| Wrong! The Duraplane only weighs 5.5#s which is typical for most | trainers. Also it's like Jason - you can't kill it.
You most certainly can. The motor is still right in front, so any good impact with anything hard will break the motor.
| The Duraplane pilot will learn to fly having more fun and less grief | than the guys with the balsa models who will need plenty of them to | complete their beginning flight instruction to the point they can | solo.
Huh? Few planes are destroyed during instruction with a buddy box, balsa or not. Certainly, I went through the normal club/glow instruction and never once had a crash with the buddy box connected. (Crashes came later, on my own.)
| Also another important thing that the Duraplane pilot can do is take | risks that other pilots won't even dare.
I have a Duraplane. Actually, it's a Sturdy Birdy II, but almost exactly the same. I started to use it for instruction, but my instructor hated it, so I fixed up the Hobbico 60 trainer I also had but needed some repairs. He liked that a lot more, and indeed -- it flew much better, and was easier to fly.
(If anybody in Austin, TX wants the Sturdy Birdy II, it's yours for $20 -- and that's just to cover the 4 standard Futaba servos I don't feel like removing. No engine, just the plane. No, I won't ship.)
It does fly like ass, but Mr Akimoto seems to think it's the greatest thing ever.
If you want a plane that's indestructable, get an electric flying wing like the Zagi 400 or Combat Wings XE2. (The XE2 is a good deal better than the Zagi 400.) With the motor in the back and foam up front, most crashes do zero damage.
And while they aren't the best fliers in the world, they fly way better than any Duraplane. And they're light enough that you can even turn off the motor and fly them in thermals ...