After building the Hobbico Trainer I hooked up with a good instructor. Have made about 6-8 total flights with about the last 4 letting me
do the take offs and landings. About the second flight r. landing gear fell off. fixed it and was back up in minutes (luckily it fell off on the
ground taxiing and not in the air) My BIG problem with this plane is that it just will not take-off in a straight line....you always have to
add a considerable amount of rudder.....and for a newbie like me its easy to OVER CORRECT and either take a nose dive or like today
ran into a fence just about the time it was ready to take off. Prop is inialated and small tear in the wing....easily fixed. Lucky it wasn't
any more. My Instructor hates the plane.....says everyone he has trained on has had problems like this.......really frustrated right now,
because I feel like once in the air I am ok.....and landing is still takes alot of concentration, but I enjoy the landings....its just GETTING
UP IN THE AIR IS UGLY !!!!!!! Almost ready to scrap it and go to something else. You would think any one could give a plane throttle and
lift the elevators and just take off.....WHAT COULD BE SO HARD ABOUT THAT....but not with this thing !!!!!!

I flew a SIG 40 trainer borrowed from my cousin....and although I only had one take off with it......it was a great take off. I know I am
not anywhere near being a good pilot yet.....but this thing makes me look even worse !!!!!!

SORRY......BUT JUST HAD TO VENT A LITTLE .

The last guy I trained had a Nexstar and it had no bad habits on takeoff. We may have been lucky and got an exceptional Nexstar, but if I were you I would not give up on it. There may be something causing your problem that can be easily corrected. Will yours taxi in a straight line at slow speed hands off?

Eric

heck no.......at any given taxi speed it starts to veer off. Have straightened the front wheel with rudder.....it was off a little....but not
sure if that is the sole prob or what.....really have to fight this thing to take off. Even the instructor.....(who could make a brick take off)
doesn't like it. Next I think I should check the thros.......just frustrating.....Glad you got a better one.

Which way is it pulling? If it's pulling to the left, that could be engine torque. You might need to add some right thrust. If it's pulling right, it may have too much right thrust. Usually the thrust issue comes more prevelant as you begin to accelerate on the take off roll. Try easing into the acceleration, instead of just gunning it from the start--this allows you to make small corrections as it builds speed, instead of having to correct for it all at once.

Sometimes with a new trainer folks have a tendency to use to much of a mechanical advantage on the nosewheel steering and some ARF's have hardware (a nosewheel steering arm) that may not actually be long enough for the very soft steering that I usually suggest for a new learner.

After trying some of the others suggestions above do give some consideration to your steering linkage. Make sure the nosewheel pushrod is in the 'closest hole' at the servo and is in the hole furthest from the nosegear up front. The ability to do very tight 180 degree turns taxing is far less important to the begining flyer.

Don,t get to many Nexstars in this area but the last one I set up for someone was last week and if I remember correctly that it seemed as if the supplied nose wheel steeting arm was a bit short for easy steering even with the pushrod at the closest hole on the servo. Of course you can always reduce rudder response with electronic endpoint but that is not alway an option on your equipment.

John

Do the main wheels both turn freely? could be that if one of them is sitcking abit this could cause the problems you are seeing

My Instructor hates the plane.....says everyone he has trained on has had problems like this.......
Most pilots who fly the Nextstar don't like it. It does have problems, including the LG and that stupid autopilot. Even with the autopilot turned off (which I heartily recommend) it flies like crap. There are trainers out there that are a LOT better.

Almost ready to scrap it and go to something else.
I'd agree with that. Get yourself a Tower Hobbies trainer, or the Hobbico Airvista or Avistar. Frustration is NOT what you need while learning.

Dr.1

I too trained on nexstar and yes I wish I had something else to learn on I had yo add washers behind engine mount for more left thrust so it would track straight. It not too bad of a plane but instructors say that if someone else comes to train with one they will think long and hard about it before training

I wouldn't recomment a tower trainer. The covering sucks. Everytime I fly it more covering starts to come off. It's a good flying plane but that covering...

I have been flying my NexStar and have not had any problems - related to the plane that is . One of the gear legs came out when I was testing it - pulling it by hand - but it was just a matter of pushing it back in all the way. The right thrust was perfect, flys beautifully - according to all of my instructors that have flown it and lands great. I did have a problem with the straight tracking while taxiing but it was just a matter of working on the nose gear and getting it straight. It is touchy to get it straight but maybe that is one of the 'every plane has it's querks' examples. After a few tries it is perfect.
Good idea about one of the gear sticking, that definitely could be a cause.
Oh yeah, I have heard a lot about getting a different trainer because of taking off the 'trainer' stuff that came with the NexStar - this was also recommended by the instructors at my field. I have never used the AFS (AutoFlight System) but did with the others for a bit. It takes some trimming but was good for my first few flights. I removed them one at a time and now fly without them.
As others have said, there are better and cheaper ones out there, but I am satisfied with mine.

Preflight - Preflight - Preflight

Don't blame the tools.

Set it up with the nose wheel pushrod linked to the INNERMOST hole on the servo arm & the OUTERMOST hole on the nosewheel steering arm. After that, if you can't deal with the problem, it is you (& maybe your instructor), not the airplane. More practice makes the problem go away. Literally thousands of pilots have learned on this plane & it really isn't much of a challenge

Sorry for the tone of the message --- but ---.

Thanks for all the input......I know the front wheel is sensitive and am going to redo it. Seems after a few landings won't stay straight.
Dr1.....nice to hear others are having probs as well. I realize I am not considered a "pilot" yet......but this thing is ugly getting off the
ground......That thrust issue may have something there as well. I will def check into it.

Thanks again for all the input......Please don't mistake "sour grapes" here on my part and just wanting to blame the plane instead of
inexperience......having to use the rudder sooooo much at take off is messing me up.....bout half afraid I'm going to kill someone with
this thing taking off.

Thanks again for letting me VENT

Wheels4009 -- having to use the rudder "soo much" is a blessing in disguise. Many pilots don't learn how to use their rudders for a loooong time. This really is a valuable part of your learning experience & should be considered normal. If you think that the NexSTAR is ugly -- just wait a bit -- there's a lot more in store for you down the road, particularly if you can't use your rudder effectively.

Two thoughts for you......you say that it veers left at ANY taxi speed.......if thats the case, the nose wheel is likely adjusted a bit to the left. At very low speeds, it shouldn't go left. As far as taking off, I had the very same problem with my Avistar. That darn thing would go hard left and then I'd over correct. An observer told me that I had way too much throw. As my linkage was already adjusted to give the least throw, my only alternatice at that point was to use the EPA adjustment in the radio and cut down the rudder throw. I figured that as I was training, I wouldn't have much need for a LOT of rudder. I adjusted it so it would only me give me a few degrees of nose wheel travel......hmmm, maybe 15 degrees or so...just guessing. All my take offs were pretty decent after that. To give you an idea....prior to this adjustment, my wheel would go about 45 degrees each way.

I too was having the same problem with my NexStar and I fixed it.

Here's how....

1. As previously suggested....desensitized the nose wheel...brought the pushrod into the innermost hole on the servo arm and the outer most on the wheel.

2. Made sure the front wheel was tracking straight by turning on the radio and RX and setting the trim to the middle and rolling the plane down a flat surface by hand. Really tells you what's going on a slow speeds. Adjust the nose wheel as appropriate to get her rolling straight.

3. I took that crappy foam nose wheel off and replaced it with a dubro rubber wheel.

Those changes made some improvement, but the biggest improvement was made after I took the main gear out of the plane and bent the gear so the wheels were closer together - about 1/2" of bend on each side to the middle. This raised the tail about 2" and now the plane goes down the runway straight as an arrow. The only thing I have to do is give it a little elevator to get her off the ground.

Hope this helps...I was pretty frustrated with mine as well, but those changes have helped me a ton.

Good luck.

This is not true. We have had five students successfully fly the NexSTAR, three so far have solo'ed without any problems other than the typical new student stuff, landing gear bend during hard landings, broken props, and so on, but nothing like this. Our instructors (we have several) all think very highly of the plane.

There has to be some issue, one of the above, perhaps a combination of the above. One thing we did was to make sure that, as one person suggested, make sure that the mechanical advantage for the nose-gear linkage is set to minimum so that it does not over-react suring take-off. If it's an ARF, insure that there is not to much thrust angle (or not enough) in all appropriate directions. We have a 70 year old gent that is learning with the NexSTAR. Aside from his slow reaction times, he is doing just fine. The usual broken prop and gear issues on landing (as I already said), but he is doing just fine.

Hang in there.

DS.

Also, if you have a computer radio, you can set your rudder up with some exponential so that it isn't so sensitive toward the center of the stick...

I have worked with several students on Nexstars and they have not experienced unusual handling other than commanded by their thumbs. Now that gets strange at times. It's a good planes IAW. Don't care much for the "gadgets", but that is anther story.

You need to find out what is wrong with YOUR plane. If all of them at your field are doing this, they are being set up wrong in some way. I would definitely desensitize the nose steering.

Good luck and keep trying.

I would think twice about your instructor if he sais the plane is junk and cant fix it....

I would question his eperience if he cant trim out a plane...on the ground or in the air...its just as important...i found on mine...the rudder at nuetral was a little off..so i fixed it...and the front wheel was off a little too...so i fixed it too...

No plane, kit or rtf is ever going to be great on its first flight, every plane has its own character and has to be adjusted for it...after the first takeoff, your instructor should have straigtened her out...and if he couldnt, he should have never given you the controls on takeoff...

Thanks again for all the input......I am buying a new front landing gear on Wed. and I will check the thros as well. Desensitising the
rudder sounds good as well. My instructor didn't say it couldn't be fixed.....he said he just gets frustrated as well with this model to
train on. Last Sunday when I put it into a fence on take off......just prior to that he was showing me the amount of rudder to use to get it
to taxi straight. It was MASS QUANTITIES !!!!! As it begins taxi....its straight....and as you increase throttle (ease into it) thats when it
starts to veer left.....and .....I overcorrected to the right and next thing.....FENCE.

The thing that makes it so tricky is that even when I am able to hold it fairly straight as I increase throttle......about the time it is just
about ready to lift off is when it really wants to veer.....seeems it increases with speed.

I appreciate all the thoughts and will give them all a thorough check. Seems when I took the SIG 40 trainer up....I had the most
beautiful take off and was not fighting it at all. So....not saying it is ALL ....the plane.....but I think it is. I'm still a "newbie" here.

When I get it all figured out with your help.....I will pass on the changes and try and enlighten others who have the same probs

Thanks again

As Britbat did I moved my gear to the front which cured a lot of steering and prop breaking, this Nexstar lands so slow and easy, with no takeoff problems at all. As for the negative comments thats bull, Nexstar when set up correctly can easy be flown by a beginner, I learned completely by myself and I now fly in clubs and events and win points so to those who say the plane isn't good it's to bad they did'nt just set it up correctly, I used the afs 4 times, took it out put in a 4 stoke and moved the gear forward and just love this slow flying bird which looks great in the air. Also the manual say's to clean the paint from the holes in the gear, I have never lost mine in 2 years.
My 2 cents worth. You surely should get a better instructor.
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winghog, any instruction anywhere on moving the gear forward?

I would like to do that once i get soloed on it...since im building a 4*60, the taildragger conversion would be a cheap logical next step

In the first sentence you say it won't stay straight after a few landings. Is there a flat spot ground on the nose gear shaft for the set screw to lock into????? And toning the stearing down will probably cure most of your problem. You may also be using tooooo much control on the rudder. Hope something helps. ENJOY !!!! RED

Here are some tail-dragger conversion pics. You can re-position the original snap-in gear fittings (lots of work), or you can just cut an open channel & fit a new mounting block, as in these pics.

I used landing gear from a crashed ultra stick because they sit higher, I got the ideal from Britbat. I cut next to the wall support then did a lot of glueing, made some supports and such. With the flaps down you just can't believe how slow and graceful she lands.
Britbat is my hero for giving me this idea. My next step is maybe to flaten out the wing to see if she flys upside down better, can't spell dehidaeral what ever. Any thoughts on that? I should have taken inside pics but didn't. She is a work of art now.

P.S. Disclaimer: Britbats named used without permission. All credit for this goes soley to him.