Hi...I am brand new to this. I just ordered a Superstar EP w/ Ailerons & Futaba 4EXA. After looking around the forum everyone seems to find the need to upgrade the superstar to brushless/lipo/and esc. + $$$.... Should I just get the Electristar instead as my fist plane? From what ive read...ppl/reviews seem to be happy with this plane as far as performance and power. Also the flight time on the Superstar seems to be VERY low at about 5 minutes or so. Reviews rate the electrstar at 13minutes. What do you guys think is better for a newbie? I would like to have something that I can grow with without having to make too many changes. Any help would be appreciated.

Ro, the superstar looks like an awesome plane, yes the electristar has more bells and whistles but to run either with Lipo you will need
a new ESC and A lipo pack which isn't cheap for these planes. Also a Lipo charger. You could easily get away with a 3800 NIMH 7 cell pack for the S. star and dramatically increase runtime and performance.

As you are a new flier longer flights are not that good of a thing. You will find yourself becoming fatigued rather quickly when you first start. I have about 50 flights since I soloed and I keep my flight times to about 8 mins.

Take a while and learn on the smaller motor and shorter flight times and upgrade when you become a proficient flyer.

Please look around and talk to a local club about getting instruction. It will help tou to learn fast, proper, and help save your investment, not to mention all the new frieds you will make.

Where about in NJ are you.

I live in Essex County...about 15 minutes outside of NYC. Where are you? Would you know of any clubs or flying grounds in NJ?

I grew up in North Jersey, Now live 10 minutes out of Atlantic City.

Here is a link to the AMA club locator. You would be suprised how many clubs we have in NJ.
http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

Contact some of the clubs near you and ask some questions. I am very happy with the club I joined, Great people.

My specs state that the superstar comes with Nicad packs.....will any changes have to be made for NIMH packs other that making sure the charger is compatible?

Invest in a good peak charger most will do Nimh and Nicad. http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=DYN4049
this is what I use for all of my sub-c sport packs. I also use it as a field charger for my reciever packs. Not saying that this is the only one but try to get something with a display that does amps and volts and also has a current adjustment.

No changes have to be made to use an Nimh pack. Unless the connector is wrong you may have to wire a new one on. I don't know if you have a local hobby shop by you but here is one that should be close to you

American Hobby Center
8300 Tonnelle Ave North Bergen,
NJ 07047 (201) 662-0777
Only 3% Sales Tax!!
Store Hours:
Mon-Fri: 9:00am-6:00pm
Wed-Th-Sat: 10:00am-6:00pm

OB....Thanks for all of the help! I am debating on whether or not to find a trainer for my first flight. Well....i have a milion questions...Ill take a look around...i should be able to answer about 20 of them here.

Excuse all of the typos!

Ro, After just going through instruction a few months ago I highly reccomend an instructor. They will help you with all the things a beginner has to go through, from setting up the plane all the way to flying it. There is so much more to flying than I thought, I raced electric and nitro cars for 20+ years and although I know more about the engines and radios than some of the experienced people I meet when it came to flying I had no idea. Also an instructor will teach you safety not only the common sense stuff but things that you really don't think about.

Hobbico Super Cub is the best parkflyer I've flown and a great trainer, flying my second. Hobbico Superstar is the best sport electric (Wingdingers in Dallas Ore. has a canvas strip) I've worn out crash-crash-crash two (add stiffer main landing gear and a tail wheel) and decided to buy my third. Been flying brushed motors and Nicad since 92'.

I have the superstar ep, but I would go with the electric star ep if I had to choose between the two planes. If you don't have a paved surface to fly from, you will be hand launching the superstar ep. At least it appears the electricstar ep can be taken off from grass which is a big advantage over the superstar ep.

According to most reviews, the Superstar EP is underpowered in its stock setup and also suffers from short flight times. The Electristar is a much better setup, but at a considerably higher cost.

The Electristar comes with a brushless outrunner and a LiPo compatible brushless ESC right out of the box. You do not have to upgrade the Electristar ESC to run LiPos, you simply plug them in rather than the basic 3000Mah NiMh packs that will also fly the plane. The NiMh option simply lets you get your Electristar flying without having to spend a fortune on a pair of large LiPo packs.

I've actually seen the Superstar EP fly, and it would be a good little trainer for days when the winds are fairly calm. The Electristar will be better able to handle moderately breezy conditions and will have double the flight time. Whether it's worth spending $450 versus $250 is a personal choice however (Electristar RTF plus 2 NiMH packs and charger vs. Superstar EP 4-channel RTF), and one you'll have to decide on for yourself.

If you're comfortable with brushless power setups, you might take a good look at the new Thunder Tiger Tiger Trainer OBL ARF. It's almost ready to fly and comes with an engine mount that will work with either .40-sized glow or brushless outrunner power setups right from the box. It would let you start with a large stable airframe similar to the Electristar, but install whatever brushless power system you'd like.

Good luck and good shopping.

Well at this point i decided to get the Electristar. Honestly...this was my first plane and if i was to do it all over again....I would buy a nitro setup for up to HALF THE PRICE. For ex. the Nexstar 46($379), Avistar 40 or Super Star Select MK II($279)-Total Setup. I spent $250 on batteries & Charger alone and additional $350 on RTF kit. By the time I realized/decided it was a bit overpriced ...it was too late.