Hello all.

I solo'd with my NexStar about a month or two ago, and since have had no problems flying by myself once or twice a week. I'd say since soloing I've burned a gallon and a half of fuel or so with plenty of flights. My problem is - I'm starting to get bored. I feel as though I can manage the NexStar very well in all situations, and thus the 'thrill' of flying is starting to evade me.

So what next? New plane? Mods for the Nexstar? What do you all think that have been in this situation before?

tpharker,
What have you been doing with your Nexstar?? Can you fly it inverted?? Start performing basic aerobatic maneuvers with it (loop, roll, split-s, immelman, stall turn, inverted flight, outside loop, 4 point roll, slow roll). When you're bored with those then it's time to move up. I'm not trying to put you down in any way, but instead trying to help prepare you for a second plane. I see this with students a lot of times. They will solo and then fly for a few weeks and say they are bored, but they have never explored all that they can with their trainer. When they move up to a second plane they find that they're really not ready for it. I assure you that if you can do all of those maneuvers on your Nexstar then you will be ready for just about any second plane you would want.

A lot of people say they are bored with their trainers, but they are fun planes to fly. I still have my trainer that I learned on 10 years ago, and I still fly it. It's fun to go out with your trainer every now and then and fly maneuvers with it.

Now on the other hand, if you can do all of that on your Nexstar it may very well be time to move up to a more capable second plane. Here are some suggestions for a second plane that will give you more capabilities:

Sig 4-star 60 - [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCHY3&P=0]Sig 4-star 60[/link]
Goldberg Tiger 60 - [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXH756&P=0]the Tiger 60 [/link]
BTE Venture 60 - [link=http://www.btemodels.com/venture.html]Venture 60 [/link]
Great Planes Easy Sport 40 - [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDTM8&P=ML]Great Planes Easy Sport [/link]
Great Planes Super Sportster - [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAVR1&P=ML]Great Planes Super Sportster [/link]
More information is available here: [link]http://www.geistware.com/rcmodeling/second_plane.htm[/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

Another option is to modify the Nexstar wing to remove the dihedral. This will completely change the flight characteristics of the plane, and give you an opportunity to prepare for a more aerobatic plane.

Brad

RCKen-

I'm fine with inverted flight, rolls, loops, slip-s's, immelmans, stall turns - all no prob. I've been doing some of knife-edge, low flying, and what I can only describe as '3D at high altitude' lately for more of a challenge.

I'm not trying to over exaggerate my skills, but I feel like I really can do any and all of the above mentioned acrobatic maneuvers without any trouble what-so-ever.
I genuinely take off, fly around inverted and do some acrobatics. Then I'll get bored and chase some birds or make low passes in front of the strip, then do 2 or 3 touch and go's. Landing gives me the most thrill it seems, so I will spend a tank or 2 sometimes just running touch and go's.

I'm thinking about the Hangar 9 Pulse XT ARF for my next plane. No offense to your recomendations, I just really like the asthetics of that plane and think it'll do well with my NexStar's .46FXi

If you can do all of that then by all means it may be time to move up. I mention that above because a lot of people get in too big of a hurry to move up and aren't ready when they get there. You should have no problems. For what it's worth, I'd say keep your trainer though. Like I said above, it's fun to go back and fly your trainer again occasionally.

Ken

What direction do you feel that you want to go with the hobby?
Scale Aerobatics
3D
Warbirds
Scale Flying
Precision Aerobatics
Jets
Im not forcing you to choose, you really dont need to but if you have an idea of where you are headed perhaps it will help give you some options that you will be pleased with..



To be honest, the airplane you have chosen is nice and if general sport flying aerobatic is what you want then that will be a nice plane for you. It will even be ok to practice the stuff I suggest below.

But if you are interested in 3D as you mentioned then that plane will never be able to do what you aspire to do.

My suggestion if you are wanting to fly 3D is to start out learning to REALLY fly those maneuvers that Ken mentioned and fly them well.

Here are some things to cure your boredom. Dont tell me you can already do this because after a gallon of gas I 100% guarantee you you cannot, and if you think you are you need to raise your standards. This is not intended to be insulting, these are genuine suggestions on things to practice to keep you busy.

Learn to fly a 4 point on a perfectly flat line, all 4 points of equal timing and speed. No tail waggling.

Do your stall turns on a perfectly vertical line straight up and straight down. Do not use more than a wingspan to stall turn the plane into the down line. No pendulum on the way down. It should fall vertically without swinging back and forth on the tail.

Learn to fly inverted as if it were absolutely as comfortable as upright with no fear of pulling when you should push.

Learn to fly in a straight line.. And I mean really straight, fly in a straight line 50' high (not 51 not 49) and fly 75 yards away (not 70 and not 80). Fly all the way across the field from one end to the other and only use the aileron to keep the wings level. Rudder to maintain distance and elevator to make slight altitude corrections.

Learn to use the rudder to get you on heading ahead of time, ifyou setup correctly you will only need to make tiny corrections with the rudder to keep you on heading.. NEVER heading correct with ailerons. Ailerons are for banking, not steering.

Learn to do a PERFECTLY round loop and maintain the exact same distance out throughout the loop. Only use the ailerons to keep the wings level, use the rudder to keep it straight and pay attention to what you are doing to correct while inverted. Make corrections invisible.

Learn to do a LOOOOOOOOONG slow roll. Start at 1 end of the field and take the whole length of the field to do your roll. Maintain speed, altitude and heading through the entire roll..

Once you can do all of that well come back and I will get you to step 2.

See ya in 6 months. You should have burned about 20 gallons of fuel by then and you might be getting close to doing a half decent job.


Oh, here are some more easy maneuvers to practice once you find out what they are. These are all beginner aerobatic maneuvers.
Cuban 8
Reverse Cuban 8
1/2 Cuban 8
1/2 reverse Cuban 8
2 point roll
Square loop
Outside loop
triangle loop
humpty bump
top hat
sharks tooth

And after each flight, can you touch down EXACTLY where you intend to? That's something you can also practice on every flight that isn't as easy as it looks. From both directions too.

Yup, putting the airplane down where you want it, how you want it is a challenge that most pilots never address. The plane should sit down gently just as the wing loses its ability to fly. If you bounce after touchdown or if the plane drops to the ground sharply then you need to practice... The plane should sit on the ground softly, like a feather and gently roll to a stop.

In all honestly, thanks to everyone for all of the great input, I really do appreciate it.

Here is where I have some difference from some as far as aspirations for this hobby. Don't get me wrong, I'm by far no expert flyer, not thinking about dropping several thousand on a huge plane any time in the near future, but...

for me, it's about the fun. It's about going out on a sunny afternoon, enjoying our field all to myself, and getting simple pleasure out of taking my time and flying this model airplane around the sky and bringing it back down to the ground in one piece. Are my loops ABSOLUTLY perfect? No. Are all manuvers planned perfectly to a 'T' with zero room for error? No. Can I fly the plane in a SAFE and fun manner? Absolutly. For me it's not about having a list of 35 different maneuvers taped to my box outlining what spectators can expect me to perform. For me it's about the fun, and I really dont think spending 6 months practicing my barrel rolls and loops to get them so absolutly perfect that I can do it blindfolded is to be considered 'fun.'

I'm a casual flyer. There'll be no pattern flying competitions for me. I won't be quitting my job to persue a career in R/C airplane flying anytime in the near future. It's the simple things I enjoy, I think a lot of people overlook that... but maybe it's just me.

P.S. I'm really leaning towards the Pulse XT 40 ARF for a step up and greater challenge in a low wing tail dragger and may be able to move a little better. No 3D for me.

Nobody said you needed to enter any competions. We were just suggesting that you sharpen your existing skills so that you would be better able to make the plane do what you want it to do.

If, on the other hand, you are happy with flopping about the sky in a hap-hazard manner then I can understand your boredome.

Good luck, the Pulse looks like a nice plane.

Exactly what MikeEast is talking about is what I've decided to do. Unfortunately, its MUCH harder that it sounds. I found that by setting these as goals for myself, I'm always flying with a plan. I still flop around the sky burning fuel, but trying to learn to do these maneuvers and do them well is a good challenge.

Brad

If your bored with it, i'll will buy it (i need one)!!!!!!!!!!

tpharker,
Mike East wasn't saying that you had to be a competition pilot when you are flying. But rather he was pointing out that if you are bored flying then you just may not be pushing yourself enough. If you are bored now with your Nexstar, moving up to a newer different plane isn't going to help you much. It won't take you long to be bored with it too. Boredom in flying doesn't come from the plane, but rather it comes from the pilot. A pilot gets bored because they aren't challenging themselves. There are very few planes out there that you can actually get bored on. Most any planes, including trainers, can be lots of fun spending endless hours on practicing and flying maneuvers on. For example, right now one of my favorite planes is my GP Slow Poke. When I first built it I thought I wouldn't enjoy flying it very much. After flying now, I can't get enough of it. I try to see just how SLOWLY I can do every maneuver that I know how to do. It's such a blast. I try to see how long I can keep it in the air on one tank of fuel (OS 52 Surpass 4-stroke with an 8 oz tank), my current record is 32 minutes of flight!!! It goes with me to the field every day, and gets airtime every trip.

I'm not trying to chastise you at all, just trying to get you to see what everybody it saying here. Try challenging yourself on your Nexstar and you may find yourself "addicted" to perfecting a certain maneuver on it. As an instructor I've seen this happen before. In fact, I had on student that I taught a couple of summers ago come up to me about 3 months after he soloed and told me that he was bored flying because "he could do it all now". After a few "demo flights" showing him just what a trainer was capable of, he suddenly changed his tune and started spending lots of time at the field practicing his flying.

Trust me, challenge yourself and you might be surprised at what happens!!

Ken

Well said Ken and that is my point exactly.[8D]

Im just making suggestions basis your original post.

You had mentioned 3D in your original post and you said you were bored and you asked for suggestions. You mentioned several maneuvers you can perform. If you are wanting something to work on to take away the hum drum of flying, perfecting maneuvers is about all there is other than just playing games or pursuing a particular type of flying and perfecting it. There are only so many aspects of RC flying to pursue, you just have to figure out what interests you and go after it.

Other than picking a particular discipline of flying and perfecting it or several discipline and perfecting them.. well what is it you are wanting????

There are so many things you can do, with a trainer!
Learn to land on a particular spot on the runway...
Pop balloons,
Tie a streamer on the tails of your planes and chase each other around (combat)
Do drag races
Do fun things like see how fast you can takeoff do 20 loops and land. This is fun.
See how low you can fly without touching,,,,,,, inverted!
Get 5 Nexstars up all at the same time and play follow the leader.. (This can be tricky.)

I gotta tell ya this doesn't equate to very much flying. I burn that in a week, every week! Along with another gallon of 30% for my Saito engine. However I do understand that one can get bored with the Nexstar in it's original form. Just never heard of anyone doing it in just a gallon & a half of fuel.

At any rate, I too eventually wanted more out of my NexStar. I tried some of Britbrat's NexStar mods with great results. Someone allready mentioned you can take the dihedral out of the wing. You can also get more power out of it just by using a tuned type pipe like the one that comes with the Tower Pro .46 engine. The O.S. .46FXI loves this pipe!! With an over-sized spinner 2 3/4" & an 11X6 APC prop. Just these three simple mods got my NexStar running somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 to 75 mph as well as being much more aerobatic without the dihedral in the wing. You can also turn it into a tail-dragger if you like. Or a float-plane.

I assume that you have allready stripped it of all the training aids, ie., air-brakes, wing droops & of course that silly AFS. If not that would be the first step.

I have also seen the new H9 Pulse XT in action just last week. This one was set up with brushless electrics. It is a very nice looking plane & seemed to be a great flyer. I'm sure with a good .46 size engine, it would releave you of any boredom in a hurry! It is a very nice airplane but be aware that with only a couple of gallons of fuel under your belt you may find it to be a bit of handful. Even though you are becoming bored with the NexStar. Keep in mind the NexStar (imo) is a very gentle & easy to fly airplane. It might just be the most forgiving Trainer out there. I also have a Tower Trainer & it is much more aerobatic than the NexStar even after doing the mods to the NexStar. I'm not saying that you aren't ready for the Pulse or some other #2 type plane, you may very well be, only you know that. I'm just saying that the jump from stock NexStar to a #2 plane may be a little further leep than from other Trainers to a #2 plane.

I still fly my Tower every time I go to the field it is the first plane in the air. Not only do I like to use it as a warm up flight before risking a more advanced plane, it's still just plain ol fun to fly. The NexStar is down for awhile pending further mods.

If I were you I would try the mods to hot-rod up your NexStar first. It is very simple & inexpensive to do & would let you get a few more gallons of fuel under your belt before you move on to the Pulse or a 4* or whatever #2 plane you decide on. Good luck & have fun with it, there is still a lot of good fun to be had with a NexStar.

First of all, again, thanks to all for your comments. I understand that you're trying to help out a new flyer and only offering advice for my benefit. I see now, after thinking about it more, what you're saying about using the refinement of skills as a sense of purpose while up in the air and agree that I have a lot to learn and this should be something that can keep me more attentive while in the air. I think for the time being my next course of action will be to spice up the NexStar a little. Adding another aeileron servo and a tuned pipe should help some and as I get more adventerous, maybe I give a shot at removing the dihedral from the wing. I think I'll wait a little while longer before getting my 2nd plane, since I'm really in no hurry anyway.

Thanks for all the helpful input!

Any direct Tower suggestions/links for a good tuned pipe for my .46FXi? I tried to look for the one that the last person mentioned, but didn't see it.

I think this is the one he is referring to.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJB16&P=Z

Hi,

A good fun task with your trainer , (or any other model) is to stake a few baloons out on the strip at different distances from the pino keys. Then try to pop each in sequence as the model settles onto the undercart in a series of "touch and goes".

Cheers,

Colin

tpharker, I know exactly what you mean. For some people, precision and the necessary repetition to achieve it is fun. I get bored with repetition, and I can't see the point of making up "tasks" just to try to make things more interesting. I like to do new things. We have a lot of fields where I live, and flying from a different field is always refreshing. I also change planes a lot, either mods or a whole new plane. Change is good, definitely helps stave off the boredom.

Man I must have been a slow learner I couldn't do have that stuff with any percision after only 25 flights good work

The Pulse XT 40 should be an excellent choice. RC Ken and I talked to Mike McConville at length about this plane at the Toledo show this year and he came right out and said that they designed it to compete with the 4* and the Tiger II

Should not have any problem "competing"[8D] from a visual perspective. Both are butt ugly planes in comparison to the Pulse.

Yes, Bruce nailed it. This is exactly the pipe I was referring to & as I said it is fairly inexpensive at $14.99 & the .46FXI really does like this pipe, of course you'll need to remove the tuning limiter from the carb if you haven't allready done that. I think you're making a wise decision & you can still get your new Pulse & take your time to assemble it as perfectly true & staight as you can, as you will be in no hurry to fly it. Then it will be ready to go when you're ready to fly it. I've done this with a few planes, the key is finding the patience once it's built not to fly it until your truely ready. Been there, crashed that![:@] Good luck brother, have fun!!

tpharker, I was where you are at too. Flying a trainer around can get kind of boring, especially after spending all the time training with. I'd do exactly like you planned to do and get a Pulse. It looks like a great plane and looks better than some of the other options out.

Hi There,

Interesting to read all this. I am a self taught motor-glider pilot who has just got a small World Models electric Piper Cub with a view to learning 4 channel then moving to a much nicer 4 channel glider.

Mike East was suggesting using rudder for directional change. I have been flying around with my new 4 channel not really using rudder at all.

The last few flights I was practicing a shallower banked turn and then using rudder and then bank to level at end of turn.

Could some of you experienced guys give me some tips on what I should be doing to progress my flying.

As for landing, I am just practising lining up at a lower and slower speed. Normally I have been coming in at 2/3 throttle at 3-5 metres, dropping to 1/3 throttle and at 1 foot cutting throttle and riding ground effect. However I am surprised how much speed the cub can maintain and almost overshoot 10-15 metres my touchdown.

Look forward to your suggestions.