Total noob to the air... but have knowledge of nitro off-road. Is this as good of a starter plane as is stated?

If i had to do it all over again it would have to be the nexstar again,it was the perfect trainer in my eyes.I flew the wheel pants off my nexstar with the flight simulator and it proved to be well worth the purchase.I soled on my third time out with my instructor in fact i either landed or took off on the first two occasions with it but within my third session i was on my own. in fact all the parts from the nexstar where transfered on to my H9 ultra stk 40 witch i still take to the field with me along with ether my extra or edge. i will be coming up on its first birthday next month and its still in one piece.i havent crashed a plane yet (knock on wood) plane. GO for it you wont be disopointed at all. but make sure you have some one to instruct you with experience.

I've instructed on the Nexstar and yes, I think it's a good starter plane. It's easy to see in the air with its large wingspan and very forgiving for those unexpected mistakes. The sim software it comes with does help out a lot, plus if you crash on the sim, no worries, just reset and take off again. In my honest opinion it does deserve a close look.

I was toying around on ebay the other day and they were on sell NIB for 350.00. Not a bad price as compared to 399.99 in some of the stores. Just a thought. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I too started with the NEXTstar great plane still have mine too now have two other plane . I started to fly in the late summer 2004. I have anyother a Hobbico supperstar 40 also good plane. AND WITH HOBBICO you can't go wrong great support. For the money and with all you get good buy.
Just check out the prices some hobby shop wants to retire with it. I paid over $510.00 CND They are now $469.00 here.

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY MADE A PURCHASE, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE HANGAR 9 ALPHA 60. IT COMES WITH A COMPUTER SIMULATOR AND THE .61 EVOLUTION NT ENGINE. I HAD A NEXSTAR, AND THERE IS NO COMPARISON IN PERFORMANCE. THE ALPHA WAS ALSO $50.00 CHEAPER AT MY LOCAL HOBBY SHOP. THE SIM WITH THE NEXSTAR IS BETTER, BUT THE AFS ADVERTISED ON THE NEXSTAR IS NEVER USED BY 90% OF THE PEOPLE WHO BUY THE PLANE. GOOD LUCK EUTHER WAY.

You might be right Spanky910 I never had the Hangar 9 Alpha 60 but did see it fly, looks good. and club members like them too. and your right about afs most don't use them although I did and it works as advertised, I don't use it anymore also remove all the extras on the wing and speed break It now fly with greater performance also change the motor to OS46AX from OS46FXi I also have as a trainer Hobbico Superstar w/OS46AX MOP close to Hanger 9 ?? also have a RV- 4 sports. The Nextstar Select did ok for me '
The Hanger 9 would fly much faster w/61EV motor, is it as easy to land as the Nextstar?
roltech

I am not new to R/C but quit flying several years ago after our club lost our field. I recently wanted to get back in to flying and bought the Nexstar as a quick way to do so and also to maybe teach my wife later.

After a little "tweaking", the plane flys very easily. The AFS system was never connected after I tried it on the simulator. While it might be a good thing to save an out of control airplane, it does make turns harder as it constantly tries to put the plane in straight and level flight and you must put constant pressure on the sticks to stay in a turn. The second thing I had to do was remove the "anti-spin" devices on the wing. With them taped on as installed at the factory, the plane would only fly in a crab and not in a straight line. After removing them and some small adjustments on the control surfaces, the plane flys really well.

As for learning to fly on the Nexstar, I think it will be just fine ans long as you do one thing.....DON"T TRY YO FLY ON YOUR OWN!!!

Find a good club and get an experienced pilot to check out the plane and set-up prior to you trying to fly it and have them give you some lessons so that you will have a good experience.

Good Luck and I hope you enjoy this sport as much as I do!

I have owned the Hobbico Nexstar, H9 Alpha .40, Sig LT-40, Tower Hobbies Trainers, Great Planes Trainer .40, and the PT. They are all descent well built Planes to learn on. Basically the only real thing that seperates all these Planes are the Prices, slight size differences, and some varying degrees of dehidrel, plus some have a few extra trinkets or novelties. They are all stable airplanes designed to teach flight, and all those I have experience with will do a fine job. It basically just comes down to picking a Manufacturer with a rep for building good Planes, and all those I have named above build nice Trainer Planes that will hold up as good as can be expected for ones first Plane. Just pick one out from a quallity Manufacturer that looks nice to you, and then go hunting for the best price. Good Luck.

With the Nextstar you pay for a lot of extras that either will not be used or stuff that you will remove from the plane. Save your money and look at one of the other trainers. They all are designed to fly well as a trainer and do the job just fine. [8D]

Fastsky -- you may be right about the extras & you may be wrong. Some trainee pilots need all of the help that they can get, & the Nexstar is the only thing out there that has the ability to cover all of the learning bases. If Optimus needs the extras, they're there. If not, you could be right & he may pay a bit more than needed --- but he won't know till he tries it.

I thought it was a great package. I loved the simulator, and I believe it prepared me for flying. Once I felt confident in my flying, I removed the air brakes and wing pod things, and it flew a lot faster. I also attached a camera to mine. Here's a video...

http://static.rcgroups.com/gallery/d...al_Video_1.wmv

Nice video, what kind of camera did you attach?

I have the ARF version and I really like the plane. I never installed the speed flaps or the wing droops nor did it come with the AFS - in my opinion it was worth the cost of 109.99 from Tower.

That is what I mean It has some features that other trainers may not have . it lands very good you could almost catch it , But I would not try that! it thought me flying in less than three months on good days only, not knowing what trainer would be the best for a newbe I had very good results with the Nextstar and the sim. my second trainer was a Supperstar also good.
roltech

taking a close look at the hanger 9 alfa 60. it is larger (w/larger engine) and should not only be easier to see but should be able to power out of trouble more easily. It does not come w/the flight sim which is part of the attraction to the nexstar. I will be flying at an ama field w/an instructor and feel like i would be better qualified than most total noobs... A. dont want to buy to little airplane to get bored w/to easily B. dont want to buy to much airplane w/o having any experiance. some of the guys at the field recommended the lt-40, but i'd have to buy the engine, electronics etc... not that it'd be a bad thing, but want to make my transition to the air mostly painless. So.. im going to rely on u guys (almost everyone on here is knowledgeable, but the noob perspective is greatly appreciated as well). What would you do for your first plane having reasonable knowledge of planes just none flying the RC variant.

p.s. I want to have something that would be some fun to fly in more than a years time. Plan to grow w/the plane that I buy not chuck it into the weeds at the beginning.

The Hangar 9 Alpha 60 is good, but it it is barely larger than the Nexstar, & its power-to-weight ratio with a .60 is not a lot better than the Nexstar. The Nexstar will be better for a new student from the start, through to the middle stages of learning, while the Alpha will be better in the final stages (when the student starts exploring aerobatics). The Nexstar's flight sim is also a big help to the beginner. In terms of value they are pretty much a wash as far as I'm concerned. I terms of student success, my experiences with both as an instructor lead me to recommend the Nexstar.

I have to agree with britbrat The Nextstar would be a better choice You have the sim to learn how and what sticks controls what and you can remove the speed breaks and spin-control Airfoil Extension when you gain experience something others don't have
that option. All around MOP the Nextstar is the one.
roltech

I flew a sim at the lhs and i think i at least need the sim that comes w/the nexstar. The foils and the AFS seem weak and unneeded but the sim and a good plane are certainly nessacery to me. Soooooo, i think the nexstar is for me. How much are the AMA dues and what can i expect for club dues on the avg.?

AMA is $58.00/year. http://www.modelaircraft.org/

Club dues vary greatly with area and type of facility the club has. Don't just join the first club you go to. Check around and spend some time watching the members fly first to make sure they the kind of people you would want to spend time with. Also make sure the club is not dominated by one type of flying eg. 3D, Pattern, etc. unless that is the kind of flying that you want to pursue. Sometimes a new flyer has a bad experience from joining a club that he later finds out is not on his "wave length" so to speak.

Good luck and I hope you find a home real soon.

I have the Nexstar and it is a nice flying plane. The OS 46 that it comes with is a super engine and will serve you well in the next plane that you put it in.

HELLO ALL. I HAVE BEEN GONE FOR A WHILE. YOU GUYS ARE GIVING SOME GREAT ADVICE. JUST FOR YOUR INFO, THE RTF ALPHA 60 ALSO COMES WITH A SIMULATOR.

HELLO ALL. I HAVE BEEN GONE FOR A WHILE. YOU GUYS ARE GIVING SOME GREAT ADVICE. JUST FOR YOUR INFO, THE RTF ALPHA 60 ALSO COMES WITH A SIMULATOR.