The Nexstar is the only plane I have flown so far.
I just got into this hobby in October and spent quite a few hours on the simulator, doing mainly landings.
When I went to the field and hooked up with an instructor, he was really surprised that I could fly the plane so well.
He let me do landings after three flights.
He also liked the fact that when I got in trouble, all I had to do was let go of the sticks and the plane leveled off.
Disconnected the flight sensor and I didn't notice much difference.
The only thing I did notice is that the plane seems a more sluggish than it did on the simulator.
I'll be flying it without the air brakes and wing gizmos the next time.
Nobody at the field had any negative comments about the plane. In fact, everyone seemed to like it.
I flew with 2 very experienced instructors and they said it was a great trainer.
Also, I bought a back up brand new Nexstar off of Ebay for $225. I bought it before I had even flown the first one.
The guy was just north of me in NJ and we met to make the deal. Just couldn't pass it up at that price!
I plan on taking the engine and electronics out of it early next year and putting it in another, slightly more agile plane.
Everything I have read on the internet from people that have actually flow the Nexstar has been positive.

I'm learning on a NexStar that I bought from a mate complete with engine, and he loaned me the simulator and controller (transmitter) to get the feel for it before I took it up. My first flight (Dean, my instructor, took it up and trimed it out for me), I just did pretty wavey circuits then Dean landed it for me, my next flight , just after he handed me the transmitter the engine died but instead of taking over he talked me down to a dead stick landing on the runway, it was not a great landing by any stretch of the imagination but I was very happy I made it .
To cut a long story short, when you take all the crap off the wings, and completly remove the AFS? thing it's a very nice aircraft and the sim that comes with it is IMHO invaluable. Another point is, that you can do a horrendous amount of damage to this model and still repair it to (probably) better than original flying condition.
From what I have seen of it the original build is crap, but it hangs together well and any repair you have to make will most likely improve it.

Patrick

This is my take on the cost of the NexStar. I bought mine for $400 and change. I learned to fly R/C with it. Soloed on 2nd trip to the field (after many hours on the sim). Flew the plane over 100 flights before I crashed it trying to take off next to a wooden fence (I was flying a Tiger Stick by then and was quite bored with the NexStar.) I still use the simulator. I still use the Tx to fly the supplied simulator and AFP simulator. The FX46, the Futaba receiver, and the Futaba servos now fly my GP AT6 Texan. A flight pack and this engine for the AT6 would have cost almost $300. So for $100 I got the spare radio, a simulator training aid, and the hours of flight time on the NexStar air frame. I think I got a lot of "value" out of the purchase.

Hello all,

I am presently looking forward to the NEXSTAR package my wife is going to be getting me. It is obviously not flying weather for a beginner RC pilot here in Vermont so I expect to be waiting for a few months at least..lol

I am choosing the Nextstar for a few of it's features which I see some of you guys who are experienced think are not worth it. The first is that is comes with a 60day money back/new plane garuantee....this could come in handy if the worst happens. The second is the Realflight NEXSTAR software. I like the fact that I will be able to practice somewhat realistically before I go fly.

Third...the auto recovery system. If I am going to invest a decent amount of money for my first RC trainer and it has an extra "anti-oops" factor built in...hey,that's even better. Why have the stress of "don't screw up or it costs alot" on top of learning to fly? For me maybe it will allow me to relax a bit more.

*shrugs* my 2 cents

I'm a biginner in a way. I tried electrics and never got them in the air. The first time I used a glow model it was up, up and away. My glow model was a NexStar, with AFS turned on about midway. Those who said the AFS is trouble are correct. I fought the plane every inch of the way, as it tried to go inverted. I got it down and unhooked the contraption. But as for the NexStar, it is a very stable and forgiving airplane. Wish I still had mine. Crashed it when I blacked out on my feet. I guess you could say we both crashed. My suggestion is if you're set on a Nexstar, turn off the AFS and don't put on the imitation fixed flaps. The NASA dohickey is good until you get the handle.