I need some help.

I'm trying to teach my brother how to fly his recently purchased Hobbico NexSTAR. But we are having major issues.
1. The first flight had all the hardware on it (speed brakes, stall gates). And it took major down trim to get it to level out. Even at minimum flying speed,
it needed alot of down trim.
2. So for the second flight, I decided to take the hardware (speed brakes, stall gates) off the wing and fly it like a normal trainer. But it had flown so
aweful. It was like we could never get it trimmed to fly properly. It was a bear to land. So we grounded it for the day.
3. So we put the hardware back on according to the instruction manual. We then checked the radio, the control throws, & the CG. We then tried to fly it again.
This time, after rotating on take off it cartwheeled into the ground and snapped the fuse in half at the first bulkhead after the engine mounting bulkhead.

So I'm thinking this
1. The engine torqued it over? "No" The engine is is offset to compensate for the torque. And it's a tri-gear, which isn't effected as badly as a taildragger.
2. Was it a stall? "No" We had plenty of airspeed on the SupreTiger 51. In fact, I have the same engine set up on my Aerobat which flys awesome.
3. Was it a radio hit? I don't think so. We were the only ones at the field.

So I'm stumped here. What's your thoughts? Is this a bad plane? It looked nice and straight before we flew it.
No, we did'nt use the ATF on this plane.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Tim

My son and I have flown this plane for a long time. With the flaps on it, it does take a lot of down trim because of the extra lift generated. I just trimmed the plane to fly level, then landed and screwed in the clevis to match the radios trim, then recentered the radio.

Our plane flies fine, only faster with the extra stuff removed. If you are learning to fly though, I would leave the flaps on. Why not? they make the landings and flight a little slower giving you more time to react.

The only time our plane rolls on take off is generally in a crosswind. If you take off in a crosswind and that big wing gets lifted up.....it will roll quickly.

Jess

Hi Jess,

We played around adjusting the clevis's also. As for the wind, it was straight down the runway, if any. A great evening to fly.

After I doinked my brothers airplane, we decided to fly my Aerobat (Midwest) which is a hot rod. What a fun plane.
We slowed it down and put it on the buddy box and let him fly it. He did pretty well. Except for the fact that I broke his airplane, we had a great time flying mine.

So I'm debating if I should buy a replacement fuse or a different airplane.

Tim,

Tim:

Sounds like you might have been trying to fly it too fast. The Nexstar is designed to fly slowly, with an OS 40LA. If you were using an ST 51 and a 10 inch prop, you should have been flying at half throttle. The faster you try to fly the Nexstar, the squirrelier it will get.

That wouldn't account for the "cartwheel" on take-off, though. That sounds like tailheaviness or too much elevator travel. I know you said you rechecked those things, but could you be reading the recommendations wrong?

All things considered, your brother might want to try an Aerostar (Midwest). They have a somewhat broader useable speed range.

Jim

when i got mine i had someone fly it for me and on landings it would just fall from about 2 ft. and slam down hard.we removed the speed brakes/flaps and it landed great with no drop.i still haven't removed the wing leading edge panels though.if you leave the speed brakes installed remember to come in under power and not chop the throttle until on the ground.

Jim,

We are using the 11x4 prop that came with the kit. And on the first flight, we never took it pass half throttle because it ballooned straight up. The CG came in perfect and with the radio set to low rates, they operated per the manual specs.

Maybe I was a little heavy on the throttle on take off. I just order a replacement fuse and try again.


Best to ya,

Tim

did you all have the auto stabilizing thing hooked up? if so that may have caused your problem,mine has never been connected.my nexstar has never acted up like that,even with me zig zagging down the runway wide open.in fact the guys at the field last week told me that your supposed to go around after take off not going down the runway. but she still got off the ground[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

I started on a NS as well... as for the constant climbing, the massed amout of dihedral combined with the flaps/air brakes do have a severe effect on flight path. A friend of mine wrecked his in the same way you were describing. he was about 6ft of the runway and it cartwheeled. sometimes if there is a little tilt (due to wind gusts, too much elevator, or insufficient ground speed) and the plane drops to one side, the control surfaces dont have enough throw, nor will you have the airspeed to bring it back.

have the RTF version of this and had it fly perfect out of the box. I did not use the auto pilot device. The plane flys and lands great, take-off was the hardest part of flight for me. I also ground looped it and took the tail off. After that I went with a double nose gear wire, and use slow throttle input at no more then half until its in the air.
I think I got 65 flights on it so far, and still have the flaps and tips on it. Why mess with a good thing.

What are your throws set at?

The NexSTAR is a great flying trainer once you get use to it's quirks. They do have a tendency to climb, especially above 1/2 throttle and will glide around forever at just above idle. I highly recommend beefing up the landing gear on that NEW fuse you just ordered BEFORE you put everything back together as this seems to be it Achilles heel.
If your CG was correct I suspect a heavy thumb was the reason for the ground loop. Some of these will fly great right out of the box and some require allot of control tweaking to make them fly straight. I had to remove some of that right thrust (using washers) to make ours track right.
Look up some of post by Britbrat about the Nextstar, you name it, he's done it with a Nexstar .. very good info.
He's posted some good stuff about removing the dehidral, landing gear fix, etc.
Good luck

Hello,

We have several of these planes at our field being used for training purposes. I have flown all of them in all configurations...speed brakes on/off, AFS on/off, and NACA anti-stall tips on/off. All but one plane flew about the same when configured the same, but one of them was just terrible in any and all set-ups.

I brought it home and checked it out for the owner and discovered it had 1.5 degrees of negative incidence on the wing with the horizontal stabilizer level. The wing saddle was modified to correct the issue with great results. The plane now flys 100% better.

I had one and it did the same thing when it was on my first flight. But some how i corrected and pulled it up. The plane has a 46 fxi on it so i dont think it was the speed. once it got a little better i would smoke it off the runway. If your useing the afs i would check into that also.

Well, after replacing the fuse. We tried it one more time. We flew it with the airbrakes & stall extentions. Then we tried it without the airbrakes and stall extentions.

And now it's for sale. This airplane flew like crap. So I give it a thumbs down.

Tim[]

Tim

This may be too late to do you any good, but here's my experience. My NS had too much right thrust built into the firewall. If you stood infront of the plane and sighted down the crankshaft (propeller shaft), you could see that there was much more than other similar trainer planes at the field. I ainstalled two flat wshers between the engine mount and the firewall on the two right hand bolts, and the plane was transformed! I also think that the CG markings under the wings are possibly wrong. I added several ounces of lead to the front of the fuselage after the first few flights and this was a marked improvement as well. I have removed all of the air brakes and leading edge parts and the plane flies very nicely. It was also a treat to get my old OS 45 FSR back in the air, too!

Sandy Thompson

I also have the RTF version of this plane. I have the flaps on, but I disconnected the flight stabilization. My first time at my local flying club, I had the club president do the takeoffs and landings, but I did all of the flying in between. The second time I had a different trainer take me up, with the same results. The plane drew praise from these "old saltys" for her ease of flight at all speeds. But none of the guys wanted to try it with the AFS on. It has been disconnected since I got it.

I had a RTF Nextstar I had gotten for my wife and daughter to learn on. It flew great with added weight to the nose the AFS disconnected and the speed brake flaps still in the box. Went down to the field to show them how it flew, smased it into the ground at the end of a loop. Got a ARF one to put all the gear in, spent a few weekends trying to get it to trim nothing we did worked. Checked the AOI was +5 deg. is speced at -2 deg. check the incidence bet you will find it or the engine thrust is way off. I can't tell youif this will fix it as I just found this out today, I have yet to shim the wing and fly it.
Ther ARF (Select) was a nice plane the ARF well lets just say it is not select.
If it doesn.t work I will get them a Sig LT 40 I know they fly good....
Oh yea RE the right thrust first plane I have ever had to use left rudder on takeoff.....
Good Luck

Check out "airplane will not trim" in aerodynamics.....

My buddys NS is now totaled!! The plane decided to suddenly dive straight down from about 50 feet with out recovering. The battery still had almost a full charge on it and the winds were light. All 4 servos are stripped. The receiver doesn't even have a cracked case but its not putting out any signals to the servos. The plane acted the same before but recovered in the last 10 feet over the ground. I thought it might be the smallish battery pack and so we replaced it with a much larger capacity pack and it flew for several weekends until now. Now I suspect a crappy receiver. Any body else have this happen?!? [>:]

i just got a nexstar and took it out to my clubs flying field for its first flight. i've been flying for a year now and i had one of the older guys thats been the hobby a long time to do its first flight. i took off all the flight gear ( flaps and anti stalk knuckles) off because i don't need them the CQ was right on it ranged check fine and everything was moving like it should but as soon as it got 3 feet up off the ground the right wing tip went down and cart wheeled the plane and smashed the weak fire wall we checked it out and we dont understand why it did still. so now i have to buy a new fuse for it i think hobbico isn't doing QC at all it seems