I picked one up today and I am glad to report that it appears to be built well, and built light. There are some well thought out features too.

I like the way the wings are mounted. The tabs that the wing screws go through are perpendicular to the wing root, and look less likely to rip out in case of a mishap. Just behind the air vent in the bottom of the fuse, the inside of the fuse is blocked with covering material to force the air out the vent and not into the rear of the fuse. This will be good too if the canopy should come off in flight, due to the fact that it is held on by magnets. Should minimize any drag that might occur should that ever happen...I'll keep my fingers crossed...lost one on the Brio.

I won't be using the tail wheel that came with it. I am not thrilled that I have to glue the canopy on (I know...I'm lazy). To tell the truth though, this is a very complete airframe. It might have taken me a few hours to assemble a minimal number of parts. It will be ready to fly tommorrow, but I may not get the chance to fly it until the weekend.

My impression is that it is a quick and straight build. no warps. The only real complaint I have is that the cowl is a bit too small and was difficult to fit properly. length is perfect, and it is predrilled for the screws that hold it on...but it is a tiny bit too small and was difficult to slip over the first former on the fuse. Not a big deal really. Easy to fix by simply cutting the bottom of the cowl to allow it to open up a bit. Hopefully that will not be an issue for everyone that gets one.

I am going with the recommended setup...I'll be taking the gear out of my Seagull Extra EP. I think this is going to be a better flying plane than the Seagull. Time will tell. Definately looks more like an Extra.

The death of the Seagull Extra 300! Oh well, the E-flite one looks more suited for 3D. Be sure to post an update here after you fly it!

I picked one up as well and had the same problem with the cowl. I didn't have to cut it, though. I just kept playing with it, pulling it here and there and was finally able to mount it. It didn't take more than a few hours to put it together. Very well thought out airplane. I was amazed at how light it is. Can't wait to fly it!!

Got mine yesterday; same cowl issue otherwise no complaints on kit contents. The fuse has no center stringer in the bottom so I am curious about the strength. Also a little concerned about the motor mount cage as it seems iffy in the event of a prop strike.

Oh well, lets fly and learn...

Anyone maiden their Extra yet? I will on Sunday if the weather holds. We have had alot of rain around here in the last month and are experiencing a break right now. Work of course keeps getting in the way. Sunday it's on! Flight reports welcome though.

I maidened mine last night (Saturday). We actually had two identical planes to maiden. Both of them flew beautifully. My Extra took a click or two of left aileron and the other took a couple clicks of up elevator. Knife edge flight, slow rolls, solid 4-point rolls, blenders, flat spins and harriers are all performed well well with this little plane. It was tought to tell if the 480 would hang it on it's prop. It was fairly windy and the planes were getting knocked around a little. I've had a bunch of foam 3d planes and never really liked the way they flew. This plane is exactly what I was looking for. I hope everyone has the same luck we did.

Cool! Congratulations on the successful flights. This is good news of course, however I won't be doing my maiden today...it's raining.[]. Well theres always tommorrow.

Hey guys, I have put a service bulletin on the web site with the Extra 260 3D 480 ARF. It talks abou thte cowling installation. It is tight but does fit, just work it and it will go. Making a larger cowling brought teh weight up more than you would think, that is one large cowl for a plane of this size.

We could not blow the plane up to save our lives. Believe me we tried. I will say we have not had many if any prop strikes. We can't build models this size to take a bunch of crashes and such. The motor box will not fail in any type of normal flight. If you like the mini park flyer 3D models, I believe you will love this one.

Did the maiden today, and it went as expected. Few clicks of left aileron, and 2 clicks down and we were ready to go. Flew real nice in about 5mph winds. Second flight was fateful however. After doing a nice blender and pulling out below light pole level (school yard)...struck the right wing tip on the pole. Canopy came off, and aileron was ripped off and left dangling by a single hinge. Amazingly I was able to keep it off the ground, and made a perfect three point landing thirty feet away from where I was standing...with one aileron! I was bummed that I hit the light pole, but this little plane suffered hardly any damage at all. I will have to repair the covering on the wing tip, and reattach the aileron...but that is IT! It will fly again for sure. I like it from what I can tell at this point.

I got a question for you guys. Can this plane be hand launched? I have a huge field behind my house, except I don't have a runway, so I was hopping I wouldn't need one for this plane

Been flying mine for a bit now.The 260 is large plane performer.It has stunning capabilties,just a brilliant design.I am comparing this to the 70 aircraft I have owned over the years,and it takes one of the top spots
The 480 910KV easily hovers it,the 1020KV should be a rocket.
May get some video tomorrow.