Britbrat, When I start stripping the training aids off my NexStar is there a certain order I should be doing it in? Like air-brakes first & fly like that awhile before removing the droops or the other way around or just yank it all off & go for it?

im not the guru, but my opinion is first disconnect flight stab. system. i trained with the flaps but in hind sight i should have removed them first also. once you get used to flying then you can take off the wing tips.

Oh yea the darn AFS has been off since my first flight with it! Tried to steal my plane it did.[:@] I'm flying it now with the airbrakes & droops on.

Not the guru, but my guess would be the airbrakes.

I say take the airbrakes off...while your at it turn the clevis on the elevator out a little, cause its going to want to fall more now (those air brakes give you alot of "up")

Im my opinion, i would leave the droops on...i see no reason for them to come off. I have flown mine with them off and on, in flight i see no difference at all, and when landing (once you get slowed down) they help keep the wings level...if you slow down too much, it wont tip stall on you...

That reminds me...it wouldnt be a bad idea for now to go up to an 11" prop if you arent already. I thin it comes stock 10-6...right? I put an 11-5 on mine, about the same speed in flight, but it slows down better with the bigger prop, which you will want with the airbrakes gone...it definatly will want to glide ALOT longer now...make sure you star doing landing passes as soon as you get up and about and get it retrimmed...you want to know how it will land now without those on before you try it live!

rjm, I think you're right about the prop & I have some new 11x5's. I think I come in alot hotter than it's supposed to anyway but that's okay it will just make my tail dragger less of a transition. I'll take the brakes off & re-trim it & see what happens.[X(]

When I removed the droops on mine I never did notice anything changed. It seemed to fly the same on take-offs, flights, and landings. If anything did change I could not tell.

There's a kid at our field that has been flying his NexStar for a couple years now & I noticed he still has the droops on it too. No point in taking them off if it isn't gonna change much I guess.

Removing the wing droops will give you more of a precise roll.That is as well as the Nexstar can do a roll.I learned on the Nexstar and when everything was removed it was easier to control the plane. You do have to use rudder and ailerons in the same direction and be aggresive with them to get a decent roll rate.Speed also increases some with all the aids removed.

The best thing you can do to really improve performance, is set up the dual servos. Even with a y cable, you can get better throws without stressing the servo so much...

If you can upgrade to a better reciever...you can setup flapperons...i have mine setup for flapperons...talk about a plane that you can almost reach out and grab it flies so slow...If there was ever a plane that didnt need flaps, this is one...but man, they are cool to have on...especially on a short approach...you can come out of a dive at landing speed with them..

I'm doing that now with the brakes. I'm not looking to improve the thing with any mods because I got too many nice planes just waiting for me to catch up to them. Cap 232, Edge 540, Dragon Lady w/Saito 100, & a Tequila Sunrise with an extremely fast OS .25 on it. I'm scared of that one! Too small, too fast.[X(]

I just wanna get rid of the stuff that makes the NexStar so easy to fly even for a rookie like me to help me get to the Dragon Lady next. Of course I could start flying the Tower Trainer again, it's much quciker & less forgiving but I quit flying it when I got the NexStar.

Remove the brakes first -- & be prepared to give a fair bit of up-elevator trim to compensate. The glide angle will flatten, the glide speed will increase & the glide distance will stretch out. This means some adjustments in your landing approaches. In normal flight, the plane will be "brighter", more agile & faster -- meaning that mistakes have sharper consequences.

When you eventually take off the droops, the plane will become quite quick -- very close to 70 MPH at full throttle, with further enhancements in agility & a long flat glide that will have you planning your approaches with more care. It is quite aerobatic in clean condition, particularly as you start to crank in more control throw.

The next step after that is a taildragger conversion & removal of dihedral -- the hot rod then slowly begins to emerge.

I knew you'd see it sooner or later thanks.

Brit, you know of any detailed like step-by-step taildragger mod pics?

I know whats involved...but dont really know how to do it and it still be strong enough....

I've got some pics posted here somewhere. Have a search through some of the Nexstar threads. If you can't find them, I'll see about re-posting the pics & I'll describe how I do the mod (naturally, other folks have their own ideas about it).

It comes with an 11-5 as original equipment.

when I removed the flaps and droops the top speed and fuel economy went up. used to get only 10 to 12 min out of a tank now its more like 15 to 17 min if I am easy on the throttle rolls and turns are much quiker. also the glide rate is smoother found the landing speed is alot higher not so floaty on approach. so go ahead and take them off you can always put them back on

That's right, & I still got plenty more planes to crash if I want.[sm=surprised.gif]

When my I met my instructor for the first time for the preflight check he said to take off everything including the speed bakes,wing droops,turn off AFS,and limitere on high speed needle. So I didn't learn how to fly with the gizmos and now that I've soloed I'm still not using them.I might give the speed brakes a try later on.
I say just take off everything and you'll be fine.

When I have a student show up with a Nexstar I have them take the AFS off and and speed brakes. The wing droops can stay on if the student wants them. I say that because sometimes they get a little upset to show up with this plane they just bought and I start taking stuff off of it. If they don't object then it all comes off. IMHO, students are better off learning to fly the plane without all of the "crutches".

Ken

I thought i was the only 'nasty' instructor that took off all the gismos on the Nexstar, for its maiden flight , in fact for the life of the model. All my students have learnt without them ,all five of them, and all are successful pilots enjoying this hobby to its limit. So don't be afraid to strip her clean for more fun and better flying
Bill from down-under in Australia

You two nasty brutes are taking advantage of your poor babe-in-the-woods students. You guys don't like flying it with the widgets (most instructors don't) so ya tell those poor dudes that they really don't need all of that "junk".

For an experienced pilot, the widgets are a real pain -- they dull the airplane's responses quite dramatically [:'(] However, that is just what the students need (except for that @#$%&*^ AFS).

The system is progressive -- first flights with brakes & droops. The plane is slow, stable & easy to set up for a landing approach.

Next stage is with brakes off. Speed goes up sharply & approaches are flatter, with more tendency to over-run the runway -- needing more care.

Finally, clean condition & more control throw. Speed goes up again, glide is long, fast & flat, requiring much more carefull power & AOA management in the approach. More care is needed in turns at reduced speed & more aerobatic ability is released for basic aerobatics training.

If you use it as designed (other than AFS), it is an impressive tool that will let any student learn to fly. Throwing them in off the deep end works for adept students, but it hurts those who find this flying stuff to be somewhat difficult.

---and that's my opinion on the notorious Nexstar

Yea waht he said ya Nasty brutes!

Nasty Brute? I like that and willingly accept the title. Sometimes I let them keep the wing cuffs for awhile but not for long.

It is silly...

The plane flies fine with everything on it (even the AFS)

Like was said, most instructors arent used to it so they come off...I took mine off out of personall preference after its first flight (except the droops)

That reminds me...the droops are dual purpose...especially on asphault runways...they act as wing tip protectors...if the plane rolls on landing, they hit before the actuall wing and dont let it get scraped up...