Ok, so your proficient with your trainer plane and you've got it mastered or at least you think you do. With the setups below you should be ok either way. A question I hear a lot when I'm out at the field is; what should I get now after my trainer?

What type of pilot are you? This is basically just based on the type of flying you like wether it be hauling but around and turning left or just all out burning holes in the sky, its all up to you. You could also be the Sunday flier that just likes to fly around doing the occasional roll here or there. Last but certainly not least you may want to get into precision aerobatics or 3d. Now whatever plane you choose to head in whatever direction you choose is totally based on how good you fly that trainer. People have gone from a trainer to a funtana 3d and were fine. Some people go from a trainer to sportier trainer type such as mid wing trainer types you see at tower hobbies and they failed miserably. You and your instructor should be the judge of this.

Some ideas for planes that make good second ones that are most common would be, the four star 40 or 60, super sportster(a little spicy at times), the two previous are good for most base aerobatics and can fly at high speeds without problems most of the time. Planes like the next few listed should not be flown with power in dives due to flutter, so throttle control is a must. The somethin extra(extremely good flying plane) is a good plane if you want to get some mild 3d practice, magic fun fly(keep rates down). Mainly planes with thick wings that slow down very well w/no snapping tendencies will work. Planes definetly not to consider: delta wings, jets, warbirds,anything with a heavy wing loading that will land hot. Planes like this will be difficult to transfer to after a nice slow landing trainer.

If you've gotten the trainer down pat take a look at the planes I listed above. You can find all of them new in ARF form and you can find most of them in kit form as well for the builder in all of us. Also a good idea would be to find one RTF used on a classifieds site. A great one is www.rcuniverse.com. RTF is a good idea if you are ambitious about moving forward quickly to your next plane.

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