Hey all fellow Hobbico NexStar owners:

How long of flight times do you get on average with the stock O.S. .46 FXi engine in your NexStar? After running a few tanks very rich I have leaned the needle all the way (as far as the restrictor wil let me go) and still only get about 10-11 min per tank with good throttle management. Just curious to hear others' experiences...

tpharker,
I've trained quite a few students and your 10-11 minutes is just about the normal. You're not going to get much more than that from that engine. With good throttle management you might be able to stretch that to 12 minutes or so.

One thing that I do for my students is have them go home and time their engine runs so they know how long they can fly. Run the plane on the ground with the throttle wide open and time how long it takes to run out the fuel tank. Then you can get a good idea of how much flight time you will have from that. I have a cheap baking timer that I picked up at Wal-mart that I use to time my flights. I like to use this instead of a watch because this counts down from the time you set and has an alarm when it hits zero, this way you don't have to take you eyes off of your plane to check you time and you'll get the alarm when it's time to land.

Hope this helps

Ken

I built the ARF with an OS 46 AX & with the stock tank I typically get between 15-20 minutes. I have my timer on my radio go off at 15 minutes & unless I was heavy thumbed on the throttle I rarely run out.
I can get it over 20 minutes if I really baby it, but who wants to do that.

If your still using the stock prop, I wonder if switching it out would get you better economy because the stock one isn't exactly "high performance"
I'm usually runing 11x7's to put around with.

I am thinking that 10-12 minutes is what I had my timer set for when I was flying the Nexstar. I have the same motor in a 40 size Ultra-Stick and get 15-20 of flight with the stock set-up. The Nexstar is a little heavy and it never hurts to run the motor just a bit rich.

The NV limiter is set conservatively rich. When you are more familiar with operating these engines, you can remove the limiter & safely lean the engine out a bit more (but don't over-do the leaning out). You can usually get ~ 15 min with the stock tank, if optimally tuned.

Just a note -- 10 min is plenty of time/flight. Without noticing it, you can become fatigued & inattentive with longer flights -- you may make mistakes that that wouldn't arrise in a shorter flight. In high-stress flying situations, I often have had enough in 5 - 6 mins.

That's any time I fly

I have been Flying my Nexstar for about 4 months now and usually get about the same flight time as you are getting but I find myself landing earlier more and more as I push this plane harder and harder. Even thought about modifying it with a .60 I got off of Ebay. Can a Nexstar hover?

RCKen,

Noobie question... With the plane on the ground and not moving through the air, will the propwash be enough to cool the engine?

I'm wanting to try this now to see how long my plane will take to burn through 12oz of fuel for a reference.

Thanks,
somegeek

somegeek,
You bet. The air moving over the engine on the ground it more than enough to keep it cool. Go ahead and run it on the ground, you'll be fine.

Hope this helps

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

when I started on my NEXTAR all I was getting is 10-12 min. of flight time, after a little leaning the motor a bit and removal of the speed brakes and droops I set my timer at 15 min now, but I am sure that I could get a few more as there is always fuel in the tank after I land the extra drag slows the plane and sucks alot of fuel after 8-10 flights my motor was to rich and wasn't running that well after leaning it out it was alot better still has smoke out the pipe just not as much

Mine now is not stock anymore..but i get around 16-18 minutes...

Same engine and tank

New prop, no training aids (REMOVED the afs, so took some drag away down there), and no dihedral....

I set my timer for 14 minutes, and land with enough fuel to still hear it sloshing around if i shake it a bit...

To answer the orignal post, I hace a Nexstar with orginal tank and an OS 50SX I set my timer for 15 minutes and wait for it to ring before starting my final approach. I've yet to run out of fuel. I still have at least several minutes left as a buffer. Hope this helps.

Bruce

Hey all, I just wanted to touch base again and say that after running a gallon of fuel through my Nexstar during training, I am now consistently getting a comfortable 15 min out of my .46 FXi. I had to remove the plastic restricter that they put on the high speed needle and lean the engine even more, because it was all the way leaned out and still running very rich under the limiter. I highly recommend removing the plastic limiter to anyone else with this engine, leaning it a little more really helps!

P.S. I solo'd at my field tonight on my 4th session with a great instructor! I'm really excited to go out and give it a go on my own now.

Congrats on soloing!

tpharker,
Isn't it a great feeling when you solo?? But give up on hiding that grin, it stays with you for about 3 weeks (at least mine did)!!!

A solo flight is a great accomplishment and that wins you one genuine RCU ATTABOY (Suitable for framing, wrapping fish, or lining trashcans).

Ken