Hey guys ,
1 quick question, has any1 here flow or have a tower hobbies 40 ARF trainer? can you tell me if this is a plane worth getting, can you tell me the pros\cons of the plane? Thanks a bunch

Don

Most trainers fly very similarly. There are a couple of exceptions, but if you build them as per the instructions (with dihedral) and balance the CG correctly it will fly like a trainer. This is primarily due to the fact that most have flat bottomed wings of very similar dimensions. I've seen a Tower Trainer fly at my field and it flew similar to some Hanger 9 Easy Flies and a Hobbico Superstar 40. So if you're shopping for a trainer, get the one that you think looks the best.

I have a friend that has a Tower trainer ARF. The quailty seams to be alright. We haven't flown it yet but like F2racer said most trainers fly the same. The thing I don't like about it is the covering is that sticky back stuff. If it becomes loose or wrinkled it can't reallly be fixed. Other than that they're not bad.

For another $20.00 you can get a PT-40 and that one is covered with monokote. It can fixed much easier than the sticky back covering.

I personally like the Sig PT40 myself. They fly best of all the trainers, in my opinion.

A guy at our field had a Tower 60 trainer, and he loved it. Even after he learned to fly, it was still one of his favorites to fly. He said it had about 20 gallons of fuel through it....until the stabilizer blew off at about 150 feet up. He really pushed that plane beyond it's limits, however. He also had a .75 in it.

Mike

Here's the aftermath of what happens when you push a Sig Kadet Senior to its limit...

Click Me (http://homepage.mac.com/alpha_moonbase/.Movies/CRASH.mov)

Originally posted by fourstar40
For another $20.00 you can get a PT-40 and that one is covered with monokote. It can fixed much easier than the sticky back covering.

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about what the plane is covered with. It's a trainer after all. If it survives long enough you'll wanna recover it at some point anyways. Otherwise "fix" with some box tape. My Avistar (Monokote) is now 6 months old and even though I haven't had a serious crash to date (I've only neede to patch a 4 inch part of the coat once with trim), I'm kinda itching to recover it and do something a little different. There have got to be 8-10 other people at my club with Avistar, and it kinda looks run of the mill...

From the pictures in the magazines, it looks like tha Thunder Tiger Tiger trainer. It as goo as any other trainer I suppose. My twin brother started me out on a Tiger Trainer tricycle gear until I took out the nose gear and I had to learn tail dragger. I took quite a few good licks from my "dumb thumbs" while learning to land...

By turning it into a tail dragger with 20%nitro fuel, it would knife edge really well.

I agree, most of the trainers all fly well. The Hanger9 Easy Fly's seem to have an excessive amount of dihedral, however. I just sold my Solo Strike (Hanger 9) and it flew awesome....but the covering SUCKED! I do think, that with any trainer, you can safely take out about 1/2 the dihedral called for.

You have me wondering why your asking this "PT-40"? ;)

Gary

I used my Tower trainer for about 5 years before radio interference did her in. She just flew and flew..... through many newcomers and hard landings training new members of our club to fly. I got the ARC version now.... just so I could make it look how I wanted her to, but in reality, the ARF version will be cheaper and in the air sooner. I feel you couldn't go wrong. I had a Royal .45 in mine.

Rick

I bought a Hobbico superstar select rtf, Radio eng inc. If you want to fly in twenty minutes, for $300 and some field extras thatls the way to go. but I sent mine through a barbed wire fence and then bought the Superstar awarf. The second one takes a couple of hours, some ca and some epoxy. The Select RTF has bigger wheels..good for grass TO & L's. But If I could have done it all over I would have bought everyhing seperately because you can choose your radio, eng, etc. I just recently purchased a T6xas futaba transmitter off of e-bay because of the dual rates and programming features. Now my Trainer has Flaperons for flaps and Spoilers. And I just made my trainer cord so my 4vf can still be my trainer.

Ps.. The superstar Awarf and the Tower Hobbies .40 Trainers are Identical except for the color schemes jso that to me just boiles down to where you can get the best price. Tower has usually pretty good prices. Shop around. I got my Superstar awarf for 79.99 So really shop around!!

Yes, a Tower Trainer will be fine. I have a Superstar and it has taught me to fly. They are essentially the same plane. Basically, any plane with a high wing design and plenty of dihedral will get you trained and ready for the next plane. Stick with the planes that have a reputation and you can't go wrong. Shop the internet and see what you can do. My opinion from experience is; Get as much radio as you can afford to begin with. Eventually, you'll want to get into flaps and retracts.

Mike