Hello Guys, I am so very new to this hobby but I have learned a lot already, specifically from this forum. I feel it is my duty to pass what ever I have learned along to help others who are new and may have the same plane as I do. I hope you will benefit from this thread. I posted some of this information along in a previous thread but I left like we needed a thread to help with any ideas problems etc. on the Hobbistar. Please do not high jack this thread or get off topic. There are guys who need real help with their planes so we need to help them out with as much quality information as possible. In the photos below I fixed some out of the box problems that may give you fits or that you just didn't know was a problem. One shows where I had to put a double 90 degree bend in the throttle push rod because it was so bound up it made my servo buzz. The other is a hole (3/8" ) I drilled in the firewall to give the nose wheel push rod some room to maneuver. It was bound up pretty bad as well. Any other problem or ideas need to be discussed here to keep us new guys out of the dark.

I have to credit RC Ken for his wealth of knowledge that has guided me so far.

SEEMS TO ME IT WOLD HAVE BEEN EASIER TO MOVE THE NWS ARM THAN TO HAVE WEAKENED THE FIREWALL

Enlarging the hole like he did won't weaken the firewall any.

Ken

You will occassionally run into issues like this with a RTF, but I don't think they're the norm. Just the once in awhile mistake in assembly. That is why it is so important to go over everything & check for proper alignment of pushrods, & the connectors at the control surfaces as well as removing screws & replacing with locktite escpecially the engine & engine mount.. Installing some foam arounf the fuel tank so it's not just hanging there by the lip seal waiting to get bounced around & bubble up your fuel which could lead to much Deadstick practice. I know the box usually says something like ready to fly in 20 minutes of assembly time or something to that effect. In reality if you actually do try to take to the skies with it after only investing 20 minutes of your time for final assembly, odds are you won't have a ready to fly, but a ready to crash! I spent the whole afternoon going over my RTF NexStar in final assembly. My issues weren't as exreme as yours, mostly just surface alignment type things. Using the holes they told me to would not provide neutral control surfaces with the trim tabs at center. It's worth an afternoon of your time to make sure everything is right. I'm glad I did, because it got me soloed & has flown like a dream ever since. I'm glad you were able to get the kinks worked out of yours too. Good luck in your Training.

One thing you may want to do is move the steering push rod to the outer hole in the steering tiller. You are going to have a lot of throw like it is which will be very sensitive and may cause interesting excursions during takeoff.
I try to limit my steering so that I can just barely U-turn on the runway for taxi back.

I now have two of these 60 selects as I earned my wings last year on one and now I have a spare just in case. My instructer and several others where very impressed with this aircraft as a trainer. Great power and performance along with excellent flying characteristics. It is super for slow controled landings for the student and new RC pilot. I made one major change on both planes. I installed Fults gear for the nose wheel and a size bigger tire. Since we fly off a paved runway and land on the grass usually, when crossing the runway the nose often hit the edge and broke the prop. The Fults gear is much stronger and can handel that nose first landing much better also the added height saves on props. This is a super plane for a student and it's larger size makes it a lot easier to see in the air.

Don P

My fuel tank was rattling pretty bad so I decided to put some foam around it. All that was holding it in was a tongue depressor.

In the 1st picture you see I have already taken out the battery, receiver and depressor. Tank is ready to come out as well.

Next there are two ribs and push rods in there so I had to measure and cut the foam small pieces to fit. In the next shot putting the biggest piece in I had to roll it up then slip it through the frames and then let it unroll. The tongue depressor actually came in handy to help me maneuver the foam into position.

Now here we have the foam all in place and ready to put the tank back in.

Ok now I got the tank in and it is nice and tight. I had to wiggle the tank to get it past the foam but that worked well.

Last shot I put the tongue depressor back in behind the tank and it is really doing its job now.

I'm sure your "tongue depressor" is actually a "Precision cut, multi-purpose fuel tank retainer bar" expertly made by Hobbico and sells for the bargain price of less than $20 in a package of 2 direct from Hobbico.

OMG, funny. I was wondering how long it was going to take. I just hope it wasn't a used tongue depressor. Built in China you never know.

I just did the same exact thing with mine. The tank was vibrating so much that there was air bubbles in the line, hopefully this will fix it. I crammed foam on all sides of it, I just hope I never have to take it out again.


Caleb