Montague

The Nextstar is going to be harder to take off than the foamies, it won't have the same power to leap off the ground or out of your hand.

And in the air, the Nextstar will be moving faster than the foamies.

I acutally had a student not long ago that spent a lot of time flying a couple of foamies around. He could fly them in winds that kept most of the glow guys on the ground, and was pretty darn good with them.

Then he went up on his glow trainer with an instructor, and very nearly splattered the thing. It took him several flights to adjust to the speed and get rid of some of the bad foamie habits.

The time on the foamies helped him learn over all, because once he had a few flights on the trianer with an instructor he was ready to solo.

But from what I've seen, flying the planes you mention is differnet enough that I wouldn't suggest you try the Nextstar on your own quite yet.

You might consider a GWS E-Starter. I know, it's a "trainer", but it actually flys closer to a glow trianer than the planes you've mentioned. Work on controled flight in a small area, doing a basic pattern, take offs and landings going in a direction you set out in advance (rather than whatever way the plane happens to go).

For example, go to a ball field, and use a baseline as the runway. take off down it with out vearing, and land down it, keeping the plane straight. That kind of focus on percision will help with the glow plane.

And no matter what, going up with an instructor for even one flight on the Nextstar is better safe than sorry. That's the big thing, is the risk worth it?