Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Anyone got any good video of tearing up the sky with a nexstar?

I was suprised yesterday when i started to push the nexstar well beyond what i thought it would do.

Was most suprised when i got it to hold a knife-edge for 3 or 4 circuits around .. i actually got it into an inverted flat spin (it was ugly, but it did it) ... as well as most of the other common aerobatic stuff...

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

hehe, I have a nexstar & I tear up the sky with it too. I haven't been able to do the flat spin, but I have my throws to max deflection on all surfaces & it does loops, inverted flight, snap rolls (inside, outside), hammerhead turns. I have done a few KE's but not usually for more than a few hundred feet.
I actually only have one video of my nexstar & my brother in law couldn't hold the camera still to save his life. :) if I recall there are a couple loops & a split S or Immelman in there. Nothing too extreme.

[link=http://www.uwood.net/video/rc/nexstar1.wmv]Nexstar Video[/link]

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

http://www.hiddenhangarrc.com/video/...rd-Nexstar.wmv

This I have got to see. Is there a video of this? What is the exact configuration of the plane, power, prop, fuel, weight, servos, etc

The one in the video link I just posted has an OS50 on it. It will Knife Edge but not for 3 or 4 normal circuits in a row, especially in the turns because as soon as you add elevator, it will roll hard out of the KE and even with the throws maxed, it's simply not enough control surface to maintain it. I'm pretty good and guys better than me tried it and could not maintain the KE in the turn.

What I get from how you worded it is you were able to hold the KE while turning and kept it up for 3 or 4 full circuits. A full circuit is a pass down the runway a 180 degree turn, then a pass up the runway in the opposite direction then another 180 degree turn.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Yup, it held it all the way for 3 (im thinking 3, i wasnt counting but I will be safe with 3) circuits..

I cant do it with the wheels like towards the center of the turn, cause down elevator makes it snap out of the KE...but with the wheels on the outside of the turn it was controllable...

It took me almost 2 full tanks of gas to get it right...

Also, everything is almost stock...the only mods ive made are the dual servos in the ailerons, and i took the dihedral out of the wing. (most of it...probably less than 1 degree left in it)

And it was WIDE turns...i had the same problem you had with it so the turns were wide..like 10 second turns....

By no means was it perfect, and by no means did it look like a cap up there or anything, but it was more than i thought the nexstar could do!

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Without dehidral, it's possible but I'd say it was borderline at best. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

It sounded to me that it may have been easy to do so that is why I questioned it. I've flown quite a few Nexstars since they came out so I'm pretty familiar with them in stock form and bigger powerplants, but not with the dehidral removed.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

I bet you could KE & then do a hard pull up on the elevator back to another KE. Not really a KE turn, more of a KE to a tight turn back to a KE. :D

Now you guys are making me want to go put a 12.25X3.75 prop on my Nexstar to see if I can hover it... hehe
OK, I bet I could at least get a harrier out of it.
Mines got an OS .46 on it. Currently running 11x6 APC

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

On the 12 inch prop you could just get it to hover. I could hover a Twist with that same power setup at rough 2/3rd's thottle and the Nexstar is heavier. Just climb straight up and let it run out of airspeed and see how long you can hold it there, bump the throttle back a click or two and see how long you can tailslide it straight down.

I did this on the 50 powered one and got about 75 feet before the dehidral finally won the battle

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Oh it'll hover for a few with an OS 46AX and an 11x6 prop - no pull out power though.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Shakes,

I know it will. That's why I made the suggestion to let it go straight up until it could no longer pull. It will hang there, you'll be plenty high, then do the tailslide as far backwards as you can. It's not as easy as it looked because the dehidral fights you all the way and even if you have no dehidral, it's still not an easy thing to do but teaches you very fine elevator control plus it's a blast for me to see how low I can get it until it falls out. The hard part for me is I have to do it with a students one and it's one of the things I do when a newly soloed pilot comes and says he can fly the wings off his plane.

They go nuts trying the tailslide but I also see them improve. It's the same as flying inverted for 3 full circuits while maintaining a level flight atitude, meaning now gain or loss of alitude. It's not as easy as it looks on any plane. Especially a trainer. Yes a fully aerobatic plane makes it easier, but you still work at it

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Bill, you and I posted about the same time :) I didn't see your post until after the page refreshed and my post was up.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

<shrug> It happens, no biggie

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Nice videos guys, But if those were NexStar Aerobatics, I guess what I've been doing with mine would qualify as NexStar Aeroabuse! I take it straight up vertical & start slamming the sticks in every which way just to see what it will do next & you'd be amazed at some of the crazy stuff it will do!:D

No dihedral, tuned pipe, 2&3/4in spinner with an APC 11X5 prop. It's a screamer!

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Teah, i do alot of that too, wait untill it cant clmb vertical and just full sticks in any and every way...its usually some wierd combination of a backflip barrel roll and flat spin that happens...looks wierd...but you let off of the sticks and it just stops and all you have to do is level back out

so nice...

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Here is one for the two of you to try. See if it will do the Lomcevak, better known as the tumble.

There are many ways to get into the maneuver but the one that works for me is this:

Climb at a 45 degree angle, chop the throttle and just before the plane slows all the way down, slam the left stick to the upper left corner and the right stick to the upper right corner. This should induce the plane to keep climbing at the 45 degree angle but it should start whipping the tail from left to right. This is a real wing tester and engine mount tester. You should get approx 2 full revolutions before it falls into a flat spin. During the first half of the first revolution you will see the plane flying at a shallow angle, if you hold the sticks the way they are and you have just the right amount of momentum, the second revolution will have the plane going tail over nose while flying sideways

Another way to do it is again climb at a 45, roll to a left wing low knife edge, hold it a few seconds the bury the sticks as I mention before.

Timing is everything on both versions. If it doe not do as I mentioned then your timing is off or power/throw are not enough. No matter what, land not long afterwords and check the plane, anything that is marginally loose will now show itself

If you need to know what one looks like go to Michael Gullian's web site and view his Cap232 video. He does tons of them in all sorts of starting attitudes. I think the best looking one is where he is level and inverted then throws it in to the tumble. Caps are best known to preform this maneuver well.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Laughing here, yes that will test a flat bottom wing trainer, we had a guy at the field trying this last year and he got the timing just right and it was follow by a loud "smack" sound. He landing immediately and we surmised nothing broke but he didn't have enough rubber bands holding the wing on and the smack sound was that of the wing coming back in contact with the fuse.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Another Lomcevak entry is from near vertical, but slightly inverted, climbing with power @ ~1/2. As the speed dies away, stuff both sticks into the upper left corners & hang on tight. My Seamaster, with its pylon-mounted engine, does a wild rolling tumble that exits into an inverted flat spin. My Goldberg Chippy will do it as well, using that entry.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Brit,

Never tried that entry. I wonder what my Ultimate will do with that one.

burgh has a point. make sure the wing is on TIGHT, otherwise you will need a baggie to pickup the pieces. By RJM's description, it does sound close to a tumble already. The key is it should exit all on it's own into a flat spin if you just keep holding the sticks but it takes nerves to hold the sticks, espcially when a powerful Ulimate does one because it winds up really tight and really fast and you start to think there is no way the wings are gonna stay on.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Actually I just saw another way to do the entry. This is from Bill Hemples web site where he has the video of his 75lb Edge 540 doing a few of them 2/3rd the way through the video. If you have not seen this video, you need to, it's a beautiful plane and HUGE

He basically is flying level at what sounds like half throtlle, kicks the rudder until the plane is almost sideways, then releases the rudder just enough and adds full down and more power, The mass of the plane keeps it flying in the same direction it was just before he kicked the rudder and the mass also starts the tumble. He even states at the end of the video that during the tumble he has no control over the plane until it falls out on it's own.

Here is a link to the video

http://www.hiddenhangarrc.com/video/billedge540.wmv

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

Bill, Funny you should mention Mike Goulian's site. I've spoken with both him an his wife via email, nice folks too! His video thing from the website is my screen saver.

I've actually done what you suggested is the Lomcevac, or something very close to it. I didn't realize I was actually doing a manuver with a name to it. I though it was just the ol' Grumpy's acting a fool with that Trainer again" move.:)

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

I met him a few years ago at the Sun-N-Fun flyin at Lakeland Fl. I had the pleasure of sitting around a table at one of the hotdog stands and pretty soon realized I was sitting with him, Kirby Chambliss and his wife. Very nice people and loads of fun. Kirby's wife thinks he's nuts and she flies also.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

That's cool, I was supposed to meet Mike & Karen at Reno last year. I was all anxious to go, he was gonna sign my Castrol Aviator & give it a fly if wanted to & wouldn't ya know it. That was the weekend right after my first surgery of this string of ongoing surgeries & poke & probe sessions, so I didn't get to go. I'll expect to see You & Mike there this year though!!

Now as for that second video, very nice, & please tell me the little girl climbing in the cockpit before & out of it afterwards was a gag?

They should have had her climb out afterward looking all green around the gills & stumbling around from dizziness.[8D]

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

i am just wondering how do u do a flat spin.I have a nexstar and i can almost pull anymove that someone teaches me to do or anything i have seen in a picture except hovering. I do all of my stuff at a fairly high altitude.. seems to work out for the best. i just want to take the plane high then cut power and pretty much stall the plane and drop it straight down while spining a little.(is that what a flat spin is). wow i sound much like a begginer who just soloed.

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

I like doing rolling circles with a trainer. One roll or multiple rolls.... doesnt matter,,, TOTALLY freaks a student out when you start doing precision flight with their trainer that they can barely keep in the air... or even better just take off and start rolling and roll out a tank of fuel non stop, just rolling everywhere you go. Typically it inspires them to learn to fly their plane.... and keep it a little longer. I too can fly a Nexstar on knife edge forever, but you really have to have good fell for control to do it. The stock version is underpowered and does NOT like knife edge flight, but it sure is fun to make it do what you want...

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

I havent flown a "performance" plane yet...but i would imagine that making a plane like the nexstar do areobatics like that is actually more fun than doing it in something high performance because you really have to make it do it every step of the way ...

RE: Nexstar Aerobatics!
 

I have a somethin Extra & a Nexstar and I usually take them to the field together. I pretty much fly them both the same way, but I always get a lot more comments about the hammer head turn into a blender looking dive on the Nexstar. :D