grampi

I've been reading about the Extreme Flight Mini 3D, and everyone who has it seems to love it. I was just wondering if there are any other .15 size planes available that are comparable, or maybe even better than the Mini 3D.

novabill

There was a plan of a Carbon fiber boom .15 size fun fly in the most recent issue of the AMA mag. A friend has a Mini 3D with a Norvel .25 on it and loves it. I was going to get one for my Sato .40 but I think it would shake it apart.

grampi

There was someone in this forum who put a Saito 30 on theirs and they said it worked wonderfully. I don't know about going with the 40 though. That might be a bit much. So the Mini 3D is the only kit in a 15 size? That seems strange.

novabill

The .40 and .30 have the same physical dimensions and I think the .40 is 1oz lighter too

As far as I know, the Mini 3D is the only one that will actually fly on a .15. I see opportunity here

grampi

Never hear of a Fat Free Taco? This is supposed to be another 15 size 3d plane.

Boogie

Taco is for a .25 I have one with mvvs .21 it is a bit over 2 lbs and it's not a 3d machine (doesn't pull out of the hover)

Jleyland

My Feedback: (1)

Check out this video of George Hicks tearin' it up with the EF Mini-3d. Pretty awesome!!!
Please Right click and save as
http://hovertoys.com/Mini-3D_high-res_short_0003.wmv

GalenB

My Feedback: (18)

Grampi,

What is your budget for your .15 3D machine?

grampi

I don't know, maybe $300.

grampi

Do you know which engine he's using? He seems to have plenty of power.

Boogie

If he is really using a .15 it's probably Os Max .15 CV-A It' unbelievable!!!

grampi

At the end of the video it says this plane was flown using a 14 year old engine that hadn't been run since 1989. Did OS make a 15 CVA back then? I'm curious if a person would get similar performance using an OS 25 LA?

GalenB

My Feedback: (18)

Does this include a transmitter? The Mini 3D looks nice, but have you considered a 3D electric? I have an Extreme Flight Yak-55SPe and it cost me $450.00 by the time that I bought a LiPo charger, batteries and micro servos... It's a great flyer that can be flown at the local school yard or park. I get 18+ minute flights on my 3S1P 1250 packs... Now that I have four pack I can fly for more than an hour before needing to charge...

Insubordinate

The mini is sold out.

grampi

$300 includes everything. I figure I can get a 4 channel radio for around $100-$120. The Mini kit costs about $85, and an engine for around $60, that would run me roughly $250$270. Throw in the fuel and all the other periphial stuff I'll need and I guess $325-$350 is a more realistic figure for a ready to fly cost. I considered electric briefly until I found out what the cost of the batteries and chargers is. The cost is ridiculous!

grampi

All retailers are sold out? That figures. When are they supposed to get restocked? It seems like every time I get interested in a particular product in the hobby world anymore, you can't get the item because they're always sold out. A couple years ago I was into R/C cars and I wanted a Traxxas T-Maxx. Same thing. It turned out everybody wanted one all at the same time and no retailers had them. Some people were selling them on ebay and making money on them. That's ridiculous! I don't know what's up with some of these companies these days. It seems they're never able to keep up with demand when they come out with these new products, then the public's screaming for them and being pi$$ed off because they can't get them. The model industry seems to be the worst about this. I had a part on backorder through Tower for almost a year. It never did come in and I eventually ended up canceling the backorder. This is something that's really starting to stink up this sport!

novabill

[[/quote]

All retailers are sold out? That figures. When are they supposed to get restocked? It seems like every time I get interested in a particular product in the hobby world anymore, you can't get the item because they're always sold out. A couple years ago I was into R/C cars and I wanted a Traxxas T-Maxx. Same thing. It turned out everybody wanted one all at the same time and no retailers had them. Some people were selling them on ebay and making money on them. That's ridiculous! I don't know what's up with some of these companies these days. It seems they're never able to keep up with demand when they come out with these new products, then the public's screaming for them and being pi$$ed off because they can't get them. The model industry seems to be the worst about this. I had a part on backorder through Tower for almost a year. It never did come in and I eventually ended up canceling the backorder. This is something that's really starting to stink up this sport!
[/quote]

Woah Grampi.......

You are being a little hard on Extreme Flight. It is frustrating when you finally find the right plane only to be informed it is sold out. You must remember though, the mini is not sold out because Chris did'nt have enough made. It is sold out because it is an awesome little airplane. You will find that in the Profile and extreme 3D arena of RC the best products come from smaller companies, not huge companies like Tower. I do know that the factorys in China close down for a whole month or more during the holidays and this puts a hamper on sales over here during the beginning of the year as the retailers are just getting over the busiest part of the season and low on inventory.
I know all this because it is what is happening to me with the Precision Aerobatics Bad Boys. Holiday slow ups have put off the product launch 45 days and now I have a waiting list for the product. When we launch it, I expect to be sold out in less than 30 days and then have to tell people what you were told about the mini 3d. Does this nake me a bad person who is ruining our hobby? Naa......I just don't have the budget to stock a year supply like the hobby Giants do.
Once again, I know the frustration, but If we just said oh well maybee I had better not bring these planes to the public because I can't stock enough of to meet the demand, then everyone would miss out[] My advise is to contact Chris Hinson and see if you can get on a list for the mini, because you picked a winner with that plane as well as all of EF's designs.
Just my $.02 here, wasn't trying to make matters worse. Good luck with your Mini 3D quest.

grampi

Sorry about the rant, and I don't mean to run this or any other company into the ground, but it just seems like every time I find something I want in this hobby these days, it's out of stock.

Also, your statement about it not being the company's fault for not making enough kits doesn't make much sense. There's not enough supply to meet demand. That sounds to me like they didn't make enough kits. I guess we're splitting hairs. The end result is there aren't enough kits for the amount of customers who want them and we're just going to have to wait.......again.

novabill

That's because you have good taste in airplanes.....

MASTER YODA

My Feedback: (10)

I put a .15 on a mini laser 3D and the performance was awsome. The plane is desinged fr somethin like a geared speed 300 motor. If you decide to do this be sure to beef up the spar/batter box area... i eventully pulle the wing right off mine

GRH

Hi Guys,
Rarely do I find a small airplane that handles like Extreme Flight R/C's Mini-3D. It looks like a simple fun-fly model but it's really much more. I think the thing I like the most about it is the way it rolls. What I mean when I say this is that when you input rudder the airplane responds much like a precision IMAC/pattern airplane would. This enables you to do precise rolling maneuvers like point rolls, slow rolls and rolling circles. It's amazing that this little 25-size airplane flies the way it does.

The fact that it hovers effortlessly, the roll rate is the fastest I've seen, will do pinwheels, flat spins, upright and inverted elevators/harriers, easy harrier turns, knife-edge loops, amazing waterfalls...it even does point torque rolls and anti-torque rolls. I can't wait till Chris gets version 2 of this airplane out. Its size makes it easy to transport and you can get 30-40 flights out of one gallon of glow fuel.

My Mini-3D was using a 14 year old OS 28F...The video says that it hadn't run since 1989 but I got a little dyslexic with my typing and it should have read 1998...sorry. I hand carved a prop for it but I'd think a 9-10" low pitch prop would work great. I used JR 311 servos, 610M micro Rx, and Duralite batteries with it.

If you can find one of these airplanes you'll not be disappointed...it's the best 25-size 3D airplane I've flown to date.

George

PS The video Jon mentioned is now up on Extreme Flight R/C's website...the download will be much quicker than off my Hover Toys site.
http://www.extremeflightrc.com/XFRC-...eo_gallery.htm

grampi

This seems to be the general consensus on this plane, but I can't seem to get a straight answer out ofanyone on which engine to use. Some say to use the OS 15 CVA, but that engine is very expensive. Some have said to use the OS 25 LA, but others have said it only makes enough power for slow pull-outs from hovers. Others have said to used the OS 46 LA, but others have said this engine is too heavy for this plane and it drastically effects the flight characteristics. I would also be worried about overstressing the fragile airframe with this much power. I would be tickled pink with the type of performance your plane displayed in your video. Which engine would you recommend?

novabill

grampi......

The Norvel .25 is supposed to be great on this plane...

go here http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...979.1981.0.0.0 it's only about $20 more than you listed for your budget

GRH

When I talked to Chris about which motor to use he said that the OS 25 (I assume he was talking about the LA) would be the best. I was planning on buying a OS 15 but when he said 25 would be good I decided to put my old OS 28 on it. I would not put a 46 on this airplane. The key to its performance is to keep it light. If you prop the 25 correctly it should work great.

Xtrem3dJer

All of you guys need to do a little research! There are many small planes that smoke the Mini 3D. I fly Mark Shope's Mini Menace (Now on my 2nd), it flys on a Magnum .15 with unlimited verticals, harriars, hovers, and all inverted. The AUW is about 1.5 Lbs. with HS-81 servos, Berg 5 Rx, 6v 300Nihm batteries, and a 2 oz. fuel tank. On my latest build I will use a Norvel AMA .15 which has more power than the OS CVA .15.
Other kits that are awesome are mostly kitted by Mark Shope: Burrito, Fat Free Taco, Mini Menace, Another top secret Plane, and Jeremy Chinn's Edgeling that is a .074 size plane. The last is my most recent which AUW is 12.5 oz. It does all including knife edge loops ect. ect...
When most guys at the field stop to watch my Egdeling fly (both electric and gas), and others come out just to see this little plane fly that has to mean something. And I am not a great pilot!

Any ways check out these planes and you will be impressed.
Check out Matchlessaero by Jeremy Chinn or [email protected]
Mark Shope @ [email protected]

Good flying Jeremy