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The DuraPlane Trainer 40 is a stable fun-to-fly brick which is known more for its durability than its flight charastics. It is very easy to take off, land, and perform basic aerobatics but it loses speed more quickly than any of the other trainers currently available. The kit includes all the basic components such as the fuselage, wing, and tail surfaces plus most of the required hardware such as a 1" wide aluminum landing gear, piano wire nose gear strut and engine mount. The wing is a flat bottom design with dihedral to make it stable. It is made of three (3) pieces of foam that are epoxied together to make a one piece wing. There is also a plastic protective strip on the top of the wing to protect it from being damaged by the rubber bands that are used to mount the wing. The aileron servos located in a slot on top of the wing and protected by a plastic cover. The fuselage channel sticks out the back and the tail surfaces mount to the channel. The tail surface components are made from 1/4" precut balsa sheets and require very little work to complete. Although the DuraPlane Trainer is an ugly model, this can be overlooked because of its durability. There have been a couple bad landings that would have crushed an all-balsa trainer but these resulted in a couple of "bruises" or dents in the foam that did not effect the flying ability of the DuraPlane. The DuraPlane Trainer can do loops with ease. Although it can perform barrel rolls, they are not very pretty. Solo flight with the DuraPlane was accomplished without an instructor. Anyone who hates being told that what they are doing is not being done correctly is definitely a candidate for a DuraPlane since it can take the abuse of things being done wrong without significant damage. After 10 - 15 flights with the DuraPlane, take-offs, flight and landings can be done with confidence and the model is still in one piece. 
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