RCFlyerDan

My Feedback: (54)

I have been teaching R/C for beginners for more then 15+ years. The Nexstar caused me to quit teaching primary students! As you have said, they fly terrible. The ready to fly, always need two hours of adjustments, which the students' don't know how to do. The students bring them to the field, thinking that they are ready to fly, but they aren't at all, then I have to spend 2 hours of my flying time on a Saturday or Sunday working on a Nexstar. The Monokote doesn't stay on long enough for the student to solo in most cases. If you don't have a computer radio to mix in rudder with the ailerons, then they really fly poor.

Now, going back to my childhood, I started flying and building R/C models at 11 year old(I am now 51), and built a Falcon 56 as my first. Of course, I loved it. Next favorite in the more modern ARF is the Avistar or Super Star by Hobbico. Both are just great flying planes, but students don't buy them, because the hobby shops push the Nexstar for the package deals. Plus, I think students buy the Nexstar due to them looking like a Cessna 172.
This is all just my humble opinion.

zx32tt

My Feedback: (9)

My favorite is the Sig LT-40. Very strong, and is a gentle flyer. The Senior's are good too, but almost too forgiving. Meaning, there is too much gap in the level of flying difficulty, to the 2nd plane, especially if it is a low wing tail-dragger. The Nextstar is not a bad plane, but it is not a great plane either. The H-9 P51-trainer however is not a trainer, and not even a good 2nd plane. I've found ALL the Hobbico trainers to have weak firewalls. A Sig LT-40 has more wing, and weighs less than the Hobbico 60.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Why is it that everybody wants a P51 as a trainer or as a second plane?
I started out with a Ultra Stick, my instructor warned me, it is not a trainer. Well it is not. I crashe it 3 times on approaches, the last one fatally.
Then I bought a Sig LT40 used, what a differesnce, with this one I learned to land no problems.
The P51 Miss America that I bought for 2d plane is being in my garage for 8 months. Iam not ready for warbirds yet. But I had to realize thaty by myself

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

OK, I (and about half of the rest of you)strongly recommend the Kadet LT-40 as the primary trainer. When set up with the forward CG and limited throw, it is a docile four channel trainer that is larger than most of the other trainers.

But this airplane has two personalities.

Move the CG back to the very rear of the recommended range and increase the control throws and the LT-40 moves into a much more advanced category. Now you can easily fly it inverted, do inside and outside loops, spins, and even snap rolls. Much of this added capability is due to the very light wing loading that makes the LT-40 such a joy to instruct with. Yet when you come in for a landing, it still retains the qualities that make it a plane you can solo on in so few lessons.

rhall999

What High Plains said +1.

You can not go wrong with ANY of the Sig kadet series. I really like the Seniorita and the LT-40. The Senior is great to fly, but it is a lot bigger and harder to transport and store.

I don't know why everyone is so concerned with "making it easier to transition" into a low wing airplane. Sorry folks, low wing, high wing, mid wing, they are still airplanes and they still fly like airplanes. Some just are harder to fly than others. Typically a low wing is higher performance so it is trickier to fly and lands hotter, so what. In all my experiences it has made the so called"transition" easier if the student has learned the basics on a basic trainer such as a Seniotia or LT-40, then gotten comfortable with that airplane before moving on. It takes a lot less time for them to get comfortable with one of the afore mentioned planes than something faster/higher performance. Get them to fly something easy, so they can get soloing quicker and give there confidence a boost. Then, they can continue toperfect the basics while building the next airplane, which needs to be something with better performance, but still easy tofly,ie: Tiger 60, 4-Star etc. Way to many people learn to fly on a marginal flying trainer (Nextar or other such type) and barely get past the solo stage and figure, hey great, I know how to fly, hand me mysporty, 3D capable Whizbang Special.60. Guess what, they crash because they haven't gotten truly comfortable with the basics on a nice gentle trainer, and then took way to big of a step

I can see where some are coming from by saying to start with a more advanced airplane, but personally I disagree. Learn the basics, no matter how "boring" the airplane may seem, and you will end up a way better pilot. Besides, like was mentioned, there is a few nice trainers that can really teach the basics, and with a few tweaks can be made to perform.

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

This may be the best advise I've ever read on the beginner's thread. Nothing is worse from an instructor's point of view than a former student buying an airplane that is just too much for their skill set. The result is predictable, and the pilot loses their plane and interest in the hobby at about the same time. If they do manage to fly it with help, they are often so afraid of it that they don't want to fly very much, yet don't want to admit that they are over their head. It is a lose lose proposition.

For your second plane, and even third, you want a constant chord wing with a moderate wing loading (20-24 oz/sq ft). The rest of the design doesn't matter too much as long as these two parameters are met. Although I very much prefer models that have wings with an aspect ratio of at least 5. Aspect ratio is the span divided by the average chord, or span squared divided by wing area.

hsukaria

I'm not advanced enough to be an instructor, but from what I experienced first-hand and observed from others, I have to agree with what has been said already:

1. Get a very easy to fly basic trainer, there may be some already used for a very good price since their owners have outgrown them.

2. There are very good and easy(er) second-planes with low-wings and low-wing-loading available that will provide a good transition. Some of them are like the Sig 4*, Great Planes Escapde, Goldberg Tiger 2, etc....That's also a good time to transition to tail-dragger, especially if you fly off grass fields.

3. Make sure you use all the resourses available, club instructor, buddy box, simulator, and ask a lot of questions from the guys at the field, the LHS, and RCUniverse. That is all part of the learning process.

4. Fly a lot and don't be afraid of crashing, you will sooner or later. Better crash the trainer and learn early than some beautiful and expensive plane later on.

5. Enjoy the hobby[8D] and take your kids with you (if you can peel them away from the video games!!!).

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

I teach with the Tower Hobbies trainer, Flys and lands great many dead sticks over the years and always able to get her back! Just bought another one for this year. I have several diffrent trainers but none compare to this one, My other was one of the older ARF's and this one has allot of great changes with it, Tower did thier homework on this one!

hsukaria

If you have extra money sitting around (like we all do!!), a Sig Rascal 40 is a beautiful sports and trainer plane. If you have a LOT of extra money sitting around, you can get the Sig Rascal 110....AWESOME!!! I'm not sure Sig has them in stock though. You will never outgrow it and can keep it for a very long time (assuming no crashes, of course).

Of course, that is probably considered bad advice by many due to the extra $$$$$, so be warned!!!

I learned on a Hobbico Super Star, but I can't tell the difference from the Tower trainer. The Tower trainer is ultra low price and will always be available.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Sig airplanes are wonderful! The kits are great to build and I did build the LT forty as a video plane, All good advice on the planes I went with the Tower because of the price and how stable the plane is. With mishaps the plane seems to be easy to fix, I had the whole front end of the fuse tore off and had it back up in just a few days! They are a well thoughtout trainer for the newbie and at a good price to help keep them in the hangar. But if someone is looking for a first build trainer the LT-40 scores an A+ with me!

bigdanusa

Here's a pic of me hauling my "Giant Scale" trainer to the flying field.

big dan

hsukaria

But that is a low winger!!! Might not be a good primary trainer. At least it has a 2-piece wing.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Is that a 10-7 prop I see and what servo's you running in your trainer? Who makes the trainer and was it a ARF or kit? One more question do you fly off pavement or grass?

bigdanusa

It doesn't have a prop. It has a turbine along with futaba S3004 servos. It's an "ARF" made by Continental Airlines I picked up at their boneyard and I also fly it off the grass at the local school yard!

Those are my instructors you see in the pic. RCKen on the tail, MinnFlyer walking up to it, and the one and only CGRetired on his new RC Motorcycle! If you look close enough his cycle is powered with an O.S. 40 LA Blue 2 stroke mounted on the rear.

Thanks for inquiring.

big dan

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Oh, The 10-7 prop I thought I saw was a smuge on my glasses! Yes I could see where a turbine would make a good trainer for the newbie, The newbie would not have to go step by step just start and finish with one plane, I do think that your on to something! I bet it has more then a 8oz fuel tank

hsukaria

Believe it or not, I have been planning on giving my son an electric ducted fan model for him to fly by himself because I won't have to worry about him possibly getting injured from the prop. So there is some merit to having a trainer that is a jet or edf.

RC4LIFE

Simple.... Kadet with OS

Insanemoondoggie

Man, you guysmust be smokin tha good stuff.

jester_s1

Looks like you scraped a wingtip there, Big Dan.

Teachu2

My Feedback: (133)

Interesting day at the field. Two of my students showed up today. Student #1 had a couple hours sim time and about 20 minutes on a buddy box two weeks ago, #2 had an hour of sim and had zero flight time. They took turns on the buddy-boxed NexStar for two flights, then they refueled the NexStar, #2 performed the starting duties - and then he took off, flew three circuits, and landed. I did not take control at any time. #1 took over and performed the same flying routine. Again, I did not take control at any time.

The NexStar is set up with a Magnum 52 four-stroke, a Futaba 7C / 617 2.4 Tx/Rx, five Futaba S3001 servos, and a Futaba 1000mAh rx battery. No extra weight, no special setup. Plane flies great at about 60% throttle on the crappy prop they include with the NexStar - it's at that sweet spot where it's not climbing from straight and level, but not falling out on the turns. We are running the leading edge additions as well as the airbrakes.

The flight sim I keep in my classroom is a RealFlight G3.5. It's running on a totally custom system consisting of a Compaq 20" CRT monitor (the old TV type) that was destined for Goodwill, coupled to a 5-6 year old "refurbished" Pentium PC I bought off Craigslist for $100. I set it up so that Realflight boots up when the system is powered on, so there is no keyboard and no mouse. This keeps the students from changing anything - they are flying a NexStar that does a decent simulation of their real one, on a field that is close enough to the one we fly at instead of screwing around with 57 different planes on obstacle courses....

These kids are starting to recruit others. Fortunately, the Greenfield Flyers have welcomed them with open arms. Their AMA is free, their club membership is $1 a year. They are kids that generally come from low-income backgrounds, so this is a whole new world for them. They are great kids, very polite, respectful, and appreciative of the opportunity to try something new. Many have been without a father figure for years. A couple of the Greefield Flyers members have expressed an interest in helping, so hopefully I won't end up with more students than I can handle. It's sure rewarding helping these kids grow.

FWIW, I will continue using both the sim and the NexStar - they work for me and my students.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

When did they start calling them "nitro engines"? Sounds gay.

jetmech05

WOW...I've just read through this entire post......I am glad I am not a newbie.....
A student with a good instructor can be taught on anything that flys.....from a U Can Do, to a Cap to a high wing trainer......depending on the student, the plane, the instructor, on how long it takes......
A student probably cannot teach himself to fly on a sim......would you allow a zero flight time student to fly a 50CC bi wing if he has no flight time??????? but has lots of sim time only??????
No one has yet to mention the worst trainer I've ever seen the H9 F-22 Raptor, even worse than the PTS Mustang......
So IMHO what does it take to successfully learn to fly RC in a reasonable amount of time.....
1 a good trainer plane.....forgiving, tracks straight on take off(Nexstars don't). good glide.....
2 a good instructor, with patience, a calm voice, and a smile
3 a good student state of mind....state of mind? the students? You bet...listen very well, try new things, don't argue, and try.
4 opitional....a sim....sims shorten the amount of time it takes to solo, but they are just a simulation of real flying, not real flying...sims don't teach safety, field rules or equitte. and are terrible at landing....airlines use sims cause they're cheaper....not better..and you can throw all kinds of simulated emergecies at the student
best advice for getting a good start in the hobby....get an instructor, then ask his opinion on what airplane you should get, radio sytem etc.
Remember there aren't any pilots out there flying full scale that didn't have an instructor.....in WW II every combat pilot learned on a basic trainer aircraft, that pratice continues to this day.
good flying to all

davo580

nothing wrong with the clssic trainer i was taught on one... the boomerang 40 and 60 trainer is very good very popular here in west aussie. have seen much problems with nexstar here so are not very popular here. goog engines are th os and saito most popular here

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

When I started out, I had two trainers. The first was the Tower 40 with an OS .46 FX. I was of-and-on in the training process, mainly because of work related travel. I even had a plane in England while working over there for several weeks at a time.

When I was able to devote more time to my training, I picked up a new Nexstar Select RTF. The main reason was because it had a sim and it was manufactured by a pretty reputable company.

I soon solo'ed with the Nexstar. As a student, I beat it up pretty well, but it took repairs and flew just fine for me.

I didn't see any issues with poor flying performance. If it was heavy, that is a surprise to me.. and would be for my instructor, who was a stickler for added weight.

Gray Beard said it well way at the beginning of this thread... I didn't see much difference between the Tower 40 and the Nexstar except for one thing.. the Nexstar was larger and easier to see. Several of us, at the time, new to RC, had solo'ed with the Nexstar. A high-wing trainer is just that, a high wing trainer. No more, no less. To try to make a point like "I hate the Nexstar" is pretty much personal bias and, in the long run, is baseless.

I've since flown several different trainers, and, again, as Gray Beard stated, they all are pretty much the same and, like radio systems, comes down to personal choice.

CGr.

dredhea

My Feedback: (13)

I highly recommend that you buy a cheap high-wing trainer. The Tower Hobbies 40 size is as good as any. The key word is CHEAP because you are very likely going to damage (or destroy) one or more planes before you have a successful flight if you insist on teaching yourself. If you can't afford the $70-80 for another airframe, you can't afford to be repairing this one, either.
It's really hard to believe that you don't have a club near you. You should check out the [link=http://www.modelairplane.org]AMA Website[/link] under "Member Services", click on "Clubs". You can search for clubs in or near your zipcode. Even if you have to commute a few miles for lessons, it will be much less expensive than constantly repairing or replacing your plane.
You asked for pointers. The best one I've seen for you came from several people. That is: "Don't try to fly the PTS-P51 by yourself."