Having done some taxiing training yesterday I was a little more confident to try take-off in the Trainstar, although I still had reservations that this would actually fly as it's really chunky compared to anything I've flown before! Of course I knew it would fly ok, but it just seemed counterintuitive.
Flying it with the familiar 2200mAh 3S 35C battery and a 12x6 prop, the take-off run went reasonably well, although not exactly straight. However, thanks to my practice, I knew what to expect. Once the chubby craft was running stably I added power and then gently rotated to get it airborne. Again the climb-out wasn't exactly formal, however nothing that would cause alarm.
The flight went well, as did the landing despite rather cramped confines, with the pitch in the middle of the field being cordoned off.
The Trainstar's characteristics are, well, exactly what you'd expect of a Cessna-style aircraft, slow, steady and very restrained! Having said that, you can get it to execute aerobatics; a loop is achievable and a roll almost.
Oddly, I found that it performed these maneuvers better with the flaps down, although it should be said that the flap angle I had was quite modest (much less than the actual aircraft would use), however this was both enough for high-speed agility as well as stable landing.
Regarding the latter, my landings were rather on the fast side, as I didn't have a clear final approach to settle it down gently. However, t does land remarkably well, settling down even though it has come in hot.
The Trainstar's aluminium undercarriage struts do an excellent job of soaking up the bumps and keeping the aircraft stably on its wheels. Of course the tail-dragger configuration helps it from face-planting which, not having access to roads or runways for flying, was one of the reasons I ended up choosing this particular craft...
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