Apprentice 15e PNP

Reader Reviews
Full disclosure: I don't own one of these yet but based upon watching one fly at our local RC flying field it will be my next plane. I'm still a beginner with only a month's experience. All beginners crash at first. It is inevitable. The model I saw flying the other day was in the hands of an RC flyer with more than 30 years experience in this hobby. He was demonstrating it to the actual owner who was not comfortable taking it up all by himself on its maiden flight. Smart move on his part. After flying it around the pattern for a few minutes the experienced guy said there was too much throw on the control surfaces so we showed the actual owner how to reduce that by moving the push rods to another hole closer to the hinge points.Beginners at any endeavor over-correct. Given any plane with too much sensitivity to begin with, a newbie is going to have his hands full for sure. Most experienced RC flyers recommend two things. Practice on a good simulator package like "Real Flight" before you take to the air, and get an experienced flyer to help you once you have enough confidence on the sim to take a physical airplane up in the air.The "Apprentice" is a good trainer plane. It has all the right things going for it - a high wing with a flat bottom surface for example. It also has full aileron and rudder control so you develop the right mode-2 4-channel habits from the very beginning. There are some 3-channel so-called beginner planes out there with only rudder control for turning. Yes they are a little easier to fly, but it like learning to drive in a golf cart. Very little of what you learn on the golf course will help you on the freeway.So for starters, get yourself a simulator package to run on your computer before you ever launch a real plane into the sky. That said, there is only so much even the best simulator can teach you so step two is to enlist the help of someone with a few years of experience.