[Rossco]

Hi.
I'm a new student RC flyer with a LT40 trainer.
Would a Great Planes Extra 300 SP (.46) be a good choice of second plane after I get my wings?
Comments please.

Rossco

[pianodude]

Hey Rosco. Anything that starts with an "E", ie Edge or Extra is a pretty big leap from an LT40. Not that you couldn't fly it, but it would eventually bite you because they go from flying to not flying in an instant. (seen it dozens of times over the years).
When I instructed full size I remember more than one rich fellow getting their licence and going out and buying a Beechcraft Bonanza. One guy got his private licence , then multi engine rating and with less than 100 hours of flying time went out and bought a Cessna 421 ( I made a fortune off of babysitting him that year..) Anyway,the point is you could fly an Edge or Extra, but it probably wouldn't last too long. A Goldgerg Tiger 60, Sig Kavalier make great second airplanes.. My $.02, John.

[Max]

I wouldn't recommend it either. To fast and too responsive.

Something like an Escapade, 4*40 or other planes in that category would be a wiser choice, IMHO

[ogopogo]

Hey Ross, John's advice hits a really good mark. I am a new flier too and I just had built such an association in my mind with "trainer" and "student" that I wanted something very different for interest and excitement. You will find many airframes that you can fly - almost all the time. The question is, can you recover when you dumb-thumb it - as you will at some point. When we train for our wings, most recoveries are made by our instructors. Then we get a little better and may get through the rest of training without an "oh ---- I didn't think it would do that moment". The fact is, you can't go from raw student to fully accomplished flyer in a season. You will get a little too brave and will have to do a quick recovery. An intermediate plane will give you a chance to do that. An extra or and edge etc, not so much. My second plane is in the shop for paint. I decided to make some changes to my temporary radio while in the air and discovered that upside-down and right-side up are quite similar on a stick. I can fly better but at times I still don't. I now fly a T-34 Mentor which I think looks neater than a trainer but actually flies very gentle. I am learning how to recover on it. I also resisted the Stryker as almost everyone had one but eventually I saw them having so much fun I had to buy in. You can go slow, fast, roll, loop, tumble and if you do a 100 foot loop in a 90 foot envelope, you can glue it back together and fly agin within minutes. It's certainly not a first plane for if you mess up in the wrong place, as Russel says, somebody gonna get hurt real bad.
I know the instructers at the club will say, "Fly the hell out of your LT40 until you can do everything that it can." but I know the feeling of wanting a change.

[canadianf1pilot]

I keep seeing the Sig Kavalier offered up as a good second choice....yikes!!!! I like the Kavalier, and have flown many of them but a 2nd plane...NO WAY

The 4* line (4star40, 4star 60) are great for a 2nd plane, they are fairly low wing loading planes, but wave a better fun factor for a new pilot. The Tiger is also a good choice.

my $.02 os stay away from the Kavilier until you have mastered you 2nd plane...and then go for an Extra

good luck Rossco...

Bill

[Daren71]

My second airplane was a Hangar 9 Ultra Stick. It can do any aerobatics that a newbie can throw at it, and still come home after a not so pretty landing.

http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Def...ProdId=HAN1675

You can transfer all the servos, and engine from the LT-40 to the stick, and save the LT-40 when you want to make another tail-dragger, slow flyer. You won't regret buying a stick, the design has been around for years, so the are a proven flyer.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I still have the stick after 6 years, and I have been looking for my old LT-40.

Good luck, Daren

[wymbly1971]

The second aircraft I flew was a small Extra, Cap, whatever...

It didn't last long. I felt I was a talented and safe flyer. The first time I took the aerobatic airplane out it was exceptionally responsive and light feeling. Of course, it had no self righting characteristics at all and would fly inverted as easily as right side up. And that's what happened. I got it flying inverted and too far away. I rolled it and it ended up inverted again. My first touch of up-elevator and she met the earth quickly. All newb mistakes of course.........

Then I got a PTS Mustang with all the safety stuff taken off. Now THAT was a successful aircraft. Easy to work on and tune, some self righting capabilities, flaps and decent performance. It looked DAM good and flew predictably but with a touch of challenge too. Surprisingly, one of the things I liked about it most was the 2-piece wing....

It was my favorite aircraft for a long time and I only sold it to move up to a more scale Mustang.

It's really up to your level of skill and individual choice. I just find that in this hobby, big jumps can sometimes lead to equally big disappointments.

[grosbeak]

I'm a new flyer too - I got into the hobby this year and got my wings this summer flying a Hobbistar 60. I still love to fly it.

I did a lot of thinking about a second plane. I decided I wanted a low-winged taildragger big enough for gas, so I chose the Pulse 125 ARF - I'm into the build now and it should be ready for spring.

[dialtonehunter]

H9 Pulse XT40 or XT60

[robbthepilot]

For what it is worth, the Multiplex Fub Cub would be an awesome 2nd plane. It will fly very slow and very fast. I is very controllable and easy to fly. There are 4 quite new guys at my field with them and they do very well.