Development kits are a great alternative to building an rc from scratch. In fact, I’d suggest starting out with a kit. It will save you a lot of headaches your first time around and provide some invaluable information on how rc aviation works. With that in mind, the NexSTAR Select EP is ready to fly straight out of the box. This airplane is a good choice for beginners learning to operate and build an rc aircraft. All you need to get started are battery packs, a charger and screwdriver. Recreation Aviation gave this rc a test run and here’s what we found out:

Hobbico is the manufacturer of this aircraft that’s sells for about $400 from most retailers I     found. As you can see almost everything element of this aircraft is provided.

The NextSTAR Select EP is controlled with a 6 channel Futaba radio. This package includes       the servos, receiver, and battery pack that are preinstalled.

In The Air

The NextSTAR Select EP was designed as a trainer, but it is capable of basic aerobatics. Even with the speed brakes installed it would loop and roll fine. Once the speed brakes are removed performance should improve even more and basic aerobatics should be no problem. The stock power system is more than adequate. In most cases, there should be no reason to change the propeller.

To help limit the speed for beginners, a pair of removable speed brakes are included. These parts attach to the bottom of the wing with 6 screws. Factory drilled and marked holes make this a simple task. After they are installed, you can put away your screwdriver. These speed brakes allow the NexSTAR to safely fly at slower speeds to reduce landing approaches and prevent excessive speeds. As pilots learn and gain experience, they can be removed. Do take care to align them evenly left to right so you don’t cause an unwanted yaw condition.

What The Development Kit Comes With:

- Airframe

- Aluminum and wire landing gear

- Factory installed radio system

- Futaba 6 channel radio and charger

- Factory installed RimFire brushless outrunner motor and 50A ESC

- Factory installed PA-2 Pilot Assist Link electronic stabilizing system

- Speed Brakes

What You’ll Need:

- 2 x 8 cell NiCad or 5S 3200 mAh LiPo battery pack

- Suitable charger for battery packs

- Philips screwdriver

• Covering iron

How To Put It Together:

The first order of business was to charge the transmitter and receiver batteries. The receiver pack rides under the power pack and is accessed via the front hatch. The hatch is nicely built and is held securely in place with a pair of magnets. The receiver pack is easily removed from the fuselage and plugs into the supplied charger while you work on the rest of the assembly.

The airframe features built up balsa and plywood construction. The NexSTAR Select EP is not your typical slab-sided boxy trainer. From the cowl to tail, and from the wing mount to the landing gear the NexSTAR is one sexy plane with curves everywhere. The built up structure is very well designed, and I could not find a carved out block of wood anywhere. The airframe is factory covered with white Monocote and is smartly trimmed out with stripes and cockpit windows. A few bubbles and wrinkles are to be expected of any ARF, and the NexSTAR only needed a quick pass with a covering iron to smooth things out. I was impressed with the quality of the covering job, and it was solidly attached at all seams. Do be cautious around the trim colors since they appear to be either stickers or a low temp iron-on material. I started on the tail with a hot iron and one of the blue stripes started to pull away a bit before I noticed it. CA type hinges were used all around and all were securely glued in place.

The Bottom Line: The NextStar Select EP is an exceptional choice for beginner to intermediate pilots. You’ll be able to learn basic flight techniques and when you get more experience take off the brakes for more flexibility.

When a lot of amateur remote controlled aircraft builders get into a project, they don’t want to stop until the airplane is complete. The excitement of transforming a kit of balsa wood into a flying machine motivates us into working all hours of the night (if our wives would let us). It becomes somewhat annoying when the point in a project comes where there’s nothing left to do except let the glue dry.

Many first time builders have damaged a work-in-progress by attempting to work on a piece that hasn’t completely cured; nothing is as frustrating as re-doing a masterfully crafted wing because it began to reshape itself while you were doing a touch-up with sandpaper or trying to attach it to a spar.

A thought then pops into the builder’s head: “What if I use an epoxy with a shorter cure time?” Faster curing does mean you can get back to work sooner, but will the bonds hold up once the airplane is out flying?

I’m comparing two products from the same manufacturer: Devcon’s 2-ton clear epoxy and its 5-minute epoxy. All the posted information comes directly from their Technical Data Sheets for each product.

The 2-ton epoxy gives a longer working time: 8-12 minutes instead of a shorter 3-6 minutes with the 5 minute product. Functional cure (enough to actually move the part) is 2 hours with the 2-ton, and only 45 minutes to an hour for the 5-minute epoxy. At this point, you are trading off faster cure time for less time to set the piece correctly.

Looking further into the data, it appears that the 2-ton epoxy will be fully cured in 12 hours, which is exactly the same as the 5-minute epoxy, so no advantage there. For a fully cured piece, the strength differences are somewhat significant in some situations, but probably not for most remote-controlled airplane applications. The 2-ton has a shear strength of 2250psi, while the 5-minute’s is 1900psi. Since you’ll be using light wood, the bond is likely stronger than the actual parts being bonded together in either case.

The main result: If you can work accurately at a high speed, the 5-minute epoxy should work just fine if you want to speed up the building process. Most of us need a little extra time to ensure each piece is set correctly, and the 2-ton, with a longer working time, is a better option for checking and re-checking the part.