Well I won't get into the vehicle debate here as you can see by my screen name and avatar a 3rd opinion would arise to the top a smash the weeker American auto makers... okay, one shot. I have a Nexstar and when I was learning on it I thought it was great! But you asked what else you should buy. Get a philips head screw driver and a hammer, then remove the AFS and smash it with the hammer so you are never tempted to use it. After having flown several sport planes and a few scale planes now I have recently put my Nexstar back in the air and found it to be awkward. Having to fight with it to go where I want it to. I imagine some of that is the natural self righting tendency of a trainer exagerated by the ample 6.5 lb weight of the Nexstar. There are less expensive and even better choices out there but the Nexstar will get the job done if that is what apeals to you.