Audie,

I think the Nexstar is a great trainer. The speed brakes (flaps, whatever you want to call them), really do slow it down quite a bit for the initial flights/landings. Sounds like you are on the right path with the sim practice and joining a club.

One note on the Sim... I have spent a lot of time on it, and one thing that never fails is that I can't get lined up on the runway. I think it has to do with the fact that you have no peripheral vision on the sim. Plus, when you are flying the downwind leg and if you are somewhat close and a bit high (like I usually fly the pattern in real life), you have absolutely no visual reference to the ground. I think this makes it a lot harder to land on the simulated runway, as opposed to at the field, where it was really easy for me to line up on it. I can fly and land on the runway all day, but have problems with it in the sim.

I added a bomb release to my Nexstar just between the landing gear, and it was a TON of fun. I have flew it quite a bit on skis in the winter. Had planned on putting it on floats this summer, and had modified it for flaps and dual aileron servos. I really didn't like the dual servo setup. It rolled quicker, but regardless of how I set it up it just wouldn't fly as well as before. However, I probably could have gotten it right if I didn't lose a battery mid-flight and auger it straight in at full throttle from high altitude The landing gear might loosen up over time (there's a lot of posts on this), but other than that, it was a great plane. Moral of the story: not only do I think it was an excellent trainer, but I still loved flying it when I moved on to other planes.

Good luck and keep us posted!

-Pat-