Well I pretty much ruined my tower trainer while trying to repair hte tail section...got a nexstar on the way...hopefully it will fly just as nice

Before you fly take out the afs or whatever you call it
The guys here will know

yes remove the sensor that is supposed to keep it upright. there has been tons about that and it seems the general consensus is remove it. most instructers agree its not a real good habit to learn to let go of the stick when your in trouble. I teach and its not a bad plane really. I would have you take off all the extras to start.

I learned that plane likes to be flown with rudder and ailerons to turn other wise it has this wierd tendancy to drop its butt in turns.
the guy that taught me to fly always insisted that I use rudder from the very first time. he said " pretend the rudder stick is mechanically linked to the aileron stick". ask your instructer about that. it will amount to the same thing as 1:1 rudder to aileron mixing.

have fun[8D]

You can also leave off the flaps and wing droops - I think the plane flies much better with out them. If you have the radio capability, run dual aileron servo's - the plane is set up for them and has the draw strings already built into the wings along with the pockets for the aileron servo's. This will allow better control over the ailerons and the addition of full span flapperons in the future when you have completely mastered the NextStar.

Very important - EPOXY the empenage on with 30 minute epoxy and don't rely on those plastic nuts they supply as they can strip out quite easily. Use the plastic nuts to help tighten down the empenage while the epoxy cures.

Hogflyer

Well, he's probably buying an ARF so it won't even have an AFS to mess with and it will be HIS option to put the other stuff on or not. Since he HAS flown before he won't need them IMO.

How did you mess up the Tower Trainer? Is it still fixable? Maybe as a second plane if you take your time??

Landawg131,

If your getting the RTF version all you have to do is unplug the AFS. You don't need to remove the sensor because that will leave a hole in the bottom of the fuselage. I learned on one and now I'm about to train my son. I think it is a great flying trainer. If you get the RTF version and take all the stuff off be sure you put a lot of up elevator trim in it because without the speed brakes off it you will try to go up and it just won't go. It will take off with ground effect and then come back down unless you hold the stick all the way back just to keep level flight.

Gibbs

Make sure it's properly balanced. Many ARF's and RTF's don't come properly balanced and require weight either on the tail or nose.

Hogflyer

I bought a Nextar ARF not RTF for my son for his birthday. He is 10. I bought the Nextar ARF, a futaba 4 channel comp. radio, and a thunder tiger pro 46. He and I assembled it together. I beefed up the bolts for the engine and thouroughly checked everything out. It took about 6 hours of assembly and my son stuck it out throughout the build (of course, it took longer because I was giving instruction and he was building 50% of it) There are a few things that he couldn't do because he just doesn't have the physical strength yet. He learned alot more this way. Monday, he had his first flight on the trainer cord. At first it was difficult then, about halfway through the flight something clicked and he did 5 - 6 laps around the feild with no help. Later that day I got him up again, this time he flew the pattern without me taking over for at least ten minutes!!!! He is only 10!!! He will probably solo in about 1-2 months or sooner. I thought that I would be at my whits end training my son but WOW I cannot wait to go back to the club!!! He told me on the way home that flying was like REAL VIDEO GAMES ! pretty cool huh?

I have flown quite a few trainers over the years and all of them have their strong points and weak points. The training garbage on the Nextar really works. It gives the Newbies lots of confidence on their first few flights. Yes, it does make the tail sink and doesn't look that scale like but for a beginner that really doesn't matter. When a beginner gets board with this plane and can sucessfully take off and land, then the training garb comes off.

I give this plane an A+ for now. When the training garb comes off, I will beef up the wing joint and glue the tail on permanently - untill then, I will keep an eye out for anything that is loose or weak.

Have fun

Can I get more info on this? So....if I add another servo I can make it's only job to handle the flaps?

I would like to get some experience with flaps and this sounds like a good idea.

I'd be buying the RTF version and adding a DX7 later on.

if you want to add flaps you need to upgrade the tx and rx, as neither is capable to handle flaps. and also you'll need to get 2 servos for the ailerons. like was said the pockets are there for the additional servos, and all the info is in the manual. i beleive you cut the ailerons 6 inches from the root, that will give you seperate flaps and ailerons. also you'll need to get the hardware to make the additional servos work.

I went with full span flapperons which allowed me to leave the standard control rods intact in case I sell the plane to somebody who wants to us only a single aileron servo. I think it will do better with full span flapperons and has no tendency to tip stall with the control surfaces deflected as far as they will physically go. Just a 1/4" deflection of the flapperons made a huge difference on how the plane flew, and take-off and landing seemed to be even easier if that is possible on a NextStar, and the ground roll was cut 40% - 50%.

By leaving the ailerons intact - not cutting them - you have the full span aileron which is needed on crosswind landings to keep the wing down (I've run out of aileron control a few times on crosswind landings before and after I converted to flapperons). But this requires a radio with flap/aileron mixing. A standard 5-channel radio will work if you dont' have the mixing capability by splitting the ailerons.

Hogflyer

I have a nexstar and it is what I learned on.

1. Disconnect the Anti crash system.
2. Leave on the wing droops they will help you get used to landing the floating pig.
3. Make real sure you do not have a ton of rudder authority or when you use the rudder it will cause the airplane to nose dive!
4. Mine pulled real hard left on takeoff. It should pull right due to engine torque but it didn't.
5. be real careful on slow landings. If you get it to slow you will have very little control over it. Any airplane will turn to mush near stall speed but this one takes the cake!
6. Always check the wing bolt. A guy at my field had the bolt strip a ¼ inch on him and the wing was flapping around and almost caused a crash. Just check the treads periodically.
7. Don't add flaps it is the last thing this airplane needs!
8. Once you know you are good enough that you will not have to replace the tail from a crash or whatever glue it in place. Fill the tail bolts with a little epoxy and screw it in for good. You will understand what I mean when you get the airplane.
9. I am going to get yelled at for telling you this but this airplane is a bad platform to learn aerobatics later down the road on. It is a pig of an airplane but a good platform for learning basics. If you push this one too hard with only a few months of flying experience you will be dragging it home in a box. The over exaggerated attributes that make this a good trainer makes it a terrible acrobat! I know I know you guys can fly inverted flat spins with it Blah Blah Blah I have yet to see anyone impress me flying it and they tried. I am not talking beginers here but guys that can light the sky on fire with a Yak.

Good Luck
Joey V.

Way cool on the son!

I've had my boy to the field with me when I was training a couple times, but never let him fly (Instructor's choice not mine).

He gets bored pretty quickly this way and doesn't want to go anymore, so i didn't worry about it.

I've the FMS simulator on my PC and was playing that, he asks me if he can have a go. I figured sure, cant hurt it if you crash this!

He goes up, and comes down.. Jumps and says "I'm sorry" to which I respond, "Not a problem John, try again" and hit the I button to reset.

After he plays just a bit, and I force him to listen to me telling him what stick movement does what he gets pretty dang good! I may have to get him up on my real plane soon as I have the skill to fly it myself! (With a qualified instructor of course)

Adui,

Why wouldn't the instructor let him fly. We need young people to want and learn to fly to keep this hobby strong. I think after my son was gone I would of had a nice one on one chat with Mr Instructor and given him a piece of my mind. After all it is your plane. He was dead wrong!!![:@]

Aggitatted,

Gibbs

remove the sensor and patch the hole in the fuse its a fuel magnet and the wood will soak it up, mine did and I regret not sealing it up sooner,I found the soft wood when I stripped the fuse.
mine is now a float plane and I needed the area for a float mount it took a little surgery to replace the soft wood that could have been avoided by some iron on covering or a sticker.
I wouldn't glue the tail in when I stripped the airframe of covering I found several cracks in the tail area that wouldn't have been found if it were not for the fact I could remove the tail surfaces.
Adui its time to punt that instructor and move on to a more flexable and kid friendly instructor for sure.

Audi,
What NCIS said. I am self taught with a Nexstar last May. I am now teaching my 11 year old son on the Nexstar using a buddy cord and he is having a blast!

Yeah you guys are absolutely right. Give that so called non kid freindly instructor the boot! My son is 10 years old and is gitty crazy over this sport! I am real busy teaching him to fly with the trainer cord with the nextar and it is going VERY well. I thought that maybe it would be tough but it isn't - it is very enjoyable. We get to spend quality time together and it is totally educational He can learn more about science in one week at the flying feild than maybe a whole year at his school. Audi, how old is your son? If he is interested, give it a whirl you have nothing to loose and everything to gain.
No, the Nextar is not acrobatic and will never be. If it was, I wouldn't have purchased it. It doesn't need flaperons, or flaps. It virtually lands itself and is a pig in the air - that is exactly what I wanted in a trainer plane. I read on a different forum that you can bend the joiner rod in the wing and lessen the dihedral wich would make it a bit more acrobatic but right now, my son does not need that. I did put a thunder tiger 46 pro on my son's plane and it has BOOKOO power and will hang on the prop. When the time comes for my son to advance, he can get a sport plane then with his allowance. That is what they have 85 to 100 dollar ARFs for!!!!!!
cheers!!!!