Fastsky

I have been flying for a number of years and when a friend came out to the field I brought out an LT25 for him to fly. He thought this might be a good hobby and wanted to purchase his own plane.
I suggested a Nexstar because it comes complete with radio, engine and flight sym. The good: The plane did go together in about 20 minutes as advertised! The bad: The radio does not have a meter like other radios. It has 2 LED lights. When the batterys get weak the Red LED starts flashing. There is no way to tell what level the batterys are at without removing the connector and checking them with a meter. The engine is OS so it started right away but was shaking. After a minute I discovered that the motor mount was loose against the firewall. I had to remove the muffler and engine to get to the mounting bolts to tighten them. That complete I restarted the engine, made a quick adjustment on the needle valve and took off. The plane took off quickly but I was unable to get it to turn! It drifted across to the setup area and had one pilot yelling to the others to "duck!" I was about 50 feet high now so I chopped the throttle down to half. Now the plane would turn but it wasn't smooth. At this point, the engine died. The plane glided easily and was controllable like it should be. I suspected the balance point as suggested was not right and added nose weight. The CG was checked several times before bringing it to the field and it was between the lines and near the forward CG mark which should have been good if the marks are at the correct location on the wing. Refueled and took off again. The plane handled better but still would not turn in the climb out if the engine was at at full throttle. The plane is fast but kind of squirlly at high speeds, not fun. My new student found the Nextstar much harder to fly than the LT25 but we got in a few flights any way. Another thing we found was the battery packs are small and after only 4 flights you better stop and check the batterys with a meter. The second day out I had to remove the limiter gizmo because the engine was burbling fuel out the carb even at the max lean setting. Overall the plane should now be fine but I have never had a trainer give me this much trouble before. I would suggest new flyers look to other trainers and buy a different radio but stick with an OS engine! Nuff said![]

p.s. The above has been edited for clarity.

jester_s1

So you put a new plane in the air that had not been properly tested for control and CG, and started the engine before checking all the bolts for tightness? And you're an instructor?

tness

I bought a HobbyZone SuperCub, flew on that for about 2 years at a local park, all the while using RealFlight G3.5 to fly other trainers. Bought a NexStar, spent 3 days putting it together, adjusting it, checking it, etc. I had purchased a Futaba 6EXP FM/PCM radio and installed my own receiver and servos and adjusted them per the directions. Took it to a local club that I had joined, and the instructor had it in the air with no problems. I took the time to check, recheck, balance, rebalance and look everything over and had no problems. Only problem I had was that during testing at home with the wing off, it would die when you picked up and pointed it nose up. The fuel lines were backwards according to what the instructions said. I had purchased the ARF, not the RTF, so I knew everything was done correctly, tight etc. I still fly it even today when I want a change of flying.

Fastsky

The wing has 2 CG marks on each wing when tested showed the CG at being between the marks but closer to the front CG mark. This should be fine if the CG marks are on the correct location. The CG was also check with another instructor at the field by checking the balance on the main spar. As far as the bolts for tightness, there are 2 bolts that can't be reached with a screw driver until you remove both the engine and the muffler. The control surfaces were all checked for freedom of movement and the throws are preset at the factory. There is something strange with this plane in that it would be better suited with a smaller engine or as we have done and change the prop because it just doesn't handle well at higher speeds. There is another Nexstar at our field and in talking with both the owner and the other instructors, they had the same issues. The owner switched to a different prop as well, not the same but close with a pitch of 4 3/4 and he also added nose weight.

noveldoc

My Feedback: (2)

I fly a NextStar clone. Good trainer and very smooth.

I think the design is okay but there is a big problem with your particular plane.

Hint here. I put two washers top and bottom left side behind the motor mount to give some right thrust. Cancelled a lot of torque and did straighten things out, especially take offs.

You can also add washers to put in a bit of downthrust if the plane balloons too much when you add throttle.


Tom

tness

Do this particular one have the AFS thing on it? If so, disable it. I've heard bad things about those. Also, if you had the NACA wing droops on, take them off. It's a stable enough plane without having them on. I never even put mine on.

jetmech05

I have had problems with nexstars but nothing like you had....I find the Nexstar wants to veer Rt on takeoff...once airborne is ok...I have had aileron issues on one and that required removal of some extra sheeting for the aileron push rod....and I have had loose bolts...all in all I find the Nexstar over priced and frankly there are better flying trainers out there.....Not turning sounds like the AFS sensor was hooked up....first thing I do is un hook that.....
Never trust an ARF to be set up correctly....
Good Luck

Fastsky

Hi, I read about the AFS problems and disconnecting the leads was one of the first things I did. The wing droops are on but will try it removing them. I spent several flights on the plane just by myself to wring it out and find that it will fly at a crawl while remaining very stable. Changing to the larger prop is what made the biggest improvement.

DenverJayhawk

i had a nexstar and had none of those problems. My only issue was the old 46fx engine. Otherwise, it was a nice plane. I didn't have AFS on mine.

Donahue Racing

ive had 2 nexstars and i had no problems with them . my only problems where ME!! my landing approach skills suck, the plane does what you tell it to do basically!

378

My Feedback: (4)

I went with the ARF version of the NexSTAR to avoid having to check the motor mount to firewall bolts. I'd have to install them myself, I'd know damn well they were loctited in place and not going anywhere, that the radio would be installed right, that the angles would all be good, the battery pack would be of reasonable(IE: biggest mAH I could cram into it) size, and that it would balance well.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

When my students ask for suggestions, I steer them away from the nextstar. Its an ok plane but not rugged enough for training. It flys ok once you take off all that trainer junk they stick on the plane, bolt on flaps, leading edge extensions (brain dump, cant remember the name), high speed needle limiters and disconnect any stablization system. Now we are at a standard plane setup, which does ok. My biggest complaint is the main landing gear. If you hit something, taxi way edge or anything like that, it usually rips out the main gear mounts which means major repair. The trainers I like use wire gear that can be bent back to shape. I point the students towards the hobbico 60 or alpha 40. For the electric guys, apprentice or H9 alpha electric. My first choice is any of the Kadets, but they can be hard to get. The tower trainer is not bad but suffers from quality control issues. 3 out of 3 had warped wings, 3 different students. Tower made good on all of them and they were good durable flyers. It was the delay. I checked each one and it was not an assembly problem. It was one panel warped and one had both panels warped so bad it was a screw. You could see it. Any arf could have loose hardware, its just the nature of consumer production.
Edwin

Fastsky

Made a few more changes on the plane. Added 2 ounces on nose weight. Now it dips down about 2 inches from level. Corrected the lateral balance by adding about 1/2 ounce to the left side wing tip. The plane controls great now and holds a better glide angle for landing at low throttle settings. We can finally work with this thing now!