Trainers

[T. Lyttle]

Haven't visited this site much lately, apparently neither has anyone else!

I am looking for SUCCESSFUL c/l trainers, either from kits or plans. Let me know what you have found that works in 049 and larger models, so far I have a couple that work for me:

PAT, modified. Showed up in a 60s magazine, 24" wing, profile fuse on the plan, high a/r wing and stab, 049. Advantage is that if you get dizzy, you simply stop turning and hold the handle straight overhead, and it orbits until you get your bearings again. I modified it to a 1" sheet box from 1/8 balsa for the fuse, so far unbreakable. PAT is Primary & Advanced Trainer, it will loop but that's it.

ATOM. Again a 60s plan, 36" span, all sheet. Calls up a 15, but I used an 09 diesel. Advantage was you could start the engine and get to the center of the circle (and the student who held the handle) on 53' lines by the time it broke ground. Stable (and durable) enough so that I have been able to SOLO a dozen 10-year-olds in one evening! (Cub Scout group) First 2 became so oilsoaked as to be deemed unrepairable (yes they will break: 5 min epoxy to the rescue!), third one I gave away in a move...

Anyone else?

[steve lewin]

I'm afraid I haven't built a trainer from kit or plan for ages. I just sort of knock them up, roughly 24-30" span, profile fuselage and stick a PAW 1.5 (.09) on. I suspect you're right and you have to go back to earlier days to find plans.

There's not much interest left in C/L over here in the UK apart from retreads like me so little call for ab initio trainers. Shame really. I can only think of one trainer kit available over here and that's very eccentric. It has twin booms carefully arranged so that you can't see if you have the elevator straight or not. Not a good idea IMHO. You used to be able to get KK Phantoms until fairly recently and they were widely used but they seem to have finally given up the ghost (phantom, ghost, gerrit ?).

Steve

[Mike Palko]

My club uses swap meet buys for trainers. We buy them cheap because they are going to be crashed ALOT! Our most successful type of airplane has been a slab wing, profile fuse .15 size airplane. Most of them are built from SIG kits i believe...??? Models like the buster, shoestring ect... We fly them on 52' lines and if the trainee is a first time pilot we put the prop on backwards (helps to keep the speeds down). The slab wing is very easy to fix after a crash along with the profile fuse. We use large gear/wheels so if there is a high speed touch and go :D it will hopefully keep it from getting to beat up. You may also want to keep it a little nose heavy to help smooth out level flight and sudden control inputs, and try to stay away from 1/2 a's, they are very jumpy and fly fast.

[Bud Morrison]

The platter is a very nice trainer and takes one heck of a beating.
Downloadable plans here
http://www.aeromaniacs.com/Platerins.html

Here is a nice one made from coroplast again it takes a beating
http://www.balsabeavers.ca/begginers_page.htm


Both are 1/2a only cost a few dollars to make (less engine) and the kids love them

[downunder]

I've always had great success giving people a first flight with a larger all sheet trainer using an old beat up 40 ex-RC engine. All but one young kid did at least a few laps solo on their first flight (solo meaning that my hand hovered nervously close to the handle :) ). One of the mum's was good enough that I let her land it!

The advantage of the bigger trainer is the longer lines doesn't get the beginner as dizzy and there's much more feel that there's something out there. They all come away smiling though....

BTW, I'm not surprised there's been little talk in here seeing it's hidden inside a general "Trial Forums"...I had considerable trouble finding the CL area.

[Bud Morrison]

Yes I agree a bigger trainer is easier to fly for someone new.
And the price on 1/2a engines these days isn't an advantage like it was in years past.

The one advantage to 1/2a I have found however is the fact that they can smack them into the ground withoutout any major damage other than a broken prop from time to time.

[T. Lyttle]

Good ideas. Here's a hint: for 1/2A motors, put an ad in the local paper, "Cox 049 motors wanted for youth program, will pay ($2, $5, whatever the market responds to) in any condition". You end up getting lots of motors with less than 15 sec on them, sometiimes with the remains of the P51, Spitfire, whatever plastic nasty that it was mounted in, tank, lines, etc. Once you have the engines, sell them to any beginner that finishes a model for the amount you paid, buy it back at the same price when he/she moves on. I had engines that were recycled a half dozen times, some never came back, some were donated back, but they were ALWAYS available to the beginners in the club. Worked for us...

Sidelight: at one time, Cox was building more engines per year than GM!