Hey guys, yesterday I won a RTF Nexstar at a funfly. I decided to keep it, even though I already have a trainer. I am going to disable or possibly remove the assist link, and the rx and put a 2.4 ghz radio system in it. Only problem is that it has futaba servos and I use spektrum, so Im going to be doing some trimming :-)

Also the radio does not exactly work the way its supposed to... (6exap). I charged it for 15 hours and it wont turn on. So I took it apart (since I have no proof of purchase) and I think the battery is dead. When off the voltage is over 10. Whe. On, it drops to 2 volts and shows no sign of life. Any idea how to cycle it a few times? The batt wont come out.

Also, can I use a 4 channel rx for it? It seems that I can but it has a bunch of extra cords, but I think thats all for the p2-a.

Thanks

Congratulations on winning another ship. If you use the 6ex my advice is to get rid of that battery and in no way attempt to fly with it. Guessing that radio is a 72mhz system and even if totally new in box it could be quite old (I am talking ten or fifteen years) and you have no way to to know. Always bad practice to fly with unknown or used batteries.

Why will the battery not come out?

If that airplane has two aileron servos, Yes you can use a four channel Rx and its only necessary to add a Y chord for the ailerons. I stay away from Spectrum stuff and cannot speak for them so I would not use that rx if it is a spectrum 'parkie' type of rx. You will need full range with the glow trainer.

John

100% agreement with John, although ALL my radios are still 72MHz. Planes great with 4 channels, and the 6exap radios a good one, no problem there. The xmtr battery will definitely come out, but you have to take the back off the radio to get to the plug - it's in the center of the radio.

Let me give you a heads-up on a couple items on the plane itself though. IF the "trainer" LE slats are still on it you're going to find that she's a bit sluggish in (aileron) turns. She WILL do most basic maneuvers that way but they tend to be a bit sluggish. We replaced the aileron servo arm (ours has a single center-mounted aileron servo) with a straight one (stock uses a "bent" one with diminished aileron movement capability) and it got a whole lot better. Once the LE slats were removed she became quite the lively bird. Still flying after more than 10 years.

Also, IF the "trainer" flaps are still on her, AND YOU DECIDE TO REMOVE THEM AFTER FLYING THE PLANE, be sure to re-position the elevator to center flat. With the flaps on, the elevator actually points down a bit to fly the plane flat and level. When my son-in-law first removed his flaps (without re-centering the elevator) he had the most exciting initial lift-off I've seen in years, and no amount of elevator trim on the transmitter even came close to helping. There's a lotta lift in those flaps.

One other item, and this is MY OPINION only. I've been flying a long time and, TO ME, she seems a bit "heavy". She's well-powered but sometimes just seems to fly like a tank. It could easily be just me, I'm more used to the way a SIG Kadet Mk-I & Mk-II (4-ch with Fox.45), CG Sr Falcon (with OS.46AX) or SIG MidStar-40 (OS.46AX) flies, and they're all somewhat more responsive. We put a 10x6 3-blade prop on our bird and she improved even more - she's a pretty good flying bird now. Also, my own argument to how she feels to me is that she'll float all day on landings - and that's not a sign of "heaviness".

I'm sure you're going to enjoy her though. Looking forward to the flight reports.

Thanks for the input guys.

It turned out that the radio battery is ok. I took off the back cover and tried to take it out. I pulled really hard but it didnt budge. Then I used pliers, that didnt exactly help either. After all that pulling thetrasmitter turned on... I guess that the plug is loose but wont come out... Anyways I will use it for tge sim but cant trust it in the air.

Also, I know that this is a debatable topic, but is the break in in the manual correct? It sais to 4 stroke it a full power for 1 min, then 2 stroke for 10 sec then 4 stroke for 10 sec etc ect. Until the tank is empty. If this is the way to do it then I will need something to turn the valve as mine for some reason did not come with a limiter.

It also sais to use atleast 18 percent oil. My fuel is 16 percent lube from byrons and is classified as four stroke fuel. Would it be Ok to use this or should I just buy different fuel?

Krokodyl I just dug out a 6ex that I use for buddy boxing the fellows with certain futaba tx's using their cordless buddy system. This seved to confirm to me that the standard eight cell flat pack is indeed removable and just uses a short lead with a futaba J plug. The only thing I can think of is someone glued your pack in which makes no sense to me.

Concerning tunning and running advice You really need to post exactly what make and model engine we are talking about and cannot expect everybody to have read what ever prior posts in other threads.

The tunning method you describe is actually another form break in sometimes referred to as thermal cycling and a I do something similar at times but agine what exactly is your engine? this can make a hugh difference in what advice you receive. As far as needle valve "limiters" and I guess this is what you are talking about, I know only of one OS airplane and perhaps several Evolution airplane engines. Agine in my opinion both were a miserable flop, Why? easy you cannot preset a needle valve or a needle range for every altitude that the engines will be operated at, How is the factory going to know that? They can,t so does your engine have some sort of limiting device on your engine?

On the fuel and its oil content, I have never been a fan of four stroke oil for two stroke or four stroke engines. I would suggest adding a few ounces of caster oil from Sig or even the drug store to your fuel if it as gallon.

John

Its an OS 46 fxi, which appears to be an engine made only for the nexstar??

I actually only have about a fifth of a gallon of the fourstroke stuff left anyway, so I am going to need some more fuel anyway.

Indeed, I was talking about a limiter. I would prefer the l shaped thing to turn the needle, but mine has nothing, just a round needle which is going to be a pain to turn, especially every ten seconds for a full tank.

I guess I will use my radio for the sim and maybe I will give it someone later as a buddy box.

Yes only a fifth of a gallon is not going to be a big issue as long as you have no lean runs i.e. setting the needle too lean. What ever fuel you purchase next I would suggest a minimum a total of 18% oil. That can include a mix of synthetic oil and castor oil. It is my belief that even a small amount of castor in the oil mix is fine and even low as 3% of the oil mix is castor works well.

Yes that engine is the one I had in mind and my memory is vague but I believe there is a way to defeat the limiter, a picture of your needle valve would help here. If you intend to operate the engine with the limiter then you need to search out the OS operating instructions and adhere only to them. Without the limiter then we can treat the engine as a conventional one an there will be a plethora help on the forums in that situation. I think your reluctance concerning the needle valve operation is perhaps the lack of a proper extension. Which normally is quite easy to provide. Virtually every OS that I have ever seen since my first OS in the sixtys has provided a method for a needle extensions of one form or another.

John

See page 21 of the instruction manual: http://manuals.hobbico.com/hca/hcaa17-manual.pdf

The "Limiter" can actually be removed, it has been several years since I had my Nexstar, but the first thing my instructor
did was remove the limiter & assist link, as he said it was only used for those trying to learn without an instructor, linked via buddy box.
However, the leading edge slats where a great help, but we removed them after approximately 4 flight sessions.

Alright, so I found a problem during assembly. One of the nylon bolts that holds the tail is stripped. I would put epoxy into the bolt or even epoxy down the whole tail, but I don't want to have complications if I brake the tail. I will go to my LHS to see if they have any, but I will most likely have to order them online.

I don't see why they don't at least give you steel bolts, and tell you to use some thread lock.

Check them out on the Tower sight, I would order 2 sets just in case you strip
a few more out. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJJD9&P=Z

and free shipping on anything at the moment!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, well I think I found the problem. The threaded metal bolts that stick out of the fin are not the same diameter. First, I noticed that the nylon bolts were both stripped on the forward rod, but both seemed ok on the rear rod. Then I measured the diameter with a calliper, and indeed the forward threaded rod was a bit thinner!

I am going to buy extra bolts anyway, but I think that epoxy may be the only thing that saves me at this point...

Remove the PA2 from the receiver, since you're already flying trainers. Remove/do not install the wing junk, on the leading edge or screw on the underside plastic pieces. You'll want to get 6 minute epoxy and epoxy the tail in place, like all normal planes do. Use the bolts only for alignment.

The one bolt that holds the main wing on, is held in place by a plastic piece that is fastened by two small screws! This is a problem area of weakness. Epoxy that as well so you never lose the wing in flight.
Break in according to the instructions. ABC engines are resilient. You should not 4 stroke a ABC engine in break in. They need to expand and break in richer than a ringed engine, so don't 4 stroke it but a couple times, for 10 seconds, as it states. I'd fly it on the second tank, I've done this for decades. Level flight and less than full throttle, is all I did.
Remove the needle valve limiter.
If you can avoid 16% fuel (for 4 strokes) and have anything else on hand, just use the 18%, as the nickel liner is not as durable as true chome sleeve engines.

These fly OK. Not really my first choice in a trainer, but free, why not?

Cycling 600mah nicad batteries on a radio that old isn't a good idea. You can cut the battery out. Save the connector, solder it on to the new battery pack.
Xacto knife the plastic cover and pull those batteries loose, and trim out as much as the plastic covering to the battery as you can. Replace that battery. Many affordable batteries on Ebay and nimh is better, 2000 mah is common. For best results, discharge the battery on arrival completely and then fully charge it after. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-8-Cell-F...UAAOSwj2dXjTaZ
Nothing is worse than sudden battery failure in the plane or in the radio and you simply watch it auger into the ground.
You can also epoxy the main wing halves together than just screws alone on the plastic wing joiner.

Epoxy on stab/fin and wing really makes the plane more dependable and lowers the risk of parts falling off, and they're known to do that after awhile.
The engine is ball bearing and can go into your low wing trainer next. If you flew a full hour every weekend for 3 years, the engine would still be good.
Any trainer becomes more aerobatic if you pick up some fiberglass and resin, and take the dihedral out of the wing, lay it flat and glue the wings together, and then fiberglass the joint for strength. Discard that plastic center piece. You can install a wooden dowel in it's place, just drill a hole and epoxy the dowel in place. You can eye ball the angle and get it right. Reinforce the dowel again with a layer of fiberglass and epoxy around it. The plane performs better without the dihedral, flies inverted better, banks into turns and rolls easier. You can modify this plane to bring your skill level up and improve the flight characteristics from the trainer level. The silver monokote easily comes loose after a few flights, so tack that down better with an iron and perhaps some trim solvent from tower as well.
See photo attached, got one of these currently, your lucky day.
The epoxy can be thinned with denatured alcohol and you can get a small epoxy brush and reinforce the firewall and bulkheads, as you can see, the fuselage is built with a minimum of CA glue. Fuel proofing is done this way, or finish resin also works having a thinner consistency for brushing it on as compared to the thickness of regular epoxy on that chore. The life of the plane extends considerably doing these things, as well as helps it survive rougher landings.
Personally, if I were you, I'd take that plane if it's in fact unused, and sell it on ebay, and use the funds for a more advanced model. Check out Airborne Models Sky Raider 2. They're $129.95, the control surfaces are already hinged, build time is 3 or 4 hours, and the flight characteristics are a lot more enjoyable.
How many trainers does one man need? It's a stepping stone to better things. Just my opinions. http://ecsvr.com/abm/shopexd.asp?id=2926 Tailset is also a screw together arrangement, but again, just to hold it in place as you reinforce the tailset with epoxy, always.