Hi everyone, I'm new to RCU and fairly new to R/C airplanes. My first plane, which I learned to fly on my own, was a Wingo Porter, which is the twin engine version of the popular Wingo. I now want to advance into glow powered aileron planes, so I bought a NexStar. I also wanted to get a radio that I can use with future models, and also have extra channels for other stuff (aerial photography, etc), so I got a Futaba 7CAP and bought the ARF version of the plane. I have fully assembled it according to the instructions, which was a little rough at times, especially the part about the fuel tank--there was no instructions on how to put the tubes & clunk in. I eventually figured it out by reading posts here on RCU, and finished assembly of the plane. So anyway, I was adusting the throttle pushrod and noticed that the engine wasn't straight! My first thought was I just needed to loosen the mounting screws and move the engine (a GMS .47) into it's proper place but there is really no room to move it--it's locked in place by the rubber "shoes" that are part of the NexStar mounting system. Then I found the cause. The firewall itself that the engine mount attaches to is not perpendicular to the fuselage! It's visibly off by close to 5 degrees. This seems very wrong to me. I have already contacted Hobbico by email and sent the pictures below to them and haven't gotten a response yet (since last night). I thought I would share this with everyone since I've read that others on here have the ARF version of this plane and may not even notice it if their's is like mine. Seems to me if I was to fly it like this it would certainly roll over into a death spiral after takeoff, but I may be wrong.

Its normal. Its to compensate for the torque or something. The RTF and ARF come that way. It will fly fine. Mine has been flying for a year that way.

KE6VJQ Welcome.... One thing good about clubs, friends and instructors
You can get not only training.. But good deals and a whole lot of help
and information first hand:-) Anyway on the engine... It's fine, Most
have some right thrust build-in to the mounting to counter the torque
of the engine... Sometimes you need up or down thrust also...

For those of you who saw my post a few minutes ago I was wrong so I removed most of it. Dang eyesight

EDIT: I just looked again and was wrong with my first posting. It does have right thrust and that is a good thing

Yep, looks to be set up the way it should be. Right and down thrust is normal in most planes, and trainers usually have a bit more.

Definitely find a local club and an instructor. Flying this will be MUCH different than the "Wingo", and require a LOT more space.

Good luck, and welcome to RCU.
Dennis-

KE6VJQ -- the mount angle & offset is correct as far as Hobbico is concerned. However, I have found that the Nexstar flies better with the engine aligned more north & south.

I have encountered one Nexstar that wanted to do nothing except turn right -- which it did until it met Terra Firma -- Hobbico replaced it under warranty & their assessment of the remains was that the right thrust was incorrect.

The other Nexstars at our field also had substantial right thrust, down thrust, & left engine-mount offset (that's what keeps the spinner centered). They all flew acceptably well at relatively low power settings, but wanted to turn right at full power. All have had the right thrust reduced by putting a popsicle stick behind the right-side of the engine mount -- with the screws passing through the stick. They flew much better at full power. One of them has had all right thrust removed & the mount re-centered -- it flies very well, with a slight tendency to turn left on take-off & in vertical (upward) flight, as airspeed bleeds off.

I hope that this helps.

To change the angle on larger models I would suggest using round metel flat washers through the bolts between the engine mount and the firewall instead of popsicle sticks. Its easier to make fine adjustments by adding or removing one at a time and you don't have to worry about breaking them. [8D]

Thanks for all the quick replies! Hobbico said that it is supposed to be this way as well. I also just checked the model in my RealFlight G3 sim (bought it a month ago, RF doesn't come with the NexStar ARF) and sure enough, it's set at 1.5 degrees of "right thrust". Mine seems a bit more, like maybe 3-4 deg, but even with that it still flies fine in the sim. I never knew this, I always thought that engine torque was just compensated for by the aileron trim. Somethin' new everyday.
Yes, I do plan to fly at a club, or at least with some fellow flyers that frequent a spot a little closer to my house. This just caught my attention and I wanted to have it sorted out before going and then finding out it's not ready.

It sounds odd, but the biggest result of the prop turning is actually a yaw to the left. There really isn't a rolling reaction that is at all noticeable. So, you counter the engine effects with either rudder or right thrust.

Note the above where the Nextstar with no right thrust has a tendancy to turn left at times. That's what you'd expect. The same effect causes planes to tend to pull to the left when you go to take off, requiring you to use the rudder on the takeoff roll. The amount of right thrust you "need" to keep the plane tracking straight varies with the airspeed and engine speed (and prop and other factors), so the right thrust built in to the plane is the compromise the builder decided to go with.

The Nextstar was probibly designed for lots of slow flight (which, given that it's a trainer, and comes with airbrakes, isn't much of a surprise). If you spend a lot of time at low airsped and higher power settings, you find you want more right thrust. If you fly faster, the vertical stab and rudder have more effect, and you need less right thrust.

HMMMM , i think i will go buy some pop sicles so i can get me a spacer ! Thanks again for the info

If you use wood for the spacer, be sure to coat it in epoxy first. You don't want it getting fuel soaked, crushing, and having your engine bolts loosen up.