critterhunter

Last year I got into this sport by buying a Challenger and never regreted it. This spring I picked up a Stryker and, while I still love the Challenger, the Stryker is pure sports car fun. Anyway, I wanted a third plane that I could mount my Aiptek 5100M digital camcorder on. This camera is real light (I think the two AAs it takes weighs more than it). Although it's small (about twice the size of a pack of smokes or less), I was worried about it disturbing air flow and wanted a plane that I could be confident could carry it. So, I went out and bought an Extreme a few weeks ago.

Rather than buying the complete kit, I decided to part the plane together and save money. It will work fine in both flight modes with the Challenger's TX. Since I already had a Pirahna Digital Peak Carger, I didn't need to pick up the Extreme's charger (which only goes up to 1.8 amps anyway and would take a month of Sundays to charge a pack).

So, here's the price breakdown...Body with electronics on same channel as Challenger TX $54, Wing $20, Prop $3, V Tail Bracket $3, Wing Rubberbands $1. The body already comes with the canopy, rubbernose gaurd, motor, and wing pegs so no need to buy them seperate. We make our own tails for the Challenger and Extreme using corrugated plastic (works REAL good by the way and saves you $$), so that saved me $15 for the tail. The tail horns are the same used on the Challenger so I had tons laying around. Although, I plan to replace them with aftermarket horns real soon as they are known to fold over. May even go to control rods as others have done on the Extreme to take out even more slop in the flaps. Oh, and if you want to fly and land on cement the landing gear is like $5.

Batteries...I wanted GOBS of flight time so I went to batteryspace.com and picked up two 10 cell packs of the Powerizer 3300 Sub Cs for $50 total. They already come with solder tabs and button insulators so all you have to do is solder and shrink wrap them. All said I have roughly just over $130 for a complete Extreme and 3 high performance flight packs (one 6 cell and two 7 cell packs).

Now, onto the review...I took her up for the first time yesterday. These newly made flight packs only had the first slow charge on them at .3 amps to balance the cells. Usualy a slow charge doesn't give you the horsepower of a normal 3 amp charge rate and nimhs tend to get better after the first 5 to 10 charges. Regardless, she had tons of power using either the 6 or 7 cell packs! I've read that some others think this plane is underpowered but I believe much of this is a matter of perception. If you fly a Challenger or other smaller plane it may be moving slower but it looks faster in the sky compared to something bigger like the Extreme.

This plane will loop all day long, will nose dive at full throttle at blazing speed, and handles wind with much more authority than other planes. Heck, I even had it doing inverted flight for several seconds at a time and I'm sure this will get longer as I learn to fly that way (still have trouble with it even on the Stryker). From what I've read you can also increase the tail flap size (by gluing on extensions or cutting out a bigger tail from corugated plastic) and inverted becomes much easier. You can also use a heavier rubberband on the tail or switch to control rods to eliminate slop.

I used a carbon rod (out of a Stryker) and glued it across the tail from almost tip to tip just over the flap line (tail now looks like a "V" with a line across the top open end of it). I do this with the Challenger as well and besides keeping the tail from creasing on bad landings, it also keeps it from flexing as you pull G's, making turns and tricks much more sharper.

I also did the zip tie motor mod to keep it from moving as also done on the Challenger. However, I went with two HEAVY zip ties around the back of the motor at top and bottom and through the vent hole in front of it. I also plan to zip tie the circuit board as I did with the Challenger (Search for "Bullet Proof That Bird!" in this forum for further mods that apply to both birds). The tail boom zip tie and the styraphoam battery mods come next, but I wanted to make sure she was fine in the sky before drilling into her. As do the Velcro battery mod and a heavy rubberband or two over the canopy for further protection. This plane can take as much punishment (I've seen what my buddy has done to his) as the Challenger PROVIDED you mod it out properly. And the wing? Forget about it, with the carbon rod it comes with the thing is tough as nails. Holes, rips, etc...No problem, a little clear tape over the damage and off she goes.

Anyway, back to the review. I love this plane already. It's going to make a very stable platform for my camera. It glides forever with the motor off and is much less quirky to input and wind than the Challenger. Obviously it's also much easier to see at far distances. Landing and launching, despite what others have said, is easy as pie with plenty of control so long as you have an experienced hand. In fact, on my second flight last night I landed it soft as a pillow with a gentle skid (no gear on) right to my feet. A better landing than I've ever done with the Challenger or Stryker, though they are both just as capable at this good of a landing.

These flight packs are outrageous! Though it was only on it's first flight with these packs they gave me probably 30 to 45 minutes and I was at full throttle I'd say 98% of the time doing loops and such. Best part is that the second charge I put on these packs when I got home last night added more voltage peak AND milliamps to the packs (one increased by roughly 500ma from around 3300ma to over 3800ma). This means more flight time and horsepower is yet to come! And yes, I did do a true peak of these packs as I watched them closely and at the 3m/v peak setting they stopped right on time, just as the voltage began to drop, so I know I wasn't over charging and getting a false MA number. The voltage peak on the packs also increased a bit which means more power. Can't wait to try them out again tonight.

In summary, if you want a plane that can handle wind, do some pretty good aerobatics, haul a good bit of extra weight into the sky like cameras or modules, and has the potential for very long flight times even at full throttle this is the plane for you. It even passes it's self off as a glider when you kill the throttle thanks to it's huge wing. I bet I could ride thermals all day long without landing and a little assistance from the motor here and there. As a matter of fact, the first flight times were so long with it that I found myself a good chair and relaxed while I flew it. Can't get much more lazy than that. Can't wait to take the camera up on her.

critterhunter

I'd like to add an aftermarket prop to this plane. With the 7 cell pack in her and pulling extreme G's against the motor at full throttle once in a while I'd hear the prop start to slop/flex just a bit against the strain. While it didn't really affect performance that I noticed I'd like to install something aftermarket, perhaps a carbon fiber prop. Anybody?

static72

Do you have any pictures or details on the carbon rod in the tail. I have the Xtreme as well and I love it but I did notice the tail flexes allot in hard turns and I have been looking for a way to strengthen it.

GravityTester

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I'm impressed with the flight time you got with the batterys. that would be great fun sitting in a chair floating around the sky.
how did the batterys do the second time out

BOZMAN

Hi I also have a Stryker, Challenger and Extreme. I learnt on the challenger and must of nosed it into the ground VERY hard about 10 times (Even flew it full speed into a castle wall) it still flys perfectly. The Styker I love, I crashed it once very badly which split the body in two. A bit of glue and it flys like Brand new!. The Extreme on the other hand I have been very disappointed with, even good landings seem to damage the tail( On grass no wheels on it). After maybe two hard landings the electonics failed on me, so its in now shoved away in the cupboard. Glad you are enjoying yours!

stevennh

I have had the challenger, extreme, and stryker (in that order!). The Extreme still flies great and can't be beat for hauling video gear. My tail is covered on the top and bottom by plastic from an old gallon water jug. I just cut out plastic to fit the tail, bent it in the middle to match the "V" and glued it to the top and the bottom of the tail with the tail in place (to hold the shape). The extra weight does not effect flying as far as I can tell and the tail is pretty much indestructable. My only really bad crash with the Extreme was due to tail failure (it folded back during a high speed roll coming out of a dive, I have flight video from that one). I tried sticks, fishing line and finally plastic. Plastic has been the best. I did replace my FET on the ESC with a higher rated one since my first one failed after several half-hour flights with my 3000MAH NiMh 7 cell packs (that was at least a year ago).

My Stryker is getting a bit long in the tooth. I lost track of how many times it has been glued back together. It does not look great, but it still flies well. I have the same plastic glued to the ends of the flapperons that I used on the extreme, they started to crease after a hundred flights or so.

Steve

Jkirch86

Is this the batteries you use?

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=1203

If so, I'm thinking about ordering and building the same packs you did.
Where can I get the clips that will work with the ABX, and is that all I will need to put them together?
Also will the charger that came with the ABX work with these packs?
Thanks for the great post and for the help.

critterhunter

Yes, that's the packs. I'd pick up two 10 packs of them so you can make two 7 cell packs and one 6 cell pack. Look at the configuration of an old battery pack you have laying around to get an idea on how to solder them. It's real easy but a picture is worth a thousand words. I HIGHLY recommend using soldering flux to clean up the two surface areas you plan to join. It makes the solder stick quick. The plug type can be bought from batteryspace.com. Just tell them you need the larger Tamiya (sp?) plug type. The only other thing you'll need is some shrink wrap, which I'm sure they'll have as well. A heat gun works well but you can probably shrink it with a hair dryer. Or, you could just wrap the batteries in some strong tape like packing tape. The stock charger will work with these packs (6 or 7 cell packs), but it will take a longer time to charge them as they have more capacity than the stock packs. I would suggest you go out and get a good nihm/nicad charger. It will make ALL the difference in both charging time and getting a true full charge into a pack. I very much like the Pirahna Digital Peak Charger which can be had for about $45. It has an LCD screen and allows you to set various parameters not found on units in that price range. It's even brought back to life dead packs that my friend's chargers wouldn't charge. The instructions stink for it, however, but if you do a search in the E-Flite power sources forum you'll find a long thread in which we figure out all the proper settings for this charger with various batteries. Let me know how you get along with all this.

Jkirch86

Thanks for all the info.
I'll order them this weekend and give them a try.
45 min flight time is awesome, did you get more time after several charges?

critterhunter

There are now higher MA Sub C packs on the market, like in the 3700 or 3800 range, maybe higher. These packs will take close to 4000 MA so I'm not complaining. Flight times will of course be based on how much you go full throttle. I haven't sat there with a watch but I'd bet at full throttle the hole time I'm probably getting around 20 minutes plus. If you milked the throttle and just did some lazy flying around I bet you could get an hour or more. Many variables involved, including wind speed, throttle use, taking advantage of thermals, glide ratio (how heavy the plane is), etc. Put it this way, you'll want to sit down while flying as it seems like they last forever.

Jkirch86

One last question(or two), I don't know a lot about batteries, but can I put any size mAh batterie in my ABX? The more the better?

Or does anyone know of a good site that I could learn the basics about RC batteries?

critterhunter

The stock Extreme draws I think around 20 amps at wide open throttle. Thus, you need a battery pack that has a high enough "C" raiting to handle the amp draw. For example, at 10C a 2000MA pack can deliver 20 amps). At 8C a 2000MA pack can deliver 16 amps. So, to have a high enough C and capacity raiting to power that big 540 motor in the Extreme you're going to be using either Sub C nimh cells or lipos. MA (capacity) can be as high as you want, so long as it doesn't get REALLY heavy (IE: A 6 or 7 cell Sub C pack can be used with the highest MA raiting you can fine). What you worry about is voltage. A 6 or 7 cell nimh pack will work fine with the motor. Anything about that may cook it. I'd like to try a 3 cell lipo in mine but that's bringing the voltage up to over 11 volts and may harm the motor. Also remember that as voltage goes up so does amp draw.

flyingace451

Knowing you, you must have started to fall asleep while flying that long! You can barely handle 15 minutes of Stryker time, how'd you hanlde 45 minutes?