i also had the nexstar and think its a great trainer. the sofware alone is worth the extra $$$. anyway heres my take on training aides and ive only been flying for about 3 months now. afs, diconnect dont use. training flaps, i wish i had not put mine on only slows the plane down to much and creates a bunch of lift. if you put the flaps on and get it trimmed be sure to take out some of that down elevator trim you would have put in to counter act the flaps. and the wing tip extensions i would leave them on till youve soloed and are comforatable flying. and tying the rudder into the airlerons sounds wacky to me id leave the plane the way it was set up from the factory.