DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

The only way to overcome the depth perception thing is practice. As was stated earlier, if you could see the plane clearly, your vision is fine. Glasses or Superman's vision will not improve depth perception!

You will eventually "remember" how large the aircraft is when it's on landing approach, which is why an instructor knows. It's the ONLY way to jusdge how far out it is. (Well, there's one other way. If the sun is directly overhead, watch the plane's shadow.)
Dennis-

Semi Retired Aviator

Thanks DB. I had exactly the same problem this morning, but a thread elsewhere makes some sense, so I'll try that next time out. I am just turning final way too early it seems.

bobs_201

My Feedback: (1)

Ethrjock, I believe you are in luck...There is currently a nexstar airframe (fuselage, wingset, landing gears) on ebay right now for under $50. Just install your old electronics. Here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=19164


A deal like this only comes once!

ethrjock

I saw that one Bob thanks. I made him a offer.

I worked on the fuselage yesterday and was able to repair it less the balsa skin on the bottom and replacing the Mono Kote. Hopefully it wiil bond to the NexStar covering. It is plastic covering too.

One thing about this plane for the other NexStar owners. It needs some fuel proof paint on the inside where the tank rests. It has none. THat is a accident waiting to happen IMHO.

swishman6

Well here ya go!! You may have to download it but you can click on pictures for larger on or click on link for vid. http://www.basickoncepts.com/nexstar/index.htm

Throttle Junkie

In regards to your comment on removing the flaps because they were causing you to climb, I don't believe that is your issue. Try changing the cg with 4-6 oz of nose weight right by the motor. Nose stays down, level flight. Nose up and enough power, climb.

ethrjock

Are you saying the plane needs to be adjusted so it slightly tilts down when checking the CG? as it was it was level after adding some weight.

Dewalt17

I also had to add a bit of weight to the front of my Nexstar. Actally it makes it a bit nose heavy but because of the flaps she always wants to climb. It was a good balance and didnt have to trim it so much.

BGR

It is hard to give any advice without knowing the extent of the damage to this wing. But if the main spar is broken then it may be a total loss. You could sandwich the spar with braces epoxied to both sides of the spar or spars, but this would probably make the one wing heavier than the other. Also because the repair will probably be stronger and stiffer than the rest of the wing it may not have the give needed to spread the stress loading properly in flight. It is possible to soften the glue and completely disassemble the wing, then replacing everything that is not 100% sound. This however may be more costly in time and money than buying a new wing.

I am sorry you broke your plane, I know first hand how devastating that is.

ethrjock

Thanks for the tip BGR.
I am almost finished with the wing. I reused the first 4 cells on the root of the wing and the outter 4 near the tip. It is a sound repair but I question it now after reading your information about it being stronger in the repair area and that being a problem. Do you have a bad experience to share??

I hope to fly her again this weekend weather permitting.

I bought another wing and fuse set off of ebay for the nexstar for $100. I just kept working out the problems with the broken wing and before i knew it I was ready to recover it so I will have 2.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Having been one who's rebuilt many a wing, one of which was a 12' span glider that had both wings break about half-way out from the fuselage, I'd say that you shouldn't worry about your repair. If you have to either splice the spars back together with some ply reinforcement (both front AND rear!), and then piece in some sheeting, you'll be fine as long as the glue joints are good ones. The difference in the strength of the spars from one side to the other won't make a difference in the end. You may have to add weight to one tip to laterally balance the repairs on the other wing panel, but that would be about it.

Even if the wing had a bay or two torn out, you can splice in spars and leading edge, add new ribs and sheeting, and you'll be fine. Technically, the new ribs don't even have to be exact, just very close...it won't look as good, but it will work. Just make sure everything's straight. The best key, though, is to make sure the splices don't line up...you don't want the upper spar splice to be at the same place as the lower spar splice. The same for the leading edge...you don't want its splice to line up with the spar's splices. Sometimes you can't avoide it, so you just have to rely on the plywood you used on the splice to hold things together.

If you're careful, a repaired wing will be every bit as good as the original, and only you will know about it.

gatekeeper

here is my crash story
I have this plane(had) and is pretty much destroyed it after a crash. I think leaving the afs and the air brakes was a mistake. I did not a problem taking off but did have problems controling the plane. Even taking the motor to idle it wanted to just float or keep going up. I think it probably works fine under ideal weather conditions. If you flying against the wind you have keep fighting the plane to keep it level.If you flying with the wind your fine until you have to turn back, I always thought that when you turn you have to speed up but this plane it wanted to climb up again. I miss-judged how far the plane was when it was flying with the wind and I realized that it was close to power lines. I got freaked out pull on the stick to the left and I was upside down too close and "BAM" parts everywhere.
The plane has a floating piece thats supposed to hold and protect the wings but I think it held too much, maybe rubber bands is better for trainers. I was going to repair the plane but the parts are back ordered and seemed expensive. When I inspected the plane I noticed that the engine was crooked to the right. I removed the monokote and took measurements and found out that the plate that holds the engine was mounted about 1/8" off from side to side(crooked) I have looked at this and there is no way that this was caused by the crash. I took measurements and the rest of the plane is square. Hobbico says that is normal. Is this for real? it looks to me like a manefacturing defect. After this I have decided to gut it out and put the guts into a MEGATECH NITRO SKYLINER ARF. The plane looks a lot like the hobbico without all the extra training stuff.

BGR

The issue with repairs being stronger than the original is most evident in sever cases where the wing can no longer flex, thus causing fracture points at each end of the stiff splice and beyond. Say for example if you broke one the wing in the middle, if the repair area is very stiff much of the flexing under load is transfered to the remaining structures towards the tip and towards the root of the wing rather than spread evenly along the structure.

BAX's reply is a pretty good piece of advice. The only reason I mentioned the strcutural issue in my first reply was because I have noticed a tendancy for some to overbuilt the wing during a repair, Strong is good, some fleixibility is good, rigid is bad. Your model will probably never experience extreme wing loading unless you pull off some wild aerobatics. Dont worry, go fly it.

BGR

Gatekeeper, the motor is offset to compensate for the inertia of the motor and propeller rotation. If this was not done the airplane wants to roll. Just like a helicopter, without the little propeller on the tail the fuselage wants to spin. This is very bad if you just had lunch.

ethrjock

Gatekeeper.
My floating wing attachment held but the hold down nylon bolt broke during my crash. So in effect it acomplished it's goal of letting the wing go during a hard landing....such as hitting a tree..

Look at it close. I thought my nexstar was destroyed too. I only have to finish resheeting the wing and reapply monokote and she is ready to fly again. I did buy a extra nexstar for $100 from a guy off ebay. He has several of them. If you need the guys information let me know.

pt19 flyer

My Feedback: (1)

hi

sorry about your bad luck. you should always have the help of an experienced flyer unless you have a lot of stick time and can take-off and land with no problem. once you get the plane trimmed for straight and level flight this will solve 90% of your problems in flying.
I would recomend one of two choices on a trainer. if you wanted to build the RCM basic trainer or RCM advance trainer are good choices. on an arf the avistar is a good choice. have seen many newcomers in our club use these and haven't seen a bad flyer in recent years. do get the help of an instructor regardless of which choice you make. by building the RCM trainers if you crash the repair is easy and not expensive, but it you get help and get the plane properly flight trimmed you will be using it for years.

good luck and happy flying

joe

PigMan Buggerus

My Feedback: (6)

I had a tree eat a plane once. It was my second plane the kangke Cap 232 sport. Great second plane, low wing, tail dragger. Same thing thought I was in front of the trees, was over them. CRACK no wings, fuselage missile straight into the ground. Thankfully the Saito 100 was OK, never did find one of the aileron servos. Don't get too discouraged. Either get another Nexstar to put your equipment in or get something else to drop it in. Every plane will crash someday. It comes with the hobby, but wow are the flying days in between crashes a blast!

Keep Flying!
Allan

P.S. All of you guys that got this plane for Christmas and have never flown before, FIND a LOCAL CLUB AND AN INSTRUCTOR! It will save you frustration and make your start in this hobby much easier and more enjoyable.

gatekeeper

Ok,
BGR says that the offset of the motor mount is there for a reason. Do all planes have this? Even the real ones?

MLC

My Feedback: (5)

Crashed my Nextstar also, ran out of fuel on a low fly by. I hesitated on turning the plane around and ended up with it in the top of a tree. Hearing it hit, I though it would have been destroyed. Took awhile to locate in the woods, but to my surprise, it was in one piece.

Then the task was getting it down. That did more damage then the crash it self. Pulled the plane apart at the field and found almost no damage bedsides the tank slid back from the fall from the tree. Pushed it back in place and was ready to go. So, up I went again, but shortly after the plane seemed to become a handful for me, so I landed and called it a day.

When I got home I pulled the hole plane apart to check for additional damage and found very little (pin holes from the spruce tree). But the tank slide back again and I think this is what made the plane hard to fly. The tank is just a little loose, so I am going to come up with something to keep it tight.

MLC

PigMan Buggerus

My Feedback: (6)

I am not for sure how the tank sits inside of the plane, but if it is inside of a former, you could rubberband some foam around the tank to make a tighter fit, this should stop it from sliding around on you.

Allan

Throttle Junkie

Gatekeper, big planes do not have this. This is just the easiest, cheapest way to correct the problem in a rc plane. Real planes have what's called washin built into the left wing. Ths means the left wing produces more lift, preventing the tendancy to roll left. As a result of the different airfoil, the left wing produces more drag, witch makes the plane want to turn left (as if you were giving a little left rudder). The compensation is built into the vetical stabilizer so at level flight cruising, the plane goes straight. Now if your in a steep climb (take off) the vertical stabilizer does not get as much prob blast or wind b/c of the angle of attack of the wings. This means on take off or a steep climb, you must give a little right rudder to maintain atraight tracking. Sorry for rambling.

CRAZYRYAN

My Feedback: (1)

I have a mkIII and crashed it two months ago due to wrong kind of rubberbands. I bought these at officemax(my bad) and of course they weren't fuel proof or uv protected[:@]!!! what a dumbass I was for buying them! So I orded the relacement parts for the fuselodge and tail set for about 100 bux then I made sure that I bought higher quality bands!!! Thank God for saving my engine and electronics. The engine went into a mud mound witch happend to save the motor I just ran the engine today and it was very smooth this happens to be a .91 fourstroke for the mkIII it could be a little over powered but wanted quicker and shorter take offs so far I quite like it.[8D]

PigMan Buggerus

My Feedback: (6)

CrazyRyan,
have pretty much always used Staples rubberbands. Just get #64's and only use them once, you shouldn't have any trouble. make sure you have 5-7 rubber bands on each side, with the last 2(at least) crossed over, in order to hold them on the plane. I flew the hell out of my trainer using these rubber bands, and I never had any trouble.

Allan

SENZA

MY 2 CENTS WORTH, ethrjock my heart bleeds from this story i did the similiar thing about 10 years ago and it ended my flying career ,until just recently i purchased the nexstar ,it flys awesome i also removed the AFS it handdle better with out it and the software helped me alot........... but me and my (INSTRUCTOR) flew it four times now and im happy 2 say its still in one peice.my instructor told me he was impressed that i could land and take off on my own the first lesson and i owe it all to the software.well the moraul of the story is get and (instructor) you will be happy u did. dont give up its the balls.im flying a hanger 9 J3 cub now after my 5th lesson,WITH A SAITO 56 4 STROKE. Want to buy a NEXSTAR CHEAP, no just kiddin GOOD LUCK.........BILL ..........FLY ON ..O BUY THE WAY THERE PIPER WILL TAKE YOUR FX46 BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO ADD ANOTHER RADIO