bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

I was looking at the old NEXTAR the other day collecting dust,striped of radio,and about to get the OS 46fxi pulled out, and I thought this plane deserved more than that.
having survived several of my beginner crashes, some worse than others,nose smashed,gear ripped out, wing battered in a cartwheel, that got a ooh! out of the peanut gallery at the club and some other minor lumps and bumps.

I thought this was a good time to do some repair and rejuvination on the old bird, and bring back to life as a fun plane in another form.
I was looking on ebay and a set of floats came up for bid, I tossed a bid out there and won,they were cheap 40$but a nice old kit from Goldberg.
I also knew that the 46 was not going to give me the performance I wanted. I had a OS 61fx and a engine mount that needed a home so I had my engine with plenty of power.

so out comes the old engine and mount,main and nose gear,and of course the covering on the fuse.
a good thing too, there were many minor repairs that with out the covering gone wouldn't have been noticed the OS 61 is a powerfull engine so I wanted the framework to be sound.I will leave the wing alone for now as well as the tail untill I get some flight time.

with my float kit nearly done(finishing the glassing tonight with .6oz glass and wb poly)I will be covering them in Wt.and red ultracoat.

the NEXTAR has been fitted with new gear and is about ready to recover with some minor clean up.
I also will be installing a larger tank,so here is some shots of the progress so far.
any one who cares to share there rejunivation efforts or what they have done with there trainer planes please do I will also post some more progress photos as I move along this week towards the finish line.
that old plane isn't dead its just waiting for a new suit.

Campgems

I'm rebuilding an old trainer right now. One of the ex club members called me the other day and said his friend wanted to get read of his and for me to come over and pick it up. It was populated with a old Futaba 72mhz AM receiver, Fox 40 (really gummed up), and a full complement of Fugaba servos. I wish I had taken a couple photos of it before I started. The guy I got it from said the thought it may have been a Sig Kadet but wasn't sure. He suggested pulling the covering and "checking things out. The thing had a strange tail mounting, A big wedge on top of the fuselage and the stablizer on top of that. There was a second firewall mounted in front of the orginal that raised the engine about 1 1/2" from the stock location. There was a Rube Goldberg hatch over the fuel tank. Not a thing of beauty this plane.

I thought I would get it into flying shape and donate it to the clup for another club trainer. SOO, I stripped the fuselage to see what I had to work with. The Wedge thing changed the incidence of the horz stab by lifting it about 1" in the front. Humm. When I checked the incidence to the wing, it was in the ball park. Then a closser look at the fuselage and I discovered that it had been cut in half right behind the wing and a wedge was put in raising the whole aft of the fuselage, hinged at the top. My guess was that the first owner was tired of whacking the prop on landing and rigged up the firewall to get more grown clearance. Now, his thrust line was way off, so he did the fuselage mod to get the tail up in the prop wash again. When he pivoted the fuselage up, it screwed up the stablizer incidence so he added the wedge there also.

After getting into the plane, I think the kadet was a good call on orgin. I cut both wedges out and now have the fuselage back near where it should be along with the espanige (sp). I pulled the second firewall off, it was just bolted on, and pulled the mounting for the hatch. I built a deck over the fuel tank area, conforming to the orginal firewall top. I laminated a 1/8" aircraft ply front onto the old firewall. I add some 1/32" ply doublers back about 8" from the fire wall and extending 3/8" in front. I used 3/8" balsa to capture the firewall to the 1/32" ply and the new deck. I'm just about ready to cover the fuselage. I'm replacing the balsa pushrods with some golden rod, so I need to set up the supports for that before covering. I'm thinking I'll replace the servo tray also, it's one of those plastic gizzmos that you see and it weighs a ton. I'll make a lite ply tray and clean up the clutter around the servo arms. With all that room, no need to squeze everything together. I should get it covered tomorrow. I'm going to leave the wing for now, It has a servicable covering on it and I'll replace it after I'm sure the thing will fly. Oh yes, a Super Tigre 40 for power now. I had a couple of them and also a 45. All used but looking like they have been taken care of. One should run.

I'll get some photos of the progress and post them tomorrow. I hadn't planned this little side trip. I was just ready to start my replacement 4*60. I crashed mine really bad two weeks back, and I would really like to get the replacement in the air. This thing came up and I though a couple hours would have it in order, I'm about 20 hours into it now and a slow as I am covering, I've got at least another 10 to finish it up.

Don

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I tell this to all of my students, hang on to your trainer and keep it. I've been flying for almost 11 years now and I still have my trainer, and I still take it to the field once in a while to fly it. It's a total blast to take your trainer back out and fly it now that your skills have increased. Take the trainer and try to fly advanced aerobatics with it, you might be in for a pleasant suprise at just how much that old trainer can actually do. Plus, at some point in this hobby everybody has a bad run of luck. You can go through that period of bad luck and you have several crashs close together, and you are left with nothing to fly. But if you have your trainer around you always have something to take to the field. There have been several times in my time flying that my trainer was the only thing I had flying, and I took it out to the field and flew.

That's my 2¢ worth.

Ken

TCrafty

I still have my trainer! Although it's not in the same configuration that it was when it was "training". Had a Sig Kadet Sr with a Saito 50 in it and flew the pants off of it. Then when it became somewhat "dull", I put a different engine in it. That OS 91 four-stroke did wonders for it. Then, when it wouldn't do inverted very well (it WOULD do it but neither the plane or I were very happy about it) my dad built a wing with little or no dihedral in it. That helped immensely. Now, I've got a great flying plane that I can hover with happily, and, use it to train someone else in a matter of minutes! Best of both worlds.

custards1

I have been flying for 12 years now and have allways kept my trainer up and running. So its not my organl trainer (dad still has that it was his all along we both lernt on the same plane) but we both became instructors and with the aid of a buddy cord we can give anyone we want a chance at giving rc a go. We both find a great joy in being able to share somthing with other that we love doing ourselfs

Insanemoondoggie

RCKen is right. I pulled the radio and engine out of my trainer a few weeks ago and with a little bad luck, found myself putting the trainer back together . I had moved into my 4Star , but it got shot down . The Twist was all I had left and for some reason after I lost my 4Star I could`nt fly. My head was not screwed on straight after getting shot down.

The LT-40 was drug back out. Maxed out the throws , set the CG as far back as I dared and installed a 52 Magnum 4 stroke. Took it to the field and flew the covering off of it. By the end of the day, my confidence had came back. And by setting the plane up to handle at it`s full potencial, made it a joy to fly.

You should have a very nice float plane when your done. The OS 61 should just yank it out of the water.
Good luck with the rebuild.

TideFlyer

I soloed almost four years ago and have moved on to sport aerobatics and sport scale but kept my Avistar. I have always been VERY glad I did. It`s great to have a familiar plane to just go fly easy circuits with the occasional loop, role, cuban 8 , etc. when the mood hits you. In addition to being a spare, I`ve found it to be valuable in becoming accustomed to new fields ( moved a couple of times ). Believe me, when you`re learning to fly a new field,it`s great to have a plane that you`re completely familiar and comfortable with!

flyer495th

I put floats on it and use it as my plane for float flys and flying off snow in the Winter. So it is used quite often in the course of the year.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so I finally got the bug again yesterday to get some work done on the Floatstar,a pic before I got going on the work of the forward landing gear mounting area where I modified the fuse to accept the front gear.
if I decide to fly off land again I will add a tail wheel and rebalance.
Had the floats finished and hadn't done much so here is the progress I have made it's getting close to being a flyable aircraft again.

Missileman

I had 3 trainers, all in perfect flying condition.
I still have one I will be letting a neighbor use to learn on.
I gave one to a neighbor kid.(he seems to have lost interest but his dad soloed 3 weeks ago and is a new flying buddy, funny how things work out)
I traded one (My favorite, SIG Kadet Senior. I built from a box of sticks) to another club member for a RTF 40 size SE-5

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so the evolution is close to complete.
A new radio installed,got a used EXA6 ch since I got rid of the stock unit.
dual float rudders the linkages and flex cable are a bit of work.
engine fully mounted including a larger 16oz fuel tank for the OS 61fx, and a bit more cosmetic do dads to do, and a re-run of the engine so it's tuned

iraqvet

I donated a used trainer to another area club. The club instructors train with it so prospective students don't have to shell out the cash before they commit to buying the start-up equipment and a plane of their own.

opjose

There was a great article in this months AMA magazine about turning a Trainer into a Twin!

Have a look. The conversion looks fairly simple too.

Wild Foamy

i dont know why anyone would want to get ride of their original trainer, i plan to keep mine for aslong as possible. it has served me well, been battered a bit and has got me past my A Certificate so it has cenitmental value (you msut all think ive gone soft now ive said that :P)

superflea

yes you've gone soft all right.
That said, I still have a 1.5 inch wheel that was the main on my first eaglet 50 back in 1990 when i started. I make it a point to use that wheel whenever possible Just so that a small piece is still flying. In fact I am almost done with a TF stinson that may just need a tail wheel.

chevypower1930

hey all.... I just started the hobby this year... but have already spent about 1000 dollars haha... my first plane was the hobbico nexstar... never used all the stupid stuff tha came with it (afs, speed brakes (flaps), and took off the airfoils after a few first solos) but I now have 3 more nitro planes and I still LOVE my nexstar.. such an easy flyer and just relaxing... I took the dehidral out of the wing by straightenin the metal rod that connects the wings and it still is such a smooth easy flyer.. I have picked up the hobby VERY fast though and all the older guys at the club are amazed when I come out there fly my planes.. at 17 years old and just starting the hobby this year.. they can't beleive how confident and smooth I am flying.. makes me feel great when I hear the experienced guys applauding for me after a landing (or those damn deadstick landings had about 8 of them now and every time a perfect smooth landing on the runway!)

chevypower1930

heres some pictures of TWO of my planes.. I got these TWO planes with transmitters chargers batteries EVERYTHING ready to fly for 100 dollars on Craigslist!!!!!!!! deal of a LIFE TIME and they both fly beautifully, just took them out on there maidens yesterday.... the carl goldberg eaglet (blue and yellow) is beautiful. and just a wonderful and very maneuverable plane for being 3 channels

FlyingGreg

My Feedback: (4)

My trainer didn't last long enough to get "old."

Ferocious Frankie

My Feedback: (7)

I still have my nexstar. It's 100% RTF and I can take it to the field and fly it whenever I want. I opted to not remove anything from the plane because I knew I was going to fly it again. It's been sitting on the shelf for a while so I'm probably going to buy some after-run oil.