Parkzone Trojan T-28 - Awesome Flying Foamie

Check out the inverted hand launch! (Watch the video in HD if you can, the video quality got killed when I uploaded it)
One of the questions I get asked most often is what I would recommend for a first or second plane.
The answer depends on whether the person has a flight simulator or not. If not, then a good choice for the first plane would probably be a high wing trainer but as soon as the person is comfortable with it, then jump into the Parkzone Trojan T-28.
If that person is willing to put in some time on a simulator first, then jump straight into the Trojan. That's what I did and I had no problems. Make all your orientation mistakes on the simulator!
The Trojan in this video was my very first plane and as you can see, it is still serving me very well. There are a lot of "foam snobs" out there who think that this plane is a POS but I will always maintain that the Trojan is one of the best flying, all 'round bind 'n fly foamies on the market. It is capable of so much more than flying scale circuits. At about $165.00 or so for the Plug n Play version, I think it represents one of the best values out there. If I ever want to take a break from the "pucker factor" of flying my balsa 3D planes, all I have to do is throw this baby in the air. It's never too windy or too ugly to fly the Trojan. In fact the more wind there is, the more fun it is.
The Trojan is very friendly to new fliers on low rates, can keep up with your growing skills and be your best friend until you're ready to get into something more expensive and fragile. The nice part about these planes is that if you prang them with a dumb thumb move, a bit of CA and you're good to go. And, replacement parts are readily available and inexpensive.
In this video, Harvey D. flies my trusty old Trojan for the first time and even a pilot of his ability came away smiling. "It flies damn good for a $165.00 chunk of foam". The plane has several hundred flights on it and will always have a place in my hangar.
So is it stock? Well, 'er, not exactly. There is a hop-up video on my channel but to recap, it is all stock including servos with the exception of the motor, esc and prop. It's running a Turnigy 35-36C motor mounted with a Custom RC Parts motor mount and a Turnigy Plush 60 Amp ESC pulling 42 Amps with an APC 12x6E prop. I use the high C rate Turnigy nano-tech 3S 2200 batteries. (A 20 C battery will come down hot after a full flight of full throttle action.)
The motor and esc are cool to the touch after 6 minutes of full throttle madness. It has unlimited vertical and handles better than it should. (In the hop-up video, I was using a 10x7 prop like I used in my super-fast Wildcat but the larger Trojan flies much better with the 12x6.
I removed the landing gear because I happen to think it looks a million times better in the air and it handles better too. I was going to do the E-flite retract mod but they are a bit too fragile for a grass field such as ours as others have found out. Besides, it's nice to not have to add the extra weight.
I hope you enjoy the video. I know I was sure grinning when I watched Harv fly the good old T-28.
Cheers,
Bob
Motor Mount: