This little plane was my son and my first project and it turned out great, we had a lot of fun putting it together and it is both super fast and super slow! The video tutorials are great and the plane is durable, needless to say we have crashed it a few times and have been able to repair it and continue flying! When you crash it 10 times, it's time for a new Power Pod! If it is your first plane, buy a few extra fire walls to make another Power Pod.
This a great little plane! I’m relatively new to planes and this thing has held up to some major crashes and has only needed a little bit of glue to get back in the air. I think it is a lot of fun to fly as well!
Today was the first day I've flown an RC plane of any kind in over 10 years. I used to be heavily involved in the hobby years ago and loved building planes and flying them, but moving, life, work... I'll save you from the boring stories of adulting. I bought the Mini Trainer in 2016 and set it aside till this last week when I blew off the dust assembled the plane following the incredibly helpful Youtube video and took her out for her maiden flight early this morning. To say I was nervous would be a grand understatement, but the instant I tossed the Tiny Trainer into the air, all my worries were gone. this thing flies like a dream. I built the 3 channel version and had zero issue flying the plane. a little up and right trim and she was flying straight and solid. First flight in over ten years and I was doing loops, big lazy rolls as well as inverted flight. I can't wait to build the 4 channel wing and get back out there and run a bunch of batteries through her.
This was a great father/daughter project. My 12 year old was nervous about flying and potentially crashing some of my more expensive planes. I stumbled upon the Flite Test aircraft and have been having a blast with the Tiny Trainer and the Mustang. The Tiny Trainer was easy to assemble, both wings fly great and the foam board build can take more punishment than I thought. I was able to take the Fly, Crash Repair, Repeat mantra and put it into practice with her. She is enjoying the learning experience and she has gotten over the fear of crashing and damaging the plane.
Love what you are doing at Flite Test!
I've had a lot of bad luck in the past building my own foamboard airplanes but the FT Tiny Trainer has completely changed that! It was super easy and fast to assemble and flies beautifully (slow and stable) with the trainer wing. I would highly recommend this for anyone getting into the hobby because it helps you learn basic build and flight techniques. Thank you Flite Test for this amazing design!!!
Great parent child build project. Flies great, and no real bad habits with the simple wing. Can pretty much stomp on the rudder and away it turns. Wing and overall design penetrates the wind pretty well too. Another great FT design.
I'm now on my second Tiny Trainer! This plane is perfect for entry into the hobby and for anyone who wants a something to keep in the car for a quick fly. The 3 channel setup is really docile and can be flown pretty slow and makes learning a snap. In the 4-channel setup, this plane can really move and has been fantastic for learning basic aerobatics. My first version got a little beat up (mostly from moving, storing, packing in the car), so I decided to build a replacement because this plane is just so much fun and inexpensive.
One note - I don't know if others are finding this, but I found both of my builds to be very nose heavy (probably because of the convertible nature - chuck glider set up). It's probably better with a 2c battery, but I fly it with 3c. I've had to add a 1 oz weight on the fuselage about 3 inches from the tail to get the CG right. This is with the battery in the standard position (under the power pod). Not a big deal once it's setup.
Jim
I have built many FT airplanes, but the FT tiny trainer was by far the easiest one to get in the air. It's the first airplane I have flown and landed in one piece. Super excited! Easy to put together, too. Great job Flite Test! On to the bushwhacker.
My 8 yo son had an RC plane on his Christmas list. Santa put this kit under the tree and he couldn't have been happier. He thought he wanted a RTF, but building this plane was half the fun. FT makes it extremely easy to follow through the build process. We had a great time learning the build techniques and after it was finished, we just couldn't stop looking at it and showing to our family and friends.
But then came the moment of truth. Honestly, we were both pretty nervous. We figured we'd crash it and we did. Make sure up is up and down is down. Once we got the kinks worked out, it took to the air. And back to the ground. Hard. This happened more times than I can remember. Launch, "fly" and crash. We got a little discouraged. But then I watched the FT video series for beginners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA1kn-pj-nk&list=PLQJszwhY4lODZV6DxB6PNDDLam4jcppDv&index=2&t=0s
GAME CHANGER!! Once I saw this, we tried the take off and then immediately land with no turning technique. We realized that the inputs should be minimal. We read this and heard it from multiple sources. But until you can do it and see the results, it's hard to wrap your head around it. After a few batteries worth of straight take off and landings, we were ready to actually fly this thing. And it happened!! It handles great, is very forgiving and extremely fun to fly. And it can take a BEATING!
The only mod we made was velcro-ing a quarter to the bottom of the tail to get the balance right. This was probably due to liberal hot glue applied to the parts in the front of the plane. We look forward to more flying and more planes from FT.
It flys, dives, takes a bashing, and teaches you all the lessons of building.
This was my first rc plane to own and teach myself on. I always found them to be abit noise heavy, so much so the battery would have to be shoved way into the fuselage. But that was a lesson in balancing for me.
Flys good and true though if you set it up right.
Recommend.
I have built 3 of these from scratch . the first one I made electric , did'nt have right power combo and it didn't fly well . The second one however , I had an old cox.49 so I made custom engine pod and mounted it up . mind you it was an old engine-it flew about 50 feet and floundered , still not enough , so I got a killer bee and mounted it wow plane flies like on rails , and to hear that engine scream is quite amazing , really just wanted to share my fun with this fast little bird
This plane is perfect in so many ways! This was my second FT build, first successful FT build, and first FT build with my, Father.
We enjoyed the build and love it more in the air.
I'm teaching my, Dad how to fly again after a tragic brain injury that caused memory loss.
We started with the trainer wing on 2s and now we are on the sport wing on 3s.
We are already looking for our next build together!
Also going to get another one to teach my 10 year old nephew how to build and fly.
This plane is excellent. I purchased 2 other mini kits so far and built one plane from the kit, and I built 2 planes from downloaded plans. This is one of the two that I built from downloaded plans. This plane is awesome, the reinforced front takes a pounding which is perfect for a trainer. It handles the wind unlike many of the other mini planes. All of the build videos are excellent. I also made a 40 inch x 5.5 inch armin wing with full ailerons with a slight dihedral, and I just installed the F power pack motor on it. It is a great plane with many options as it comes with two wings. It expands with your flying ability 3 channel to 4 channel. I'm actually considering adding a camera on it. Thank You Flite Test I waited 40 years to start flying, and you made this process easy, especially with all the training and build videos.
A Great plane to fly but you might want to buy a couple if you are a beginner
This was our second build. It was pretty simple and straight forward. The plane flys so well. I set the throws to max. No added weight to set center of Gravity. Hand launched and belly landings so far. We are going to add landing gear (fixed) for runway take off and landings. Mustang was our first build. The Trainer was a little easier to build and much easier to fly than the mustang.
I have built, and rebuilt, and then built this aircraft anew again. I really enjoy the flying the tiny trainer. It's very forgiving and flies very smoothly. The large wingspan makes this plane easy to fly at a good altitude, which is helpful when you are starting out as it makes it easy to fly at a good altitude to permit time to recover from mistakes. The only draw back to the design is with a 3 cell 850mAh battery it way too nose heavy, and a bit of a pain to get the battery far enough back to properly balance while being in a secure position. I have been able to help with this a little by taping a nickel to the end of the tail, which gives it just enough wait with the battery pushed far into the nose that it balances out okay when the battery is pushed back past the power pod, but its not the most secure position as I am only using friction to hold it into place rather than hook-and-loop fasteners.
The speed build kit itself is nicely cut and I have learned from buying and building this kit that the water proof foam seems to hold up far better than the DTFB foam. I have built both this speed build kit, and now a scratch build with DTFB and found the laster-cut water proof foam to be a much easier medium to paint and fit together. This speed build also comes with two wings, a polyhedral wing and a sport wing, as well as a powered and glider nose making this a great value. I started out with the polyhedral wing, and quickly moved onto the sport wing in a 5-channel setup, and it is a lot of fun to fly.
This my first self assembled RC plane and I can say, that it was a great entry in the hobby of building and flying RC-Planes. The many great qualities of this design have been told by many other people here.
So I would like to point out some areas where I had some trouble:
- The space in this plane is very limited. Therefore all components have to be stuffed inside and sometimes I got a cable damaged..
- I had huge trouble to trim the CG: The plane was extremely nose-heavy. I had to place the battery way behind the power pod to get the weight distributions right.
That being said, I have just finished building the 4 channel wing and I am going to fly it tomorrow. I hope it will survive the next crashes as it did with the ones so far. Repair is relatively simple. I have bought a box of foam board and can relatively easy replace damaged parts.
Best regards,
Robert
Absolute blast of a plane, I even modified it crudely to fly as a biplane
Check out my video. RC Pilots - Flitetest Mini Trainer Biplane Mod
https://youtu.be/lkz4MD6Q1WE
This is a great build. It is my second FT plane kit. I am a beginner for sure when it comes to planes, quads on the other hand, been flying for 4 years now. I would have to say I learned to fly with this plane. I made the Cub first, but his trainer helped me more.
IT NEEDS MODS!!!! especially for a beginner.
I built it out in the 3 and 4 cannel versions.
3 channel: It needs bamboo skewer wing spars. I put it tucked into the trailing edge where the foam folds over and meets after it was made, but you could integrate it into the build.
I ran it on 3s 650 70 china hobby line batteries. Fit perfectly. The motor was a 2205 running either a tri blade 5048 or a bi 6040
I have so much fun with this plane. You can make it roll!!!!
4 channel: It so needs bamboo wing spars. I had to build a second wing after it folded over during a deep dive. It is such a long wing, and the flaps make it weak. So when you build it put 2-3 bamboo skewers from tip to tip, or more. And one on the trailing edge where the rubber bands go. I also didn't put the dihedral in this build, figured I could make it more acro.
I ran it on 3s again, and put a bigger motor 2307-2522 running the same prop.
So, build two with the kit like I did. Build one with the kit and scratch build the other by tracing onto more foam.
Have a great time!!!
