dabigboy

Another Extra 300S question.............

I saw a thread a while back where some folks had set up their .40-size GP Extra 300S models with dual aileron servos. I'm restoring my Extra, and am considering doing this mod. I recall the plane flying pretty good with just one servo, but this was a long time ago (and I was still a fairly new flyer). Does it really make a significant difference? I'm leaning towards sticking with one servo, to save weight and keep the wing clean. Anyone out there who's flown the model both ways? For those who fly this bird with just one servo, do you feel the roll control is lacking in any way?

-Matt Bailey

bbbair

You are correct, a single servo will save you weight (about 1 ounce) and it will look cleaner... so what?

By using individual servos for each aileron to greatly enhance your flying capabilities - if you have a transmitter that has a separate channel available for this function.

This includes; mixing of controls for sharper turns / manouvers, flaperons, flaps, reduced yaw and if one aileron servo fails you can still limp home for a landing... there are other reasons - but that's enough for now.

If you have the option and the ability to install a second servo - you would be well advised to do so.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

This must be the kit version. The ARF has 2 servo bays for the ailerons, one built into each wing.

I put 3151 digitals on my ailerons and it has very positive roll control and you can fine tune the aileron differential to get very axial rolls.

dabigboy

I do have mixing on my radio, but didn't really think this would make a huge difference on the Extra......have you flown the Extra with "flaperons"? I converted my Tiger to dual aileron servos, mainly to avoid aileron flutter I was getting at high speed. It took care of the flutter problem, and allowed me to use flaperon mixing, but frankly I never use it. The plane doesn't need flaps. And as for mixing, I don't really see that it makes much difference on that model. I was thinking since the Extra uses smaller-chord ailerons, the effects on maneuverability would be even less than on the Tiger, but it sounds like you're saying this is not the case? I'm also considering not just the added weight, but where that weight is........I know my Tiger wing really felt heavier with the added servo, because the servos were out on the wing a bit. Roll and yaw moment of inertia of the wing is noticeably higher (though I can't really say I notice it in flight, just when handling the wing). I don't know how much difference this would make on the Extra.

barracudahockey, yeah, it's the kit. Interesting that they set the ARF (which came later) up for dual servos, that would seem to indicate someone thought it was a good idea. Hmmmm, still undecided..........

-Matt Bailey

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I have flapperons on a toggle set up in the AirBrk mixing menu. It drops the ailerons about 15 percent and gives down elevator at the same time to compensate for the balloning you will get with the flaperons dropped.

It lands nicely without any tendency to tip stall even at fairly low air speeds but I can land w/o it no problem. Just a gadget that was there so I set it up. Also with airbrake mixing you can have it set to cancel the mixing at a given throttle setting so you dont try to do an abort with the flaps down.

mikeboyd

The flaperon function should not be confused with the airbrake function. We use the flaperon function to set the two servos up on seperate channels in Futaba radios, usually using channels 1 and 6. This will allow you to program in aileron differential (if needed) and airbrake or spoileron functions for advanced aerobatics. On larger scale planes, many of us don't use the "flaperon" function, but use the custom mixes available, so we have even more mix options open to us. With the capability of your Extra, it may be worthwhile getting with an experienced aerobatic pilot and getting your plane set up with Aileron to Rudder mixing and so on so you can have good knife edge performance and so forth.

If you have a new 9C or 7C radio, you have many preprogrammed mixes you can select from, or you can just use the flaperon function to start with. It may be a bit of a struggle to start with, but well worth the effort. There are all sorts of articles and information concerning trim flying aerobatic planes. It is well worth your while to read up and study these. A really good flying aerobatic airplane is the result of many hours of test flying, trimming and adjusting to make the airplane nearly fly itself, so you only have to worry about flying the maneuver, rather than fighting the airplane through it.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I appreciate it.

I'm up on all that, I just spend time twiddleing with my helicopters. I bought the Extra to throw in the trunk, gas and fly. I will probably go ahead and set up some of the other mixing but Flaperon or Aileron Diff were pre programmed and simple to set up.

dabigboy

My current reportoire is limited to whatever a more or less stock Tiger is capable of. About the fanciest thing I'm doing right now is rolling circles/loops. I can see how pitch and/or roll coupling could be an issue.........I tend to lean towards learning how to handle the plane without mixing etc (ditching the rudder-with-ailerons mixing on a Cub is a classic example....not that my current radio would be able to do that anyway, heh), but it seems like it would be very handy for knife edge or other maneuvers that require odd AoA's and slip angles. My current radio doesn't do much mixing aside from the flaperon stuff, but I'm looking to upgrade soon..........will probably go with the 7C or something similar.

Actually, I have done a bit of knife-edge with my Tiger. Come to think of it, I don't recall any serious coupling issues. It didn't really hold knife edge too well (I doubt I'd be able to do a knife-edge loop with it, at least with the current setup).....maybe I just didn't hold it long enough to notice subtle trends.

-Matt Bailey

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

If your worried about weight--then put a small servo in each wing.

I'll bet you could use an HS-85, HS-225, or maybe even an HS-81 MG. The ailerons on a 40 size Extra can't be all that big--so using a smaller servo is a possibility.

You will definetely notice a difference in the way the plane flies with dual aileron servos. If you can mix flaperons--then I'll bet you can dial in differential. It can help some airplanes alot.

I like to use dual servos on the elevators on just about every plane. I've used HS-81 servos in a dual elevator setup on a 40 size plane. It's great to do if you got a big engine up front and need tailweight to balance. With 2 servos--you get precision, redundancy, and short linkages--which I guess falls into "precision".

All you need for dual elevators is a Smartfly Equalizer or a Matchbox. Some radios will mix dual elevators--but they are the high-end, expensive radios.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Personally, I don't see the need for more than one aileron servo on this plane.