I learned to fly on my Nexstar back in 2005, and I have a couple of perspectives on the plane that I haven't seen expressed here yet.

The problem with ALS system is it works by pointing the top of the plane toward the sun. If you fly at noon every day, you'd probably think this was the greatest thing ever. If you fly during the morning or the evening however, the ALS system keeps banking your plane toward whichever direction the sun is located and you have to constantly correct the airplane's course. If you're not flying at noon, unplug the ALS.

The Nexstar has a lot of fine attributes. It's a great looking plane and the bolt-on wing gives it a much cleaner look than a trainer with rubber bands and dowels. It's nice and large, more the size of a .60-sized trainer than a .40-sized trainer, so it's stable and easy to see. It comes with a very high quality engine that offers plenty of power and very reliable performance.

The Nexstar has a few bad attributes. The ALS, wing pods, and air brakes are all unnecessary. The landing gear may not always lock into place and can fall out while you're flying. The Nexstar's large wing is wonderful for learning to land, the glide characteristics make it very easy to bring down even without power. The same wing characteristics that create gentle landings, however, also make the plane more of a challenge in windy conditions. The plane tends to "balloon" into upwind turns because of that huge wing surface.

The bundled G2 Nexstar Edition simulator is a terrific idea that is now being copied by everybody on the planet. Having the simulator to fly when the weather or your schedule won't allow you to head to the field is a great asset. It's not a particularly realistic simulator, but it is great for practicing a number of things.

There are three trainers that I would rank ahead of the Nexstar. I owned a Nexstar and I liked my Nexstar, but knowing what I do now, I would choose either the Sig Kadet LT-40 RTF, the Hangar 9 Alpha 60 RTF, or the Thunder Tiger Tiger Trainer 60 Super Combo ahead of the Nexstar.

All of these planes are nice large trainers with high quality radios and engines. All of these trainers share the Nexstar's good looks and gentle glide and landing characteristics. None of these planes suffer from the same quirky handling that the Nexstar experiences while turning into the wind.

The Nexstar typically sells for around $379.99 ready to fly, with the simulator in the box. The Sig Kadet LT-40 RTF is available directly from Sig for $319.99. The Thunder Tiger Tiger Trainer .60 Super Combo is available from eHobbies.com for only $279.99; with the money you save choosing the Tiger Trainer .60 over the Nexstar, you can actually buy a full registered version of the EasyFly2 simulator and have more than one plane and one flying field on your computer. The Alpha .60 RTF is comparably priced to the Nexstar at around $389.99.

If you end up with a Nexstar Select RTF, you will have a terrific airplane for a fair price and a good basic flight sim to practice with. The other three trainers that I've mentioned, however, represent better vaules for the money simply because the cost of gimmicks like air brakes, wing pods, and an ALS system aren't built into the price. The Tiger Trainer .60 Super Combo is a particularly outstanding value, it's priced the same or less as most of the .40-sized RTF packages on the market:

http://www.ehobbies.com/ttr4503-f12.html

If you want the most aircraft for your money, the Tiger Trainer .60 is impossible to beat.