nmking09

My Feedback: (61)

If your canopy pops off be sure you have installed the plywood donuts in the front of the hatch so that the dowels fit very snuggly. The other thing you can do is to add a small piece of foam (or weather stripping) to the front of the firewall to be sure that the cowl is pressed backward.

PmikeyG

I maidened mine yesterday and it is one of the most stable glow planes I have ever flown. I let a friend fly it also, and he was very impressed. I did have a little mishap though. I managed to rip the gear, and airframe out on landing. She came in pretty as can be, but it ripped right out. Upon inspecting the damage, it looks like they hot glue the support plate that supports the gear to the airframe. Not epoxy...glue! I would check your airframes out and reinforce them.

CloudSkipper

Always good to do. I read a story a while back about a guy who's new ARF went totally out of control on maiden flight. Radio interference pretty much ruled out and he never really determined what happened. But probably what caused it was a servo tray come loose IMO anyway... you can imagine the results of that. Reinforce ARF's [sm=thumbup.gif]

Hope you guys don't mind if I bump my question (a few posts back) about this ARF. It ended up un-strategically as last post of the previous page. It is: does anyone have any feedback about how well this performs with a 46 2 stroke? Do you really need to wring it dry of power for basic aerobatics or do you still feel like it has a little reserve power? I might initially use a 46AX on this ARF if I get it.

Thanks

Edit: Would a OS 46AX regular muffler fit inside the cowl (with sideways mounting)? I have a dubro extension for directing the exhaust down and out. Just because after putting on a 4 stroke later, I won't have a use for a pitts muffler on something else. If it is like it looks, I might not even need a new cowling when installing the 4 stroke later. ... Thanks

gr8taz nitro

My Feedback: (7)

Finally got mine in the air today. It took 3 clicks of down elevator and 2 clicks of right aileron and she was tracking straight as an arrow. The plane flies like it's on rails and goes exactly where you point it. I flew it with right on the recommended CG and inverted it only took mild elevator to fly. I might play around with the CG some more, it seems to have a little bit of coupling when I roll, it throws the tail out of line just a little bit, nothing major, but it's noticeable. The recommended rimfire has tons of pull and power to spare, vertical lines are about 2/3rds throttle and she's accelerating all the way up! I didn't try to hover today cause the winds were gusting to around 18 but the plane handled it just fine. I'm guessing she will hover at just a little more than 1/2 throttle. I did find out like any extra that I've flown she wing walks and wallows around when your close to stall. Inverted might be a lot better but I didn't push too hard since this was the first day and I haven't really had a chance to get completely comfortable with this one yet, but I can already tell this one will probably become one of my favorites to put around with. I'm running an APC 15x7 prop right now and the down lines are OK but I think I would like to slow em down just a little more, I've got and apc 15x4 electric that I may throw on and try. Loops were as big or as small as you wanted to make em, and the trim scheme presented very well in the air, I didn't have any problems keeping orientation.

My final set up is a GP Rimfire 50-55-500, Motrolfly 80amp opto esc, Dimension Engineering sport BEC, Hitec 225mg servos, AR6200 RX, Thunder Power 6s 3850's, and an APC 15x7 electric prop. Final weight RTF is 6lbs 10oz. I could probably drop to a smaller capacity battery without any trouble. A 6 1/2 minute mixed throttle flight only pulled 1100 mah off the packs. WOT was pulling 56 amps and putting in almost 1100 watts of power. I didn't tach the prop to see what rpm it was turning or put it on the scale to see how much thrust it's actually making but I will in the next few days. Today is the first day we've had a break in the weather so I took advantage of it and got 3 flights on the extra and helped a friend maiden his new panther and F-16. Hopefully he'll remember to shoot my a couple of the pics he took today and I'll post em on here.

ChuckW

I think the .46-Ax would fly it just fine. It might not be a 3D powerhouse but It would be a great sport flyer and handle precision type aerobatics well. In fact I used to run a .46-Ax on a kit built GP Cap-232 that was bigger than the Extra and it flew nicely.

I don't think using the stock muffler is the best way to go. It could be done by modifying the fuselage maybe and really cutting up the cowl. I'm not 100% sure on that since I don;t have a .46-AX not mounted on a plane to compare. I'd personally use a Pitts muffler though.

I flew mine several more times on Saturday. I like it even more every time I fly it. The YS-63 hauls it around great and starts so easy.

CloudSkipper

Thanks ChuckW. Was a little wary as it's the minimum but I guess the AX is quite powerful anyway. Just got the engine. I'll run it a fair bit on another plane before trying it on this. Will put a 70 surpass on later in summer when that's ready. I suppose I should be extra careful doing something like a harrier as there may be very limited pull-out power when you need more of it. Someone earlier suggested 12.25x3.75 for 46. That should give nice climb.

Yeah I thought that maybe it could be done neatly when side mounted, but on further analysis of pictures looks doubtful. And looks like the muffler would be right next to the throttle servo. Nope. I'll just get the Pitts muffler.

Great to read everyone's flight impressions. Sounds like a solid plane [8D]

Cheers

gr8taz nitro

My Feedback: (7)

Here's a couple pics that a friend of mine took for me during the succesful maiden flight sunday.

*JCB*

My Feedback: (9)

anybody have a report of the 3D capabilities of this plane??

ChuckW

I'm in no way a great 3D pilot but it will hover, flat spin, snap, knife-edge, etc. pretty well so I imagine it would be great with an experienced 3D flyer on the sticks. I think it would be even better with the CG a little further back.

*JCB*

My Feedback: (9)

Is the hover relatively stable? Also, have you tried a harrier with it yet?

ChuckW

The hover isn't too bad. I have planes that do it better but those have the CG pushed pretty far back. I imagine the Extra would be better too with a more reward CG.

I've messed around with harriers. They seem OK to me but I don't do enough of the 3D stuff to really know any better.

It really is a great airplane. It's just built well, looks great and flys great.

nmking09

My Feedback: (61)

.46 fits on it with the standard muffler, takes cutting out the cowl around the muffler, but it can still look nice. No fuselage mods needed.

NorfolkSouthern

Let us know how it flies, nmking09. I have a couple .46 AXs on hand, and would like to use one of them rather than revert to the expense of a .55. Also, which prop do you plan to use? I'm assuming the smaller engine will make it fly more scale-like.

NorfolkSouthern

apwachholz

Gents!

Glad I found this thread as, ironically, I just purchased the GP Extra 300 yesterday during my lunch break. I've been working my way up through the ranks of aircraft and last weekend was able to maintain 'tight' control over my Eflight Extra 260 that I thought it was time to upgrade. I've been wanting an Extra that wasn't a gas (as I'm not ready for something that large) and I also needed a home for my O.S. 91 four stroke that's been sitting on the shelf for almost a year [sm=rolleyes.gif].

I'm excite to see everyone's responses and comments about how well it performs. Of course, it's an Extra so it should perform well. I'll toss in my 2 cents from time to time as I get the build on. I'm planning on having it done by mid-next week and to maiden as soon as the weather gets better here in lovely Minnesota! Pics to come...

Cheers Everyone!

gr8taz nitro

My Feedback: (7)

apwachholz, good luck with the build. It's a pretty easy plane to get together, the fit and finish on mine was A+ all the way around other than the elevator. It was off a little bit on the angle of the cutout on my fuse, but a little sanding and a toothpick for a wedge till the glue cured fixed it. A little filler and problem solved. Mine flys very well in precision style aerobatics, but I did mine electric with larger batteries so mine is a fuzz porky on the weight. If I had went glow like the majority of the guys that built theirs I'd probably be happier with it cause I'd have been about a 1/2 pound or more lighter.[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

ChuckW

I moved my CG back by placing the receiver battery on a plywood mount that I made behind the servos. It move the CG back about 5/16". When I flew it Saturday it needed a little down elevator trim (of course), the spins seemed to get a little flatter and it was a little bit bouncier on landings. No real negative effects though so I think I'll keep it that way.

CloudSkipper

Hi,
Could you guys take a look at the attached photo? Observe the push rod tube on the upper left at the back. Is that right? If it's a build-mistake, could be a pain to correct.

Thanks !

apwachholz

gr8taz nitro -

I was pretty stoked when I looked at your in-flight pics. Mmmmmm, so nice looking. I was wondering how the whole glow vs. electric was going to "weigh" out and I'm a bit surprised that yours is heavier! But, given how much we over power these kits (I mean, an OS .91 - comon for overkill) I think that a little extra isn't going to matter. Heck, depending on how mine performs I'm looking at installing my smoke system, of which has also been on the shelf for over a year.

I'll let you know how the build goes

ChuckW

Looked at mine and it is just like yours. I don't see anything wrong.

CloudSkipper

Ok, thanks. So yours has the left push rod tube not going through the hole which the right tube does go through. Looks just like a build-mistake because of the left-side unused hole still being there even if not used. But they meant to do that.

If it were a mistake, then the push rod tube might not come out at the right point on the fuse side... that was my concern.

Thanks

apwachholz

QUESTION FOR EXTRA 300 SP BUILDERS:

I'm installing an O.S. .91 Surpass 4-stroke in my Extra and intended on using a different motor mount then the one supplied. Reason is I think the one supplied is a little less then optimal for supporting something that large. However, due to the pre-installed holes in the firewall, any 'tweaking' to allow a different mount is going to cause more problems then I care to address. I did noticed in the manual that they are using an O.S. .80 with the same mount.

Question:

Should I be concerned about the mount included in the kit? Or should it be ok? I've never been up to a .91 sized engine before and just need some advice. Thanks anyone.

Cheers!

ChuckW

Honestly, I wouldn't use the .91 if it were me. The size and weight of the plane make it much more suited for a .70 class 4-stroke. The recomended OS .81 is basically a bored/stroked .70 so it fits into the same space without much penalty. Same goes for an engine like the Saito .82. I have a YS-63 on mine and it is outstanding.

You also may not be able to use your .91 on the existing mount due to mount length but it's hard to say without actually trying it.

You can use a larger mount pretty easilly if you really, really want to do the .91 though. Just knock out the existing blind nuts, drill out the holes and epoxy in some hardwood dowel pieces. Then install new blind nuts based on the larger mount.

gr8taz nitro

My Feedback: (7)

The .91 is gonna put you on the same weight range as I'm running with electric by the time you get a full load of fuel on board. I don't know how effecient the surpass .91 is but my saito 100 wouldn't give me more than about 6 1/2 minutes of flight time with enough reserve for a couple of go arounds with the included tank. I think Chuck's setup is pretty optimal for the power to weight he's getting. But then again, there's something to be said for making what you have work also, I've been known to put 1.20 motors in place of .61's. That's why they have a throttle.

apwachholz

Gents -

I decided to work with what I have and installed the .91 on the kit-included mount. It worked out great It's quite a beefy little mount.

I've also decided to use the rudders servo tray (located in the far aft of the fuselage) as the location for counterweight. This way it's an easily removable hatch to adjust any weight requirements to offset the weight of the .91. I'm sure I'll be adding quite a bit of counterweight, however, given the sheer power of the .91 I'm not too concerned about it, regardless of how much.

In addition I've upped the tank size to a 12oz. and pushed it back from the firewall (since there's room to do it). I figure it should give me 8 min of hardcore craziness or 10 min of chillin' in the sky flyin'. Plenty of time in my books.... Either way, here's a few pics (pardon the fuzzy images - they were taken with my iPhone) to show how well the mounting job went.

(PLZ NOTE: The 11x6 prop in the pic is a holding prop - not the one i'm using.)

Cheers Everyone! I'm excited to get this bird in the air soon!

P51THUNDERBALL

installed a 91os in mine flies great mounted mine inverted.