Andrewmc

Just received this kit directly from Tower after the South African distributor of GP products informed me (via my LHS) that he would no longer be bringing kits into the country. Not even a one off order for a confirmed buyer. Good luck to him and Tower's gain. Excellent seervice 10 day turnaround from placing on line order to receipt of goods. No to bad considering it has to get from Nevada to the bottom end of Africa.

Well here it is. I opened up the box as excited as a child on christmas morning (bit of a joke really as it was my birthday recently and when people asked me what I got I said "permission" - to buy a plane). Very impressed with the efficiency of the packaging and how every available space had something in it.

Now one week later I have managed to get it on the work bench and glued up the HS sub assembly. The leading edge doubler needed to be cut from 3/16" balsa sheet and I had some degree of difficulty doing this accurately enough mainly because when I applied pen to balsa to draw a line or make a measurement the wood would absorb the ink and make a blotch rather than a dot. I was using a black felt tip 0.4mm I have found pencils score the wood and it is difficult finding a ball point pen with a free enough moving ball that does not scratch rather than mark. However I eventually found such a ball point but was wondering what everyone else uses to mark out?

Eventually got the doubler sanded and shaped satisfactorily and hunted down the basswood spars and cut them to size. Then the 3/16" balsa centre piece which the instructions indicate "may need slight sanding to fit" needed about 3/16" cut off the end. I set the piece on the appropriate position on the board and then adjusted a balsa stripper to the correct width and voila, instant correct size no sanding required.

Glued it all up with aliphatic resin and pinned to secure - all in all quite neat I thought, almost a pity to cover it with sheeting.

outdoorhunting

I finished one last spring. You'll enjoy the build. Very srtaight forward &easy build. Everything fit where it was supposed to with very good instructions. One word of warning on your maiden. The EXTRA 300 will tip stall in a heart beat. Don't ask how I know. Keep plenty of speed & you'll be OK. I will probably build another next winter if I can find another kit. Good luck !!

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Good luck! It's a good build and a great flier!

552transco

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Andrewmc,

The 300S is an excellent choice for aerobatics. I just followed the directions that came with the kit and everything just fell into place. It sure is nice to start out with a box of wood and end up with a beautiful flyer like the 300S.
I am using an OS .90 two stroke in mine. The engine is a little heavy but I love the power it puts out.
Good luck on your building and keep us posted on your progress.

Wayne

RICKSTUBBZ

andrewmc,

What powerplant do you expect to use in this puppy?

I am probably going to buy one as soon as Tower gets another batch. I'll stick a Super Tigre 90 in it.



Outdoor..., It looked good man.

Wayne, Your is looking good as well.

How has the ballance and weights been working out on these kits?

Andrewmc

For the engine I am deliberating between a Saito 125a and FG-20 (now that thw kinks seem to have been worked out - of the FG-20 that is). The FG-20 is considerably more expensive and weighs more so I will probable end up with the FA-125 - but I do like the cost of Gas fuel

Wayne - good looking plane. Did you build the rudder stock or add some more area?

I have bult the elevator and stab as per plans but have been considering adding 1" or so to the rudder. I would like to be able to knife edge the plane and if others can do that on the stock rudder then I won't mess with it.

Deadeye

I hung the 125 Saito GK on mine. It is an awesome combo. This plane flat spins like nobody's business, and is capable of some very violent manuevers. I modified my tail feathers big time. At the very least, go for a bigger counter balance on the rudder.

EscapeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

WOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!!

That is just plane georgous. Thank you for sharing this picture!

Deadeye

[sm=red_smile.gif] Gee, thanks. She is my favorite. Thanks to Minnflyer for fixing the huge pic.

Andrewmc

Just finished the Horizontal stab and elevator bar the shapping of the LE. Before starting on the vertical fin and rudder and final words on whether to build it stock or to enlarge the rudder and counter balance.

Andrewmc

Finished building the vertical stab as per plans, a question regarding the sheeting thereof - does the "key" get sheeted as well? It seems from the photo's in the instructions that the sheeting stops just above the key.

Edit - photo added

Andrewmc

I enlarged one of the photo's from the manual (ex GP website) and it appears that the entire side of the fin is sheeted - which is what I have now done.

Will post photo's once glue dries.

Spoke toLHS today about the engine choice, his comments were why along the lines of "Why go for the FG-20 when the FA 125 is lighter and has more power, not to mention 30% cheaper", so made up my mind to get the FA 125. Also means I won't have to carry two fuel cans when I go to the field....

Andrewmc

Some more progress:

Decided to make the rudder a bit larger, 1" at the widest point, also a photo of the completed elevator and horizontal stab, before final sanding.

Got stuck into the first wing panel, primarily using aliphatic resin to glue together.

Just finished the bottom sheeting.

RICKSTUBBZ

Andrew,

So far so good........

Currently the delivery date for these kits at Tower has moved up to any day now. So, I expect to be ordering one soon. Hope I can get around to starting it before you finish yours.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

As I recall Deadeye did a build thread on his plane, mater of fact I'm pretty sure it was his, one of the best looking Extras I have ever seen built from this kit. I followed the thread and it's worth doing the search and bringing it back closer to the front page so others can read it. I was so impressed with some of the things he did I'm going to make the mods to my next Extra build. Not that this plane needs any mods but it just really looks cool with the counter ballanced controls!!
I still enjoy seeing the photos of it when he posts them!![8D]
Andrew, this is a pretty good build you have going. Very clean job, thank you for doing the thread for us! They do make a very nice kit and I love to see them built, thanks again.
Gene

Andrewmc

Hi Gray Beard, thanks for the kind words. This is my first Great Planes kit and so far I am impressed with the quality of the materials and instructions. I am going a little slowly and reading the instructions several times but one wing panel pretty much done now (nearly 01h30 in the morning here but just couldn,t stop).

I have the thread which deadeye posted bookmarked - although I don't think he was the originator, but a great thread and was tempted to do the counter balances on the tail but opted to stick with the general stock design for this one.

Engine option probably a Saito 125a.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Great Planes makes some very nice kits, I have built a bunch of them. There service is outstanding too, if something is broken or missing they get right to it and send it out to you. Even there wood is top notch and I almost never replace any. For any new people getting into kit building I try to point then at the GP or SIG but I have never met a GP kit yet that didn't go together well.
I really like to see any of the Extras go together, great flying plane!! I have had Extras with the mods Dead did to his and I never noticed any real difference in flight, I just like how nice they look with counter balanced controls. I'm going to put them on my next Extra build just for grins. I have two Extras in my hanger as it is though, some days they are the only planes I take with me.
Thanks again for the build!!
Ilikebipes {Brian} has one of the CG Extras going in a thread too, hope you have been following his build, the man builds a very straight plane!!
Gene

EscapeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

Andrew,

Any more progress?

Brian

Andrewmc

Didn't get much done yesterday evening - was reading build threads on RCU

Vacuumed up the remenants of the left wing panel and taped down the plan for the RH panel.

Sanded and glued the upper and lower main spars, then pressed out the ribs and sanded the edges. Made sure that all the notches would accomodate the spar without stress or twisting.

When my 2 year old goes to sleep I will set out the ribs and glue.

RICKSTUBBZ

Andrew or Gray Beard,

I have done preliminary search for the build threads you guys were refering to. Not having much luck. There are a lot of threads where people have Great Planes Extra........in the title.

Would one of you mind posting a link to the thread being mentioned if you already have it bookmarked.

Meanwhile I will try to find Brians Goldberg thread. I think it is poping up on the first page today.

Thanks,

Andrewmc

Hi Rick try this:

[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_1062376/anchors_1062376/mpage_1/key_extra+300/anchor/tm.htm#1062376[/link]



More progress:

Pinned down a straight edge and then pinned the main spar against the straight edge.

Pinned down the ribs, glued and lined up using a combination square.

RICKSTUBBZ

Andrew,

Thanks for the link. Now I know why I had a hard time finding it. It was started in 2003. Anyway, looks like I have a little reading to do. Plus I'll be following this thread as well.

I ordered mine today. I have a couple oddball projects and repairs to finish. Hopefully it does not take me too long to get started on this thing.

Andrewmc

Hi Rick

I have been impressed with the quality of the Great Planes kit. Thw wood selection is uniform (consistent grain type) and the die cutting has not crunched, but it does take some care to remove.

I finished one wing panel over the weekend and was surprised at how light it was, albeit with only one side sheeted.

The instructions are good and the design makes for good building - not elementary and not all tab click so a bit of cranial stimulation in some cases required to keep everything straight and true.

So far so good.

Feel free to post when you start your build, also check out the Goldberg Extra 300 thread so far the builds look very similar.

EscapeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

Andrew,

Are you building over a plans protector or wax paper? It looks like you building straight on the plans.

Brian

Andrewmc

I made full size copies of the plans to preserve the originals, so I am building over a copy which I cut as required without damaging the originals. I have then rubbled all the areas where joints will be made with a candle to prevent the paper sticking to the wood. This works really well and feel I get more accurate positioning than working through grease proof paper - for setting out purposes anyway.