Currently I have a couple Electrics, and looking for a gas one now. .40-.50 size, and not expensive. Iwould need the servos and a rx from my DX6i, and a decent motor. Suggestions? 4 channel trainer type, either high or low wing, my current bird is T-34 Mentor Efilte. Looking for longer flight times than 8 minutes.

Shameless plug for the NexSTAR ARF here! Every profresisonal review and every private owner has said they fly wonderfully, and while I haven't actually flown mine yet, I'm rather impressed by it. It also seems to be fairly sturdy, I've accidentally kicked it quite a few times in my sleep(It hangs on the wall by the foot of my bed) and there's no damage.

Tower shipped mine for 109.99. I think now it's up to 139, but they're also doing their typical e-coupon thing so you can probably bring that down 10 or 20 bucks.

My training days, back a few years ago, was with the Nexstar Select RTF. I beat that thing to hell and back, but it took the beating and kept on flying. I sold it to someone who also beat it up and, as far as I know it's still around.

So, it's a tough plane, no doubt about it. If you get the ARF version, then make sure you reinforce such places as the firewall (use epoxy on the back side along the edges) and make sure the tail-feathers are well secured.

By the way, these are "glow powered" not "gas" powered. Gas implies gasoline, which is not the case. Glow powered uses the glow fuel we are all familiar with. Minor semantics, but applicable.

CGr.

Since you already know how to fly, skip the trainer. If you can fly a T34 a glow sport plane won't give you any trouble. I'm a big fan of Ugly Sticks for second planes. They are great in the wind, durable, as maneuverable or docile as you want them to be depending on setup, and very forgiving of bad piloting. They won't pull themselves out of dives or flip back over from inverted, but that's what your sticks are for, right?

I had a Goldberg Wildstick 40 with flaps and ailerons. When I deployed the flaps to full, I could pull on the elevator and do a loop in just about the planes length.. Then, if I backed off on the throws (Dual rates to low), it flew like a trainer. Yup, those sticks are really something, regardless of who makes them.

CGr.

Small confession, haven't flown the T-34 yet, too skeered LOL.  I have some friends who will help maiden the T-34, but in the meantime I have flown a Ultra Micro T-28, but all hand launches.  I am thinking of getting a fueled plane in addition to my electrics, and the Nexstar is on my list. The Nexstar is one that I can fly off the ground and not worry about, the T-34 is too pretty to take a chance, although I am pretty sure I can fly it and land it ok.  The perfect weather day has yet to arrive when I am not working, and that is a day with no wind, otherwise I would have flown it. <div>
</div><div>Now if I get the ARF, I will need a motor and RX+servos for my DX6i, and there is the rub, it has been so long since I flew Nitro that I dont know who makes good engines anymore. I also dont know what servos to get, back in the day, you had a Futaba, you got Futaba servos, and they were pretty much all the same, just depended on what size plane you had on which one of them to get. Somewhere I still have my 4 channel Futaba and servos, but I think that is an AM radio too.  The Nexstar ARF is FM, and I dont need another radio, and I dont think they sell an RXR model. Somewhere I still have my panel, starter and glow plug clips, but haven't seen them in years. </div><div>
</div><div>I was out at my friends a couple weeks back and didn't have my plane with me, but they flew theirs and the one plane was up for 20 minutes, compared to about 10 with the electrics, is leading me in this direction. Heck, I could fly all day with a quart of fuel and 4 batteries if I do this. </div>

OS is my poison of choice. I have had wonderful luck with both their car and aircraft engines.

I have taxiied my plane, got to say the 46AX in the nose is a beast. Ran wonderfully, typical OS. Tons of power, too, the slightest blip had the fuse scooting along quickly.

You'd have pretty good luck with Super tiger and Magnum as well.
Brand name > Dual ball bearing > 40-60ozin torque > Good to go. Today's servos are quite universal.

The ARF has no radio gear at all, and the RTF comes with a Futaba 4YF 2.4ghz unit.

there's no RXR model, though. Perhaps Hobbico oughtta get a few on the list? One FM, one Spektrum, one FHSS?

Hah, you won't need 'em. I get along just fine with a screwdriver handle and the same glow starter I use on my cars. I could see needing an electric starter if the engine's a bit of a fighter but mine flips over and starts with ease.



Started backwards once, but it started easy just the same.


Heh, this was why I went with glow cars six or seven years ago, and is part of why I went glow when I jumped to aircraft. It depends on how big the tank is, how big the engine is, how open the throttle is, and how high capacity your Rx pack is. A decent 123 or Lipo pack oughtta be able to last an entire afternoon even with 20-30 minute flights.

Thanks, I had an O.S Heli motor back in the 80's and it was a tough motor, glad to hear they haven't changed. Oops, meant RTF, not ARF on that part. The ones I saw were listing frequencies, haven't seen a 2.4 one yet for Nexstar. Would be nice if they joined the BNF list.

My T-34 uses 3300mah Lipo's which take between 30-45 minutes to charge, even with my high output charger, and I have 4 of them, 25C. I should be able to get at least 10 minute flights, but would leave me with a gap while waiting for the first one to charge, which is my reasoning for a Nitro bird, and a variety of planes is also a good thing, when I get bored with one, I can go to the other. I can also hone my skills on a high wing, then take the droops off my 34, put a larger brushless on it, and make it a screamer.

Will the Futaba servos work with the Specktrum RX? Do I need a Specktrum RX to work with the DX6i, or will a different brand work with the 2.4 DSM2?<br type="_moz" />

Hmmm found this after doing a quick search, decent???<div>
www.amazon.com/Hobbico-Nexstar-Trainer-Airplane-Simulator/dp/B0007OHXC2
</div>

Any brand servo will work with any brand receiver. It's universal these days. However you'll need a Spektrum Rx to go with the DX6i, and I don't trust those cheap orange clones enough to recommend one.


I wish the industry would settle in on a single 2.4ghz setup so that we can return to the days where a Spektrun transmitter, Futaba receiver, JR and Hitec servos would all work.As it stands to have to match Tx and Rx brands or they won't bind, or stick with FM.

I found the Orangerx, and said, Ummm, nope, not going to risk a few hundred dollar plane to a 12 dollar RX. Problem I have now is finding the correct RX. Once I find the correct one, I can start pricing out RTF to ARF. I can get the servos for $19 locally, so no big deal there, but an RX is $80 locally, but darned if I can find the correct part number, I dndnt mark it down when I was at the LHS today. I dont see it listed on Spektrums site, it is an AR6xxx with a remote rx on it, same as in my T-34. I figure if it is good enough for the T-34 it should be good enough for any other plane. Looks like the motor in the RTF is an O.S. If I can get it all for under $200, I will order today, otherwise I will wait. If I can keep the cost to less than half of what my T-34 costs, I wont feel so bad if I crack it up.

I was tempted to get the PZ T-28, but its electric too, so maybe later. I know my little 28 is a blast to fly.

Re: Orange

It depends upon which one?

I lost a plane to the seven channel full range variety, and ripped out a second identical RX after another plane came close to destruction.

I don't trust them because of direct empirical evidence.

However the park flyer ( shorter range ) ones have been fantastic for me. No issues what so ever... and I've flown them out to Giant Scale ranges w/o signal loss, etc.

Re: Industry.

I wish that too... but remember that industries LOVE proprietary hardware to help avoid cheaper competing products, so don't hold your breath.

Whenever a legal clone appears the major players try to shift their own standards too, so as to retain their profit margins.

the computer industry had no trouble adopting such standards. 95% of your computer is 100% interchangeable with mine. Hard drives, power supplies, graphics cards, sound cards, CD drives, card readers, ram for the most part(There's a couple of different standards but all brands use the same ones). They remain profitable. I see no reason why the big players in RC radios can't agree on a single spread-spectrum system that lets any Tx bind with any Rx like we used to do in the FM and AM days. Honestly I think there'd be money to be made doing such a thing!

I added up ARF pricing, the plane, engine, RX and 4 servos come out to over $420, not including taxes, or shipping. This also does not include the same engine. I can't find that engine listed, it is a .46 OS, with ball bearings, and remote needle valve. The closest I found was an OS AX ABL,  The RX alone is $65-$75. Just the plane and RX is over $200, add another $80+ for servos, $130 for the motor, and who know what else, like RX battery pack, servo extensions, and whatever else is needed, it is more than the T-34 I have.  THAT defeats the purpose of having a cheaper plane LOL.  I found an RTF for $379.  It also has the self correcting feature installed.  Since my RX is velcro'd into the T-34 though, I can easily swap it into the Nexstar if I wanted to. <div>
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</div><div>OTOH, if there is a 4 channel Nitro RTF, or RXR ready for less, I am open to suggestions.  </div>

The computer industry major players elected to join a consortium and establish some standards.

In spite of that there was a major attempt to keep things proprietary.... and of course little things like the government helped put the kabash on that.

( Microsoft and Apple still love to take public domain "standards" and modify them a bit, then call them their own proprietary work... ugh... )

We don't have such things working in our favor.


It is not co-incidental that as the first Futaba and JR RX clones start appearing, both companies come out with new "standards" and drop their old product lines.

If I were in their shoes, looking to keep my margins up, I'd do likewise... though as I hobbiest I'd LOVE to see real interoperability, or at the least modular swapouts that provide interoperability at a cheaper price.

Consider seeing if anyone has an old trainer in your club that they are getting rid of.

Typically you can find these for a song as everyone has them.

At worst you can then take the engine and good components and transfer them to a new airframe ending up with a top tier trainer at a greatly reduced price.

You could also purchase the airframe, engine and inexpensive servos and use your existing TX.

With an all new configuration you should be able to pull it off for around $250.00 using your own TX/RX.

Yes, OS 46AX. That's the engine I have. Excellent engine.

this is why mine hasn't flown. I have an AR6110e, but I don't feel it's got enough range so I put that little guy in my car and I'm saving for an AR600. 'Course I'e got to dip into those savings to fix my truck...


You won't need any servo extensions. All four servos mount within six inches of the receiver. As for the cost...these things aren't cheap, brah. You're not gonna do much better without buying used gear.

look at tower hobbies.com. they have deals like spend 150.00 and get 20.00 sometimes more off. also they have free shipping from time to time. not always but, it's usually 10.00 on a arf or kit.they also sell os engines and others like thunder tiger, magnum. these are are good engines too. they are cheaper and run just as good. also, look at the left side of the screen at tower for three pay deals. there are alot of planes, engines, and stuff you can get on a 90 day payment plan. no interest at all, ever. sometimes you can get payments of 40.00 to 100.00 a month over three months,depending on the item, items chosen. i do it all the time. you might have to give 50.00 for the first payment,then it's automaticly taken out of your credit card for the next payments a month later and so on. no b.s and everything is gauranteed as shown. a great place to save money and they have alot of products.....check them out if you haven't already................good luck.....ROM

Two words of advice. Big Stik!

Decision made, I talked to my friend who used to have a hobby shop to see if he had any old ones he wanted to give up, didn't have one, but during the winter they spend time building in his shop. So I am putting off on a fueled bird until winter, going to build me a nice 4 stroker, maybe a Cessna or maybe even get the plane I have always wanted, a Cessna 310 twin engine with a 10' span.  <div>
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</div><div>In the meantime I stopped at my LHS again on the way home and looked at what they had. They had an Apprentice RXR. They also had an AR600 RX.  I picked those up instead. The deciding factor was the Apprentice uses the same battery as my T-34. The Wing span is the same as my T-34 though, but since it is foam I am not as worried about transporting it as the balsa and monokote wing of the Mentor. I can stick this plane in the trunk of my car or back of my Flex without a cradle, and not use up as much space as the T-34 would since the wheels are part of the Fuse and not attached to the wings. I can wrap a towel around both and be done with it.  Uses same radio and same batteries, less inventory I need, easy to fix with Gorrilla glue, slow flyer, stable wing, and I will feel comfortable flying it at my house. Seems like a win win win to me. </div><div>
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</div><div>Once I get some flights in on this and solo the T-34 then I will know if I can fly the 34 at my house too. I have a pasture that I think is smooth and long enough to take off and land in.   The T-34 I know has a long hang time, so my fences are my concern, but I dont think the Apprentice will be a problem. </div>

...How much did you pay for that AR600 anyways?

I bought an orange rx for my futaba and it died imediately further decimating any confidence in HK ..I bought it for a funjet as I didnt want to use any expensive electronics..I hear guys swear by them and thats fine but cheap is what it is.nor would I ever go back to spectrum.JR or futaba only..

If I was going to buy a new engine I would go to HK and buy the ASP 46. Same as a magnum. Those engines are old OS castings that OS sold off years ago. Good motors and inexpensive. I use many different HK servos. priced from 1.99 to 10.99 and not had a single failure.

I know you use spektrum and that is your choice. I have a Turnigy 9x radio that I have been flying for three years now and fly electrics all the way to gas powered on it. with six and eight channel receivers. Cost less than $14.00 apiece. No problems no failures.

You could go to HK buy a ASP engine, 10 servos and with shipping and spend less than $150.00. I recently bought the new orange metal gear and standard servos at less than four bucks apiece and installed them in a Sig Sun Dancer Bipe. They perform flawlessly and I will not hesitate to buy more in the future. They are analog and I use them on a 4 cell nimh pack. Metal gear on control surfaces and a standard (nylon gear) on throttle.

If you do your homework HK has some wonderful products at a fraction of the cost of stuff in the states.

Good luck.

I can second the recommendation on an ASP or Magnum engine. The current OS engines are better (easier to tune, less incidence of issues to fix) but I have really loved my Magnum .61.

$59.