Hobbyking Tuff Trainer EPP (PNF)

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Customer Rated

Feb 24, 2014

I have flown it a few times now and it flies great.It arrived undamaged I did notice once put together that the motor had a lot of downwards angle .I added some 5mm shims to the lower two screws .First flight was hand launched took off great there was no aileron response at all so flew with rudder.second flight was great I set the travel limits for the ailerons on my 6j futaba radio to 140 percent I now have excellent aileron control this thing flies nice and is good to land with.I really cannot fault it.Thanks for making my weekend flying fun and not exspensive Hobbyking.

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Customer Rated

Feb 16, 2014

Very good little trainer that can take a beating. I have about 14 flights on it and no major issues with factory items yet except for prop o rings. Once you find a good o ring though even a small nose over doesn't break it. Requires a bit of tweaking before flying such as adjusting for a little less down thrust and mine needed a bit more throw on the elevator than manual recommended (down one on the control horn). I have removed the original tyres and used hubs with 10mm slices of pool noodle to make a larger wheel which works well on grass. Battery slot needed extending to take 1000mah battery and uses about 100mah per min (6mins flying). Make sure to extend forward to help slight tail heaviness. I did take the dihedral out of the wing and it can now fly simple sport maneuvers if pushed. Recommended for first plane.

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Customer Rated

Jan 21, 2014

Good trainer but as others have said it does require a bit of tweaking before flying. Had no issues with servos so far but exercised the control surfaces first to free them up. Motor down thrust is way too much and needed adjusting. Used 10mm slices of pool noodle with original wheel hubs to get more height and bigger wheels for grass runways. The landing gear position is ok but could be moved forward a little to prevent a few nose overs. Used a 1000mah battery and lengthened the compartment (rearward) to fit and cg as stated in manual is 65mm which seems right. Elevator control rod needed moving lower on horn for more throw and ailerons do work but may as well just fly with rudder with wing dihedral as effectively works the same. Overall flyable but I expect to be making a few more improvements before I'm done.

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Customer Rated

Jan 15, 2014

It needs a few special touches when assembling. You can not just pull it out of the box, put it together and fly away. But do some homework and read the reviews for some pointers. Bend the rear servo control rods as they come out of the tail, so they do not get jammed up. use a 100 Gram battery max. Keep you receiver away from the ESC. Needs a couple degree up elevator to fly level. Use 2 part 5 minute epoxy to fix. After you get comfortable, split the main wings and glue them back together to reduce the dihedral (V-shape) to almost none. Don't fly in the wind, this thing is really bad in the wind. Do not turn sharp until removing the dihedral because it does go into a death spiral and you can not pull up easiely. If you are low to the ground it will go into the ground nose first. With that said, it is a good beginner plane and repairs well. I have had no electronics problems and the motor still works after many crashes nose first. You will need 2 rubber bands to hold the propeller on. Using one it tends to pop off. Get extra blades, you will need them.

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Customer Rated

Dec 14, 2013

Right out of the box this model had two flaws that shouldn't have a trainer.

First time at the field:
The ailerons responded randomly and when they responded the plane initiated a deadly spiral down resulting in many crashes. Could only control it using rudder only.


Why was this?
I searched the groups to find this was a very good trainer when it hadn't ailerons. So something was not well redesigned when the ailerons were added.
But what?
I thought of two reasons:
1) Rudder only planes have a dihedral angle where the wings meet. It makes the plane turn in an angle. While this is good for a rudder only plane it makes turns too tight and angled in an aileron plane. The same happens with the HK QuickSilver ultralight which only has ailerons.

2) The ailerons are too flexible and even the slightest pressure bends them. So what? When you apply aileron the wind corrects the aileron in all its length but the tiny spot where the servo horn it located. The flexibility of the ailerons renders them ineffective almost always.

What I did:
1) I cut the junction of the wings and glued them back together at a flat angle, I also put a carbon fibre rod to strengthen the union.
2) I glued a plastic piece to each of the ailerons in all its length.

Second time at the field:
Problem solved, flew many times and the plane was responsive to both aileron and rudder. No more crashes.

I strongly advi

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Customer Rated

Nov 22, 2013

Great little trainer but as others have said if you rubber band the wings on it bends the trailing edge down. Needs reinforcing or an alternate way of securing the wings. Mine has taken plenty of crashes. Take plenty of props and install bigger wheels.
Pilot Pete from NZ

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Customer Rated

Nov 06, 2013

Wish I had seen all the comments elsewhere about this plane before I bought it. Whole nose broke off in crash after 10 seconds of flight. Plane has major problems in it's design. After reading other's comments and how they fixed the plane and got it to fly I think I should be able to get it to fly but this is no take it out of the box and put it together machine. Buyers beware. Check out the discussions on RC forums and then buy something else.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Sep 27, 2013

Quite a tough plane, other than the balsa motor mount and battery cover area. The foam is tough, but landing bad on the nose with snap the motor mount, and even normal landings on grass, which cause the plane to nose over, can cause damage. I modded the plane for a 2200mah 3s by honing out the area that leads from the battery area to where the wing mounts. It is already hollow there, but I made it a bit larger. The added weight of the larger battery help keep the nose down. Flight is a decent speed, and the plane takes off from the street well, but it cannot take off grass at all, unless it were too short to call it grass at all. Landings, like stated, will result it nose overs, unless on a hard surface, which I haven't been able, as I have to land on the street and fly over street lights and then come in. This causes speed to be too great to land, so I stick to grass. As for handling, I had to dial down the servo endpoints a fair amount. The rudder is my main control on this plane and it actually works like ailerons and banks the plane, as well as causes barrel rolls of a sort. Aileron is a little slow for banking and doesn't help much unless endpoints are increased in ailerons once you get used to the plane. The plane is quite floaty, even without wind, and it doesn't like heavy stick movements, so make sure the area you fly is large, because it doesn't like turning around fast, although I now can manage okay. With wind, the plane will be pushed sideways easily, and I have

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Certified Buyer Rated

Aug 04, 2013

As a newbie to Rc planes I would highly recommend getting this model as even I could fly it (and land it) without much trouble. It was easy to setup straight from the box. It survived a few hard landing without much damage and was easy to repair , the weakest part is the bit of balsa would that holds the battery in place.

The wheels are a bit small for takeoff from grass I would say but I am no expert.



I would not look at any other model for a first time flyer. Thanks great product.

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Customer Rated

Jul 26, 2013

This is definitely a plane someone should buy if they are either learning to fly or want to experiment with aerobatics and do not want to have to risk their plane each time they fly. I have a child care center: Whales, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, and I have had all 65 children in my summer program fly the Tuff Trainer at least twice (5 minutes per flight) and some have flown the Tuff Trainer four or five times now. I have yet to loose a plane due to crashes, although there were plenty while I was learning how to be a good trainer and use the trainer feature on my radio. This plane can be repaired endlessly. The only area susceptible to breakage is the nose area. I fiberglass this section after a few instances to make the plane invincible. The wing can get a little bendy after a while, so I fiberglass the leading edge and along the spars of the wing, as well as fiberglassing the center section of the wing, where the rubber bands hold it to the fuselage. Cheap. Great Flyer. Plenty of power, which means it will fly well even after adding the weight of many many repairs. The only ones I have lost were two caught high up in trees and one that literally flew away (I was asked a question and before I knew it the child flying flew the plane beyond sight: I learned not to answer too many questions while flying).