this though so do it by all means) just don't overwhelm him with long build sessions. I think you already have this down because of you said you want him to do most of the work. Don't forget to take some pics! Especially when one of you glues your fingers to the plane[&:]

You could download some pics of covering schemes that you could live with and let him choose one.

if you haven't told him yet you might take him to the local flying club to watch to get him fired up. if you have told him then you HAVE to take him to the flying field(just kidding).

I agree a seven year olds attention span is limited. I'm prepared to do most of the work but want him to take some ownership in the process. Regarding getting him interested... He goes with me often to the field and is my crew chief. He can fuel the plane...does the range checks...battery voltage checks. He's got his AMA card.

I myself only recently got back into the hobby...took a 10+ year sabbatical as my kids were too young and time wasn't available.

Glad to be back... http://web.mac.com/jrheault/RC_Flying/RC_Flying.html

I think I'll go with the SIG LT 40...

Thanks for the information.

Congratulations on the Father and Son project. My 12 year old daughter is building a Sig Rascal. I'm only helping verbally.
One of the first things that caught her attention was the smell of the CA and she said it irritated her eyes. I've had her switch to Sig Bond alphatic resin (wood glue) and oder free CA. Keep some de-bonder handy also.

CA debonder is acitone by the way. a cheap can is standard on my bench. its good for cleaning oily monokote prior to patching also.

I like the LT-40 but then I haven't tried any other trainers.

My 7-year old is keen to learn to fly as well, but I have told him to wait until he's 10. My reason is that he and most other 7-year olds I know get distracted far too easily to keep flying the plane when it is up there. They don't have enough perspective to realize that the plane needs their complete attention and that it is a dangerous thing to lose control of it.

I also notice that when my son "flies" a simulator, he just can't keep himself from overcontrolling. He cranks the sticks all over the place, no matter how often I remind him to "use small movements". I think perhaps a 7-year old still lacks the manual dexterity to just stroke the sticks.

Anyhow, in the meantime my son comes and helps out at the field, and we are getting into building planes together - plastic and wood. By the time he's 10 he will have some idea of what goes into making a finished product and will have learned to respect that effort enough that he won't want to smash it up just to see what it looks like...