A Guaranteed Basic Trainer Package and Economical too!

Sport Aviator has reviewed just about every Ready-To-Fly (RTF) 4-channel basic trainer now available. In fact, there has been only one such RTF basic trainer not presented in detail in the magazine. Now is the time to remedy that omission. The Tower Hobbies Tower Trainer 40 RTF was one of the first RTF trainers offered to RC pilots. It is also the least expensive RTF trainer, priced at just $250!

Of course, a lot of “corners” will have to have been cut for such a low price, right? The engine will have to be a very cheap, non-ball bearing 0.40 cu. in. and the radio must be so basic that the pilot will probably have to use “AA” dry cells in both the transmitter and on-board receiver. How else could Tower Hobbies offer a fully equipped, conventional 4-channel, 40-size glow trainer for $250?

  
Photo 1     Photo 2

To find out just what quality was cut to get the price down to $250, we have to open the box and look inside. But before we opened it, the label had a surprise in store. Instead of a cheap, non-ball bearing equipped.40 engine, the Tower Trainer is pulled along by the famous Tower Hobbies .46 cu. in. BB ABC engine. Surprise number one (more on this engine later).

The radio system, the Tower Hobbies® System 3000 4-TH 4-Channel Radio, has rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries powering both the transmitter and the on-board system. So much for that promotional package of 40 “AA” dry cells I bought. One point to note is that the receiver is a 7-channel system that can grow into more advanced aircraft later on. It does not seem that any “corners” were cut from the radio system either.

 
Photo 3      Photo 4

Maybe production costs were reduced by leaving out fancy trim colors? Photo 3 illustrates that the color scheme is actually complex and attractive. Even more, Tower Hobbies put a broad red stripe under one wing for added visibility. Many more expensive RTF basic trainers do not have this added feature. So they didn’t save any costs on the covering job either.

The equipment provided is excellent for an RTF training aircraft and the wood construction with heat-shrink covering is also quality work. So, either Tower Hobbies is selling this RTF airplane at cost to attract new pilots (a nice thought but hardly practical), or are actually losing money on each airplane but “making it up in volume” (neither practical nor a nice thought) or are using their high-volume buying power to get a really excellent airplane system at an affordable price. No matter which, the end result to the new pilot is a low-cost but very high-quality training system that is just about ready to put into the air as received.

Assembly

 
Photo 5       Photo 6

About 95% of the “building” work has been done at the factory on this aircraft. This is true of all RTF basic trainers. But some work still needs to be done. Photo 5 shows everything included in the “kit”. All the shinny metal parts were wrapped in a thin layer of protective foam (photo 6). This “extra” protected the metal from scratches and the airframe parts from metal damage.

 
Photo 7       Photo 8

Photo 7 shows that not much printed material was omitted either. There are instructions on assembling the airframe, using the radio, operating the engine and the two-year warranty forms for the engine and radio system. This is a good time to also mention that Tower Hobbies includes an unusual guarantee with this aircraft.

As Tower Hobbies says “You will successfully learn how to fly with a TOWER™ Trainer or we will replace the model with your choice of another trainer up to equal value*. There are some legal caveats on this, especially that you must be flying at an AMA field with a qualified club instructor but no real “strings.” Tower Hobbies must have a lot of faith in either this aircraft system or club instructors or both. But the guarantee is valid and there to support the new pilot.

Photo 8 shows that even the rubber bands used to attach the wing to the fuselage are in included. The Tower Trainers use attractive, and functional, end caps to hold the dowels in place in the fuselage. The plastic caps hide the ugly wood but also prevent the dowels from moving side-to-side in the fuselage.

 
Photo 9       Photo 10

Assembling the wing is always a good place to start building an RTF aircraft. So little work is required that assembly is easy, quick and results in a large structure that motivates the pilot to finish the job.

Photo 9 shows everything needed to complete the wing. The aileron servo is already installed and one aileron is factory connected. This aircraft uses a chromed steel rod, about 1/4 in. in diameter as the main spar. The wing halves are held together by two metal straps similar to those used for attaching the landing gear. If you enlarge photo 9 and look carefully just above the metal spar, you can see one of the pilot holes for the strap screws that the factory pre-drills.

Slide the metal rod all the way into one wing half (photo 10). Mark the center rib’s position on the rod where it exits the wing half. Slide the end of the rod that was outside the wing half into the other wing half. Make sure the mark you made is not visible when the rod is fully inserted. This makes sure that the wing halves will meet perfectly without forcing them into position.

In this kit, the mark on the rod fit inside the wing half by about 3/32 in. That is about a perfect fit. Sometimes the rod might be just a little too long and must be shortened. But it was fine this day.

Photo 11

When sliding the wing halves together over the metal spar, make sure that the rear alignment pin, photo 11, is fully inserted into the opposite wing halve. Sometimes the “fuel proofing” coating used on the center ribs gets into the small alignment hole and prevents the pin from entering it. This aircraft was fine but if it happens to you, use a small round file to remove just the coating. This pin must still be a tight fit for proper alignment.

 
Photo 12         Photo 13

Once the wing halves are fully together, no gaps, use the metal straps and screws to keep them that way. Photo 12 shows the two straps and the factory drilled pilot holes. Use the provided screws to secure the straps in place (photo 13). Connect the other aileron clevis to the torque rod and slide the silicone “keepers” in place.

Now might be a good time to make sure the ailerons are centered. While this subject is covered in greater detail in the Sport Aviator article, “RTF…Maybe” in the Flight-Tech” Section, a quick review here might be a good idea.

Connect the aileron servo to the receiver. A 24 in. long “jumper cable” (available at most hobby shops, is a help here. Put the transmitter’s aileron trim tab in the center position and switch on it and the receiver. Both ailerons should be in the exact center. If not, remove the clevis and adjust until it is. Remember to re-install the keeper after all adjustments are made.