I have recently purchased a Nexstar and I was wondering how long I should fly for before bringing it in for fuel? Both if I am flying hard and taking it easy.

I would count how many pumps of fuel you put in, fly ten minutes and land. Then count how many pumps you take out. This will give you an idea. Then keep going about one minute more on flight each time you fly and recounting the pumps you take out to strecth your flight time out.

On my nexstar, and with my style of flying, I fly 14 minutes and then land. Mine was also the RTF with the O.S.46Fxi.

I also have the same setup. I was told by teh guys at the hobby shop 8-12 minutes I was just wondering what everyone else thinks?

I usually have my students fly no more than about 11 minutes. This goes to what I said in the other thread you have running, that's about the max attention span when learning. One way to find out how long you can fly is to simply run the engine on the ground. Fill it up with fuel, start it, open it up full throttle, and time how long it will run on the tank of fuel. You can then base your flying time on that. I have a simple countdown timer (I found mine in the baking section at Wal-mart) to time you flight, simply set it for the time you want to fly and then an alarm will sound when it's time to land. I prefer this to a stopwatch because you don't have to look at the timer, just listen for the alarm.

Hope this helps

Ken

I've got one set up with an LA 46 and a 12 oz tank that I can fly at 1/4 throttle for well over 20 minutes. I could probably stretch it out to 30 minutes if I tried.

Brad

The 46FXi if tuned properly and well broke in will get you 15 minutes before thinking about landing.Unless you run WOT for the entire time.Then think about landing after 10 minutes.

I have one of those exact same timers I also use. Ill have to try burning off a full tank and see how long it takes

I have flown my NexStar for as long as about 15 minutes. I wanted to see how long it would fly (not full throttle) and also wanted to practice a deadstick.
The problem was that I was the only at the field and was flying pretty high up. By the time I landed I lost track of how long I glided hahaha. But I would guess that I flew close to 15 min with the engine running. What I do now is set my timer for 12 minutes and land when it goes off. I may have to do a few go-arounds so that gives me some time.
One time I wanted to fly full-throttle for most of the flight so I adjusted my timer accordingly - set it for 10 minutes.

I think ill try it on the ground full throttle half throttle and see how long the tanks last.

Or then, you know, you could just count how many pumps you can put in before the tank is full again. That way, you won't have to empty and refill, just refill.

The Nexstar will probably fly for 15min on a tank. However, I would not let it get over 10min for safety reasons. A dead stick is not something you want to happen if you can avoid it. Just buy an egg timer and clip it to your radio. When 10min is up, it will beep and then you'll know it's time to land.

My nexstar will stay up over an hour if i want it to. It takes almost 75ft to get it off the ground with that much fuel on board. It has a larger tank in the fues an two homemade bladders in the cutouts in the formers of the wings. at one time i had the vent tube running to the bladders in the wing, but i soon figured out that gravity worked well. I wouldn't ever do this agin cause it makes for a plane that handles real crazy at the start of your flight. Then it gets better as it runs lower on fuel. No aerobatics eaither. I guess it would be good for cross country or something.... I just had alot of time on my hands on a four day weekend...Don't ask

when I was flying my NEXTAR with all the add-ons I was getting about 12 min per flight.
without the extras it will max out about 17 min, my standard time would be gadjets 10 min no gadjets 15 min for a stock tank and flying at about 2/3 throttle. for those who like to go over 15 min on any flight good luck, I personally begin to loose my edge at about 15 min or so after 2-15 min flights I also check my batterys for power level to be safe.

LOL, I love it! Bet yer neck was sore.

lol I don't think I would want it up that long. I think a plane I coudl consistently keep up for 15 minutes at full throttle if I wanted would be good.

I flew for almost 20 minutes doing approaches in my 40 trainer and still had quite a bit of fuel left.

No my neck was not hurting to bad. i was sitting in a law chair. i fly at a field where a guy once had a crop dusting buisness. so i don't have people getting mad at me for being an airhog. i have only flown it that long 3 times, Its ok if you want to be up that long. The thing hauls 1/4 of a gallon of fuel. Had to sturdy up the wings with guitar string.an i use 3 4.8 volt 1650 battry packs in open ch............Like i said its pain..... i was just messing around with it. you now how it goes sometimes

Until I hit a tree!

It's good to have a sense of humor about it!

I'm with Ken. It's not so much about how long the plane will fly, but more about how long the new pilot will fly. I've got timers set up for each of my models, usually from 10-13 minutes. That's plenty of time for me.

I also use a timer but more for security of running out of gas. lately the plane hasn't made it through a tank of gas anyways LOL

idealy you don't want to run out of fuel, landing under power and the taxi to the pits will impress, the old deadstick, well its old.
thanks Radio Shack for the timer,BeepBeepBeep.

Phhhht, why keep track? When I was training on my Nexstar, I knew it was time to land when it ran out of fuel and the engine quit running. The Nexstar glides so gently that deadsticks were a non-event! Hobbico should bill the Nexstar as the world's heaviest R/C sailplane.

Why is everyone so afraid of a deadstick?Start making deadstick landings as part of your ongoing training so they become second nature.You don't have to be afraid of a flame out.Program them in on the sim or find out which key will kill the motor just keep flying back to the runway.If you have a flame out in real life at the field,don't panic,keep flying.Your plane is not going to just fall out of the sky just because the engine quits.

I agree with you, a flame out is not that big a deal, just point the nose down, pick up a bit of speed and get her into the wind. I will grant you there are times with it is a problem - one of my flying buddies flamed our over some tall trees and could not pick up enough speed to clear them leaving his duraplane about 70 feet up, but other than that, deadstick is no big deal.

It's been my experience that beginner pilots have a huge fear of deadsticks, but if they are taught to deal with them properly they find that they are indeed no big deal. The biggest mistake I see made (beginners and pros alike) is trying to make the runway. Many times a pilot will be so dead set on making the runway on a deadstick that they will end up stalling the plane and dumping hard, usually causing damage to the plane. When the engine quits just concentrate on getting the plane on the ground. If you can make it to grass short enough to land on great, if not tall grass makes for a great cushion to land in. Just stay away from the trees and you'll do fine. But if you can't make it back to the runway just get your plane down in one piece, it's a lot easier carrying back an intact plane than it is one in a hefty sack!!

It's funny, but most people do better with deadstick landings than powered ones. I think it's the situation, you know you can't go around so you have to make a good landing!!!

Ken