dashunde

Finally... good weather.
Windy, cold & rainy the past several days... now, clear blue and almost dead calm.

So I put the Extra up today! Wadda great flying little plane!
I went with a 15LA on 30% - excellent power on a 7x5.
That little thing zooms around real nicely, and it floats very very well - to the point its kinda hard to get back on the ground.
It's a bit pitch sensitive on approach though.
I've got a few bugs to work out... radio hits/twitching and burbles from the engine during flight.
I used the arf's little 2oz tank - not much time to work with there, about 4 minutes total, and it starts burbling at 3 minutes.
Damn sure hard to see though!

microsprint9

I agree on the hard to see point, my hitec optic 6 had some problems ( all fixed now ) and i stuffed mine in after 3 flights, just need to repair thr front end but since i bought some purple covering i think i'm going to cover the whole bottom of the wing in purple, orientation was a bit of a problem with top and bottom looking the same. I was getting about 5-6 minutes of flying time on the 2oz tank, you might want to go to a 8x4 prop to gain some thrust and then you can keep the revs down, i found i was flying at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle most of the time, i was running a Magnum .15XL on 10% and AUW was 30oz. It is a great little plane.

hogflyer

dashunde,

Glad to hear about the successful maiden. I'm hoping to finish mine tomorrow, but with 25+ mph winds for cast it'll be a bit before I'll have a chance to fly it.

Hogflyer

dashunde

Yep... 40mph gusts here tomorrow too. Supposed to be in the 80's though.
I actually began to sweat a bit today... a first in a long time.

Odd thing happend during my first take off...
I did several run-ups and refills before sending the Extra down the runway, and the darn thing started burbling right at lift off... barely made it.
Once into the air it was just fine though.
When I landed (about the same area) it died abruptly. I'm not sure if it was taking hits to the throttle servo or what?
Either way, when I walked up to it, it was twitching all over... I guess the throttle closed right after touchdown.
I re-arranged the antenna wire by getting it further away and unwound from the servo wires, and that helped.
I suppose I should just let the antenna all the way out and have it trail the plane. (Hitec 05s).

Things went much better on the second flight... a few hits and burbles, but nothing that was more than a blip or two.

Krener

Haven't maidened mine yet.
I got an ASp .15 for it, but it's a PITA to get running right so I'm gonna ditch it and get an OS .15.
I moved ele and rudder servos to the rear to counter the engine weight and recovered her so it will be easier to see.
Also enlarged some surfaces for giggles.
I also put in a 4 oz tank, bit of a squeeze but it fits (just)
Hope to maiden in a week or 2.

Glad your maiden went well.
Should be more of these around I reckon.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Yes... let the antenna trail. The more antenna that is not surrounded by pushrods or servo wires the better. Wound around the servo wires? Yikes, trouble with a T and that rhymes with.. something. Anyway, don't do that.

On the subject of propellor choice - 7-5 is more suitable for a lower drag speedy aircraft. You really want an 8-4 or 8-3, or 7.8-4 if APC still makes those. IMHO. You will have all the top speed you need and more pull, better vertical and all that.

MJD

RocketRob

My Feedback: (1)

Congrats Dashunde!!!

A very nice little flyer indeed.
After the honeymoon is over for this plane you will find out it will perform quite well in wind. Wind that keeps my other planes in the back of the truck.

I had some fuel delivery issues early on I think my tank was a bit low in relation to the carb on my AME .15 and in high alfa manuvers it would lean out. I would have to richen it for the high alpha angles which made it to rich to really get up on pipe on straight and level passes.

Finally I installed a Jett bubbleless 6oz streamline tank and have been estatic with it ever since.

Bet it really rips with 5" pitch!

chevy43

My first try I had the antena wound around a stick inside the fuse. That didn't work. Now it goes out the wing mount around the tail wheel and back under the wing. That has been working fine.

The Extra is a very nice little plane. It flies on rails with no contol input - quite predictable.

I have a 4 oz tank too and HS55's but it might be better to have used 65's on the tail.....

dashunde

You guys are full of good info!

I will be letting the antenna out to flap in the wind, for sure.
I think I'll also mount the rx up inside the canopy.
I'm a bit irritated by the belly-mount wing though (hate those), because you cant fully asseble the plane and plug in all of the servo wires.
You have to plug in the wires, THEN mount the wing - ie you have no idea how the wires exactly lay after the wing bolt is installed.
I vastly prefer the wing tube types.

Thank you much RocketBob for the tip-off for the Jett tank!
I've got a 4oz on the way.
I almost went with the 6oz, but its long skinny design makes me think that some sloshing fore & aft might play hell with the cg when it gets half empty?? [sm=confused.gif]
Plus, the 4oz will hold pressure a bit better with this small motor (I hope).
Either way, I'm thinking about putting a check valve on the exhaust line to keep pressure in the tank during low throttle periods, but I dont know if that will cause flooding problems - a bit of ground testing is planned on the subject.

I have a Master Airscrew 8x4 and it was a toss-up between the 8x4 and the 7x5 when I built it.
I went with the 7x5 because it gave a bit more ground clearance, and I already had it balanced.
I will definitely try the 8x4 though.
For what its worth, it had loads of vertical and tons of speed on the 7x5. (and I'll never try 3d'ing/hovering this thing)
It made even my most costly 450watt 47 inch electric pale in speed and climb.
I dont know about you, but I'm just not impressed with Epower anymore after seeing the SUSTAINED speed and climb ability of my smaller glow planes.
Epower cant hold a candle to the endurance/stamina and soul of a glow motor.
(Ok, I wandered off there... forgive me )

Max_Power

Did anyone else notice that TH has dropped the price on this great ARF another $5??!!!

KidEpoxy

You really summed it up right there.

When the glow tank is 90% empty, it still runs full power... whereas a battery probable alread cut the motor to save juice for the servos. And talk about a rapid recharge, you can fill it back up with more glow before you can even cool down a battery before trying to charge it.

Toad

Interesting comments on the antenae. I coil mine around a drinking straw, carfull not to overlap a coil and it is placed in the fuse, been doing that for a few yrs now as I got the suggestion off of the Darol Cady racing site. I never had a problem, these days I use spread spectrum on my futaba tx and those recievers you really have no choice but to mount the antenaes inside. No glitches on that either.
http://www.darrolcady.com/Racing_Inf...ch/Antenna.htm there is the link

Larry Driskill

TOAD,

Thank you for that tip and link.

I also liked his tip for landing gear on a light 3-D foamy.

dashunde

Oooo... I really like the straw/antenna idea.
I think I'll put the rx up in the canopy and stick the straw to the inside of the turtle deck - up and away from all servos and wires.