I am in the process of putting this plane together but the CG stated in the manual says the CG is 10-11MM from the leading edge. That sould absolutely wrong!!! Can anyone confirm or otherwise help?

Fore ... its a simple typo ... 10-11 CM. Try to keep it at 100-105 mm for the maiden, try not to go to the rear, BH GC is usually off!

It should be 100 - 110mm from the leading edge. tIANci is right on the button for your maiden 105mm. Once you have got used to it slip it back to 110mm, it will land a lot slower.

Merlin ... forestroke should have gone with the Extra 300 (60), that plane is really light and flies nice. Guess what Merlin ... I can get BH planes here for a steal! Hehehe ... the Extra 300 (60) for like 60-70 quid max! Hehehee ...

Yeah... I paid about US$120 for mine. That comes out to 65 Quid...

tIANci, you know why I didn't get the Extra? 2 things... the Matrix is prettier (of course to each his own!) and secondly, I discovered that the graphics (trim tape or iron on) where overlapping the wrong way... second one is minor, though.

I understand what you mean about the looks ...

Another glitch in the instructions... I can't seem to find how far out to mount the engine. It doesn't give a range of how far the drive place should be from the firewall. Does anyone know?

Thanks!

I've heard quite a few people mention that the BH Extra 60 was lighter than the BH Matrix. Why does the following site say its the other way around? (http://www.americanpioneerhobbies.com/extra300s.html vs. http://www.americanpioneerhobbies.com/matrix.html). Also, do you have any photos you can post of the BH Extra 60?

Smart ... I had 3 BH Extra 60 ...first one crashed when I tried to do a snap roll ... totally my fault. Second one crashed on maiden, the engine cut and then then plane just snapped hard to the left, third crashed on maiden, went up fast and then went crazy on me. Both were caused by the antenna on my RX that was cut, I did not ensure there was some relieve on the antenna!

The plane was powered by a TT61 and it was more and enough power. Trust me go for the BH Extra 60 and not the Matrix. I have carried both planes and I found the BH Extra 60 to be lighter and flies a lot better too. The BH Extra 60 is about 7.0-7.5 lbs only. Its a fair bit lighter than my WM Super Chipmunk!

Well smartmove, I'll let you know whereabouts mine is. Plan to be making it within a week or two. Can't get over how absolutely beautiful it is. Looks like one of those planes that you see in F3A competitions. The Fuse is just handsome!

tIANci - you know how far from the firewall the spinner backplate should be? hey... bummer on those 3 BH Extras... with all those crashes on the maiden flights, how can you be so sure that it flys better than the matrix?

Fore - hey it was not only the 3 maiden crashes of the Extra was 2 BH Extra and 1 Funtana 40!!! The 1st BH Extra was my fault, was not on the maiden but second outing. I fly hard on 40 sized planes ... I learnt the hard way that the 60 sized planes need more care and respect.

As for the drive washer I would say just see where the cowl is best set and then work your way. Would you like 3 brand new BH Extra cowls? Hahahaaaaa ...

How do I know ... I have flown the Extra and I have seen the Matrix fly, flown by an old guy of 70+ and he does fly well but seeing how the plane handles tells me its a little hotter than the Extra on landings. The AUW is more than the Extra and it has less wing area.

I just finished my BH Stick 3D a few mins ago ... I'll put some pics up, plane is just under 5 lbs AUW! With a Saito 72 it will be a ripper, I hope she flies well. Looks good so far ...

Thanks for your comments. I have already placed my order for the BH Extra (60) so fingers crossed. I have a ASP 90 2 stroke to put in her so that should be plenty of upfront power

I think with the ASP 90 it will be great ... a 60 2C was pretty fast. The plane can be built in 4 hours dude! Cheers!!!

I know the Graupner Extra 300S (60 size) that is built by BH suffered numerous tailplane failures and Graupner actually issued wire strengtheners to resolve the problem. Have you heard of any of the BH kits suffering the same issue?

The BH Extra 300 (60) has good tail feathers. They won't snap off. Its fully built up! Snug fit like on the big planes ... not slid in ones. Try the plane and you will not regret it.

I had one of the matrix...fly reaLLy well snap so good ....i agree with the instruction sucks...i got a shocked when i read thru it and its 10 - 11mm from the leading edge....anyhow i set mine with 90mm and its a little heavy on the nose...built alot of right thrust on mine and it fly better...i uses a magnum61 mount it all the way to the front of the mounting.i gor mine with about 1 to 2 degree of left thrust. will definitely move the CG ....

thanks benson - will take that into consideration. i am changing the engine mount to sidewinder for the purpose of using my pitts muffler. I will put some right thrust in it.

tIANci - how many planes do you have!!!

Forestroke ... quite a few, pushed my luck and crashed most!!! Hahahaaa ... Had too many now. In hand I have the following:

Flying

Global Raven 40
H9 Aresti
WM Super Chipmunk
Phoenix Funstar
Black Horse Stick 3D

NIB

GWS Formosa
Pacific Aeromodel Laser 200 (72")
Global Ultimate Bipe
CM Pro Swallow
Funtana 90
WM Extra 300 (80")

Past planes

Modeltech Magic
Modeltech Magic Extra
Phoenix Scanner
EZ Laser 200 (40)
WM Sky Raider Mach II
Black Horse SU31 (40)
Black Horse Extra 300 (60)
H9 Funtana 40

I really love planes a lot.

WOW... let's see how mine stacks up!

Flying

WM EP Clipped Wing Cub (currently in the shop for a brushless)
WM EP Rambler
Multiplex EZ Star
TT Lazy Tiger (Missing Pilot and the dang nut at the end of the 32SX muffler fell off)

NIB

WM Ramber 30
BH Matrix (Ready to be built this weekend! Tower Hobbies 75 with Pitts)
Kyosho Corsair F4U (Y.S. 63 waiting to be put in)
CM Pro Yak-54 (Y.S. Dingo waiting to be put in)
CM Pro Christen Eagle (Need to be recovered because the real covering is soooo ugly)

Past Planes (in chronological order)

Trainer (fine as a trainer... but then reconfigured as a pusher canard called the hammer - crash on maiden)
WM CAP232 (Crashed after plugging the ailerons in reverse - repairable but gave away anyway)
WM Cub .26 (Sold after being my favorite plane for oh so long!)
Veko F3A (Crashed while knife edging low... pull pull system installed incorrectly... DOH!)
WM Zen 50 (Sold upon leaving HK)
WM Rambler 30 (Crashed after running out of gas and despite perfect landing, hitting a rebar on the ground. Wing torn)
CM Pro Cessna (Sold upon leaving HK)
WM Ultimate 30 (Sold upon leaving HK)
Hirobo Suk30 (Sold upon leaving HK... more like gave it away it was such a piece of cr*p)
OK Pop Angel (went in the water and i didn't waterproof enough... but it was beautiful when it lasted!)

That's about it... man, come to think of it... I have had a lot of planes!!! Pop Angel with home made floats pictured...

Well it arrived today. First impressions.... absolutely beautifully made! No issues atall with the covering, it's all covered in Profilm (or Oracover as it's called in Germany) and it's not printed stripes, it's all individual bits of film. I have not found anywhere that needs touching with the heat iron. Build quality also looks superb, I will take other peoples advise and re-inforce the bulkhead and also put some more glue on the hinges (but they do already have glue on them and are very neatly pinned). Ofcourse, I havent flown the model yet (and wont be able to for a couple of months due to it being a Xmas present from the girlfriend) but reports from other BH Extra (60 size) flyers have been very positive, I should have plenty of "reserve" power with the ASP 91 and a 14x6 prop. If anyone wants to take a look I have uploaded numerous photos of the kit (they're big images so maybe not for the dialup people :P).

http://simon.unitedhosting.co.uk/photos/

Thanks to Inwoods for getting the kit out to me so quickly and at £99 + p&p I can't complain.

forestroke ... you are worse than me!!! I just crashed the BH Stick 3D today, stupid enough to rush it out and I did not thread lock the EZ link nut at the bottom, sigh ... how very smart of me. Now my Saito 72 needs parts ... are parts readily available in HK? Wanna help me?!! Hehehe ...

smartmove - yes... i have to say that upon initial inspection of the matrix, i was also very impressed. it is a beautiful arf.

i have encountered another problem, though... for those of you that don't have the engine mount holes drilled through the firewall already and need to use the template in the manual or want to change the mounting to inverted or sidewinder, PLEASE BEWARE! the template in the manual is smaller than the actual plane. that mean's when you measure and drill, the holes will come out too close together. i had to drill out some of the engine mounts.

tIANci - i'm no longer in Hong Kong and even then it's so hard to get hold of Saito let alone their parts!

forestroke - wish I was in US ... oh well ... time to bring the Saito 82out of the box!

tIANci! The LHS really love you man!

Gagak - I got the parts ... its available! Coming soon and I hope its not expensive!!!