Well, after putting about 13 1/2 hours in the NexStar simulator over the last few weeks I decided I was ready to fly in the real thing today. Fortunately, my local club has a training day on Sunday. It was incredible really. I only had the chance to fly it once for about 6 minutes during my four hour stay at the field due to the fact that my instructor was busy repairing one of his aircraft and talking to other members, but it was great when I finally got in the air.

It was also somewhat disturbing to find out that the real thing handles so differently than the simulator. The vertical performance was completely off, which might be because the engine was running WAAAYYYYY too rich (I am still cleaning unburnt fuel off of the fuselage. [:'(] ) It also had an infinitely difficult time doing rolls. In fact, I couldn’t get it to do one, even though I must have done at least 200 perfect rolls in the sim. My instructor was able to do a roll, barely, by giving it full down elevator. Another annoying trait that the real plane has over the sim is that it tends to climb during turns. [:-] I don’t know why it would have a tendency to climb into turns, but I am going to have to stop that ASAP. So, my sim experience of perfect landings and takeoffs with complete circuits of the simulated field inverted with only the rudder and elevator were for naught.

Still, despite the inaccuracy of the sim I did have a lot of fun, and it was nice meeting the other members of the club. I suppose the simulator did help with controlling the plane in the 3rd person perspective and reacting quickly to my plane’s movements. With any luck I will be free on Wednesday, which is another training day for my club, so I can go back and hopefully get a little more stick time. Heh, after today I am beginning to doubt I will solo for a VERY long time. At least my plane will remain in one piece until that time.

(Note – Isn’t it normal procedure to do a range check on the ground? My instructor forgot about it and took off without doing one. Actually, now that I think about it he seems to have forgotten several things that I thought were standard procedure. Maybe he was simply distracted by the repairs on his plane though, plus, I am not even mildly close to his level of experience. He was out there flying large scale twin engine acrobatic planes, so I guess he knew what he was doing.)

(Edit - I decided to add this in shortly after my previous post, but it is not really worthy of another post. Maybes it’s not even worth posting at all, I don't know. It WAS a lot of fun out there today, but, as I mentioned earlier, it was deeply disturbing to me that my time in the simulator did so little. In the simulator I am able to make perfect landings 45/50 times even in 10-25 mile an hour gusts and can fly some fairly complex acrobatics with little problem. However, despite that simulator experience I was not able to do half of those things in real life today. I imagine had I tried to land it I would have ended up with a nice pile of balsa scraps. It annoys me beyond words that the simulator so failed to prepare me for what it is really like up there. Yes, it did help with controlling the plane in the third person perspective, but other than that it did nothing. Heh, I guess I was, somewhat arrogantly perhaps, expecting that I would go out there today, make a few token flights with my instructor just to please him, then solo perfectly and receive my wings within the hour. It was quite a shock really, seeing how different the real thing is. It was also immensely humbling to see the others out there flying low wing acrobatics planes and scale warbirds, knowing that I have so much trouble flying even a high wing trainer. I did well today, or so says my instructor, maybe I did, I don't know, but I was hoping to do so much better with the simulator experience I have accumulated. I will get used to it though, because if I don't, I won't have a plane to fly for much longer. Anyway, that is enough whining and moaning for tonight, I think. Sorry to put you through that, RCU and the friendly people here helped me out there far more than the simulator did, and I am truly grateful for that. Thank you, for everything. With your continued support, I think I WILL eventually learn to fly in real life as well as in the sim.)

Hi Audie,
Glad you had a successful first flight even though it was a short one! I remember mine, I was so nervous! Like you, I had practiced on a sim (RealFlight G3) quite a bit with the Nexstar which was also my trainer.

A lot of similarities but I found that my engine was more powerful than the one on the sim. It was so fast it scared the heck out of me so I flew around 1/4 throttle to half for a long time during my training.

Do you have all of the attachments on the nexstar? Leading edge wing droops? Speed Flaps? I am asking because I never put them on my plane and it has always been able to do rolls and loops without problem. The roll rate IS very slow on that plane so you have to take it up high, full throttle at a 45 degree angle then roll. You can do better rolls later when you learn to use the elevator during the roll to pitch the nose up for now you need the 45 degree angle to keep it from dropping out of the sky.

As for climbing in turns, did it climb with the instructor or just you? Elevator usage on the can be touchy when learning and you have to really learn the right combination of aileron and elevator. A slight bank with a good bit of elevator is going to pull you through the turn into a climb and if you don't release the elevator soon enough it will climb even more. I had a problem with that, I was holding too much elevator as I came out of the turn which ended up in a climb.

You just found out the weakness of using the sim. Your plane has to match the plane on the sim in setup, or you have to modify the sim to match your plane's setup in real life for the sim to make the sense that you are trying to get out of it. Keep up with the sim, it is your friend. Put your plane together, and verify the balance points to see where the center of gravity (cg) is on it. That has a large influence on how it flies. Look in the plane setup on the sim and see where the sim has the cg. Any difference will be noticed in how the elevator reacts, and the ailerons. Also, look at the sim setup for control surface throws, and compare them to your plane. Those will make a difference also. Make it your responsibilty to do a range before you get started flying. That way you know it is done. Try to have an instructor verify the balance of the model before you fly, and get some time in learning how to tune the engine on the ground before you go back to the field. A dollar's worth of fuel on the ground could help you save your plane in the air and help get the most out of the engine. To clean the plane, I just use 1 dry paper towel to wipe up the most of the slime, it will hold a lot more than you may imagine, then I use a paper towel with some plane jane window cleaner on it to finish it up. I can almost always use just 2 paper towels to get mine clean. Good luck on Wed.

Audie-

One thing that I don't think the others mentioned, the "unburnt fuel" you said you are cleaning off the plane does not mean it's running too rich. It is not unburnt fuel, it is the oil from the fuel that does not burn as part of the combustion process. With a glow powered engine, you will always have a substantial amount of oil to clean off of the plane. Do NOT try to lean it out to the point that you have no residue. You will destroy the engine.

To set the mixture, have a helper restrain the plane and give it full throttle. Then slowly turn the needle valve clockwise. Your RPMs should increase up to a point and then back down. Adjust it to the point of maximum RPMs (which you can tell by ear). Then back it off about 2-3 clicks. That is the proper setting for flight.

-Scott

As Scott just mentioned, the oil lubricates the engine and ALSO helps to cool it. The oil does not burn during combustion, so you will alwsays have some oil residue to clean up. That's why electric flyers call glow flyers "slimers".

You want your engine to run about 400 rpm below peak, because it will lean out a little as the prop unloads in the air, and as you burn off fuel. If you start out at peak rpm the engine will run too lean in the air, pverheat, and you will damage it.
Dennis-

Welcome aboard, Audie. I'm happy you had a good experience with your plane, and brought it home in one peice.

Above, here, I'm sure Scott meant back the needle off 2-3 clicks rather than "turns." I'm also aware that the Nexstar engine might have a lock that prevents much adjustment. You might want to have your instructor look into the adjustment. It may be okay, just the way it is.

If you enjoy the simulator, you may want to get a more advanced sim. They do help.

Let us know about your progress Wednesday!
Best wishes,
Dave Olson

Thanks for the catch, Dave. You're absolutely correct! I had "clicks" in my mind but for some reason wrote "turns."

-Scott

Audie, nice of you to post your experiences. I am sure that some new flyers would simply be shocked that the sim didn't give them enough experience and teach them how to fly and keep quiet about it. After reading all the posts about if the engine quits, then it was probably too lean I tried running 1/4 turn on the rich side. Its just as bad as too lean! I think what happens is the engine loads up with fuel if you are not at full throttle and douses out the glow plug. Then you are dead stick looking to land. I found that 3 clicks on the rich side works well for most of my engines. Sounds like you have a good beginning though. Keep at it and you will do fine. [8D]

Windex or similar cleans it up pretty easy.

Welcome to the hobby. I started a year ago with a Nexstar after 30 plus hours on the sim. I used the sim to stop the dumb thumb issue.
1. My OS .46 on my Nexstar was running rich out of the box. Have someone look at it for you. My low end needle was way to rich. Sloppy transitions and problems with engine load up at low throttle. Had a club guy look at it and he walked me through tuning so all is now well.
2. I initially flew with just the wing-tip extensions and I had the same problem your describing with the climbing issue. My plane would pitch nose up in a turn and I would have to use the rudder to kick the nose back over. I removed the wing-tip extensions, and all is now well UNLESS I am turing away from a side wind. Not as pronounced as before, but still there. Just a little rudder to compensate and she flies straight again.
3. The plane is tough. I cartwheeled her twice. No damage. Ran into my rental car while on a business trip, and the car took worse damage. Hard landings? No sweat. The heavy mains take alot of abuse and shrug it off.
4. The only thing I can tell ya about mods is be careful of the connection system for the main gear. Most folks have no problems, but I was one who had to perform a single gear landing cause one of mine got chucked in flight. I was so mad I epoxied the new ones in. A little less anger and I may have thought of using nylon bolts. But it worked. Just keep an eye on yours and always pull out on the gear once you have them attached.
5. Folks may beat you up about having a Nexstar but I firmly believe the plane kept me in the hobbly. I did 30 hours on the sim and sloloed on my second flight and I am no young guy at 43. I fly the thing to death. Thank goodness the thing is durable.

So, welcome again, and the guts of that plane work great in WM T-34 or a WM Sky Raider Mach II.

Hey Audie, yea don't get down on your self or the Sim. They really are one of the greatest tools that have come along in the past few years. What every one has said here is quite accurate. Another thing to think about is that even if you were to try two different real planes your are going to get a different feel for how each one flys. I really look at the sim as just another plane in my hanger, the only one with a reset button granted, but I use it to get a feel for how the sticks feel with the plane in any given attitude.

I learned how to do continuous, slow, 4-point, rachet, turning, harrier, and what ever kind of roll there might be on the sim over the winter a couple of years ago. When I went out to the feild to do them with my Sig SE, the tail felt completely different. I was still able to do them but I just had to adjust. So then I pulled out the Su-do-khoi, and again a different feeling with the tail. Same with my heli, I am still not able to fly backward inverted very well on my Rappy, although on the simulator I can do a whole flight this way.


One other difference between the two is the pucker factor. There is just some thing about flying that investment you have made in real air with real conciquences when you crash than when you are doing the sim with a reset button. No pressure, with one and $$$ with the other. Makes a huge difference with most people. Be of good cheer, most people are a little frustrated at how tough it is at first, it will come along faster than you think. Welcome to the hobby!

Thanks for the tips, advice, and support everyone. I look forward to flying again tommorow, if my schedule will allow it [:@], however, I do have another question. I am currently running low on the 15% "Tower Power" aviation glow fuel and was wondering if it would be alright to use 20% nitro Traxxas "Top Fuel" instead, which I have a gallon of. It says that it is to be used for ground vehicles only, but I have compared the ingredients and they seem to be identical except for the nitro and they sell 20% nitro aviation glow fuel as well. Why would the "Top Fuel" be for ground based vehicles only? Are the surface and aviation glow engines that different? Thanks.

20% Nitro is a bit on the high side but would work. Also important is the oil content. Make sure it has an absolute minimum of 15% oil and up to 20% would be better. Not familiar with the exact brand but maybe someone else will answer.

No- don't use automotive oil. It needs castor oil or special synthetic. You could probably mix it 50/50 with a gallon of 10% aviation fuel and be fine if you aren't savunig it for truck use later.

I just read the Traxxas web site and they seem to see a significant difference between their fuel and aircraft fuel. Therefore I need to retract my prior recommendation and suggest you obtain new aircraft fuel. Sorry. []

It isn't that the engines are that different but the manner in which they are run is.