I am new to flying and I took my nexstar select for its second flight. The issue is this:

1) The plane wants to go up for some reason. this is the second time it did that. The CG seems ok to me (the nubee).
I read that there are some weights I may have to add if CG is off. The climb is about 25Deg. Does anyone have any
suggestion on what I can look at or try to stop this. I have to work the stick harder to keep the plane stable.

2) The ASF sucks too. only works partially. bet me know about the climbing issue.

You must make a small adjustment on the clevis on the elevator. You need to put a little down elevator into the plane. Rotate the clevis on the end of the rod about 10 turns counter clockwise. Fly it there, it may need more. Most of the nexstars need to have this done, I don't know if its just an adjustment or the wing generates allot of lift. IF you fly where there is a bunch of wind, 15 mph+, take the speed brakes off and the anti stall wing tips. If you remove those, you may need to re-adjust the clevis again.

You do not need to add weight or rebalance the plane, those people doing that have no idea what they are doing.

If you have an instructor, disconnect that auto pilot thing. If you are by yourself (not recomended) let it be.

Also, if your rudder servo is not 90 degrees to the servo, you need to move the servo horn, so it is. You will also have to adjust the EZ connector on the servo horn so the nose wheel is straight. Most nexstars seem to have this too.

Its just an ajustments, no big deal.

you didnt say if you have the flaps intalled. if so remove them and that will take alot of lift out. if you leave the flaps on you will have to give it down elevator trim. if you dont have the flaps on still need down elevator trim. just remember if you do have the flaps on and trim it. you will need to retrim the plane when you remove the flaps. cuz if not you will have to much down trim and the plane will be very difficult to fly.

Thanks for the great advise. I will check all this and get back later to see what happens.

Remove the flaps if they are installed, disconnect the ASF, remove the anti-spin devices on the wing tips and then have an experienced pilot fly it and trim it out for you. After that, you will have a perfectly good trainer plane to learn on.

I have a Nexstar and it did not fly correctly until we removed all of the "learning aids". I was not a beginner when I bought it but I had been out of the sport for a while. On the first flight, I had the same problem as you are having. After adjusting the elevator, the plane wanted to fly in a "crab" all of the time. The problem was the anti-spin devices on the wingtips. After removing these, it was a pleasure to fly.

As for the ASF, it may bring the airplane to straight and level flight with hands off, but only if it is adjusted properly. It works by sensing the angle of the sun. If the sun is too low in the sky as in early morning or evening, it will not work correctly. In the best case, it forces you to continue to hold control throws all the way through turns and such. Unless you intend to fly with it forever, I think that is a bad habit to learn. If you do that with the ASF disconnected, the plane will continue to roll over until it is inverted. Normally, you bank the plane into the desired angle and release pressure on the sticks until you have made the desired turn and then add pressure in the opposite direction until level flight is acheived.

The Nexstar is a fun airplane to learn with and to fly. As you get more comfortable, gradually adjust in more control throws and it will be quicker responding and more aerobatic.

Good Luck and Good Flying.

If you have not already done so, PLEASE find a club and an instructor. This will save you grief and money. They will be able to help you with a multitude of things. Let us know if you need help finding a club. What city are you in or near?

I disagree with removing the anti-spin devices. The AFS has limited value due to its limitations in an acceptable range of ambient light. The speed brakes are not of particular value unless you are flying in tight confines -- in that case they permit a steep approach at a safe speed.. The Anti-spin devices, however, are very usefull for novice pilots. The plane flies & lands safely at a noticeably lower speed than without them.

I believe that Bayou Talker is speaking as a person who has prior experience -- not a complete beginner. Of course the aids are of no use to him -- he is already past the point where he needs them -- that is not the case with most new pilots. Hobbico knows what it is doing with this excellent trainer. Try the aids and discard them as you grow out of them.

Britbrat,

It is true that I did not need them. It is also true that until I removed them, the plane would not fly properly and one of the problems was that it would climb unless excessive down elevator was applied. The other was that it would not fly in a straight line. I do not see any problem with the spin devices if the plane flys properly, however in the beginning of this post Jeckelbro stated that he had the same type of condition. As these parts are only taped on, it would be easy, with the help of an experienced pilot, to remove them and see if it helps this problem. If it does not, they can be easily replaced.

The conclusion that we came to on mine was that they were not installed quite the same on both sides causing different amounts of lift and a "crab" to one side. When adjustments were made to correct this, it caused the plane to climb.

Im tired of everyone saying strip down the Nexstar....

Its annoying...

My nexstar flies better with the wing droops on than without, Like you said, you're were probably not centered right, creating more drag on one side...

The droops should be the last thing, if ever, taken off...they help keep from tip-stalling, with them on, the plane drops the nose in a stall, with them off, it will want to rool, its much better to just drop the nose...

The flaps are OK if you make some adjustments before the flight, either increase the throws on the elevator, or move the rod to giv a little down elevator all the time....they do keep the plane from getting out of your hands...especially in a dive...

And the afs isnt a bad thing...i never used mine cause it was turned off by my instructor...

the problem is not the AFS, its the instructors...they turn it off becayse THEY arent used to it....

A lot of thought went into the nexstar, and its the best trainer by far...with or without an instructor...as with any plane, even the best of RTFs need a little adjustment to fly correctly...

If you are annoyed by everyone talking about stripping down the Nexstar, I would suggest that you refrain from reading posts asking for help with a Nexstar.

If you are happy with your Nexstar the way it is, then by all means fly it that way. There are however many people out there that have not had the same experience. As with all ARFs some are perfect and some need some "adjustments". It sounds like you are one of the lucky few.

We offer our experiences as a guide to help people with problems correct them and enjoy the sport. If that annoys you then please accept our apologies for trying to help a fellow flyer out.

First post here..but thought I might weigh in considering I flew my Nexstar for the first time this past weekend.

I had the same issue with the plane requiring a consistent down elevator to maintain level flight. In fact, on my third take off, it literally jumped off the ground and nearly stalled (perhaps wind induced?) I brought her home, adjusted the elevator clevis, and hope to find this weekend if that helped.

BTW I am a complete rookie, and I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but my first flights were w/o an instructor. I simply practiced quite a bit in the simulator in all types of conditions (probably logged 15-20 hours on simulator) before a I went out. Aside from the elevator issue I was able to control the plane well and landed without any major mishaps.

Congratulations MountaineerFan36, you were indeed fortunate to be able to survive under these conditions. You MAY be one of the few naturals that come into the hobby or may have just been very lucky so far. Joining a club is not mandatory but you will meet a lot of nice people that will share ideas and stories with you (over and over some times) and help you progress in the hobby. Give it some consideration. At any rate, Welcome to RC!

BTW- No flames required. You know that you have beaten the odds so far. Just be sure to fly in a safe manner in a place where other life and property is not endangered. Fair enough

I truly believe the Nextstar is a lot of nonsense. In fact, the instructors I know disabled the AFS and remove the other junk to get back to simple basics.

To learn to fly, one needs to master the basic controls and do three things:

1. Take off

2. Fly a pattern while maintaining level flight

3. Land

Anything that impedes or interfers with these three basic objectives is a waste of time. In fact, most of the elements of these items could be mastered on a flight simulator. After that, one would need at most a couple of hours of hand holding. I know several people with the help of a simulator who did it all by themselves.

Aircraft choice is also paramount to a successful flight path. A simple durable trainer with a modest engine would be the best choice. Try to find one without too much dihedral and wing area. Many models are too stable (hard to turn) and float around like a kite (light wing loading). Here are some suggestions:

1. Solaris by Wingspro (composite very strong)

2. Lucky Stick by Model Tech (balsa sheeted foam wing and replacement parts like fuselage available)

3. Duraplane Trainer 20 or 40 (extremely durable)

4. Ultra Stick 40 (surprisingly docile and makes an excellent trainer)

For an engine, there is nothing that beats an OS Max. I have a 19 (and a 40 LA & 46 AX) that I bought 40 years ago that still sings a sweet tune.

Ciao,

Eagle Al

No flame required!!! It sounds like you know what you are doing and as long as you are safe and have fun that is what matters..

Consider bruce88123's advise about clubs..

Al --- you failed to mention stall & spin recovery, plus emergency management -- sounds like more than three things to me.

Those are not allowed and therefore not learned.

Not allowed where? They are certainly part of the training at our field.

I was inferring that Al's planes wouldn't dare do that. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

You might try to parse my sentences more carefully. I said "to learn to fly" not to crash. When you manage to learn to fly, you can start working on the crash part.

Ciao,

Eagle Al[&o]

My Nexstar want's to climb real hard to. I had to put alot of subtrim in my radio to make it fly level. It is stripped also. Yes I am a complete rookie BTW. But I've had three experienced pilot's fly it before i flew it and we finally got it to fly level. After about 2 weeks of a pain in the *****.

It would have been better to have used the clevis to adjust the trim. Now you have move the electronic center of the servo. When you get a chance, recenter the servo and make the mechanical change with the clevis on the pushrod.