Thanks for the compliments. My son and I scrolled through all of the color selections (of Ultracoat) and he picked them out. My only suggestion was the yellow checked tail.
rceric,
I didn't do anything to the tail except remove the oil. We haven't had any problems so far with the tail or wing tips. I am not sure about the silicone holding up to the oil residue. I am going to keep a close eye on it. Make sure you put some covering or tape over those holes in the bottom as well. I wish I had taken a picture, you wouldn't have believed how much oil was in the wood in that area. And by the way, I used my sealing iron (not the gun) and paper towels. Probably took me 2-3 hours to get all of the oil out. In the beginning of our flying we had a couple of rough landings, a few wing tips that hit or scraped the ground when the wind was blowing, but nothing serious. Don't think we have ever hit the tail on anything. But now, I have to tell you, my son can fly the Nexstar better than I can. My Pulse is easier for me to land, and my son brings that Nexstar in nice almost every time. We do fly off a dry lake bed, so there is no landing strip that we HAVE to hit. But we useally make a designated landing and take off area (make believe landing strip) for practice and to better our flying skills. The lake bed has saved us on a couple of dead sticks.
Grey beard,
Yes, I have tried the exhaust deflector, but it fell off. I like your idea. I also read on here about drilling a hole in the side and adding a small sheet metal screw to give the tie wraps something to hang onto. I am going to try something, because there is a fair amount of oil on the side of the plane after every flight. I have leaned it motor out all that I think it will take.
Here is a picture of the "old" Nexstar and our flying area.