Recently completed the build and 6 flights on my new Vectorflight Extra 300 - 66". I installed a Magnum 91 4 stroke and used most of the provided hardware with the exception of the tailwheel assembly and aileron horns.

From a build perspective:

The plane is contructed very well. The cowl and bellypan are clear plastic painted white on the inside. Minor contact on the inside of the cowl removes the paint. I modified the belly pan and glued it onto the bottom of the wing as suggested by Vectorflight . During engine break in I had a fuel leak which caused significant discoloration under the covering where the belly pan was glued to the wing. I corrected this by installing some black trim on either side of the belly pan. The wing design is interesting. It is a foam wing but not sheeted. The covering is very thick - similar to the thickness of electrical tape. The covering provides structural strength. With the Magnum 91 4 stroke, I had to put a fair amount of lead in the nose to get CG at 4 1/8". It also required a small amount of lead on the wing tip to get the lateral balance correct.

From a flight perspective:

The plane flys extremely well. It tracks like an arrow. Th Magnum 91 four stroke with 14 X 6 K Series prop gives decent vertical performance but I would recommend a 1.20 for this plane. It would also limit or eliminate the need for nose weight. The engine is still breaking in so I am still running slightly rich but turning 9,500 RPM. I am planning to convert to a 14 X 6 APC to see if performance improves. The recommended throws seem good with the exception of the rudder. I was unable to hold knife edge with the recommended rudder throws. I increased the rudder throw by about 3/4" and plan to start slowly removing nose weight to improve performance.

All in all, a very nice plane and good value. I would recommend the plane.

Hi. I'm currently building one myself. There seems to be alot to do to get the plane ready to fly. I've strengthened the fuse bottom as advised with some light ply. Added a piece of light poplar for the 1/4 20 blind nuts and plastic bolts for the gear. I've come up with a method of mounting the tank which I believe is the one item the company should correct on newer models. There's basicly no way to mount it.[:'(] I'm gonna post how I did it in my own thread. I hope to fly it this weekend if all goes well. Sounds like you're satisfied with yours.

I also had a problem with my fuel tank installation. I surrounded the tank with a lot of old foam bedding material and secured it in the rear by inserting a diagonal piece of plywood between the tank and the former. I plumbed the tank for a three line fueling system. The fuel leak I mentioned was a result of the vent line being severed when the tubing hit the back of the firewall during tank installation. To resolve this problem, I glued a piece of balsa behind the firewall to prevent the tubing from hitting the firewall. Good luck with yours. I think you will like the way it flys.

Buy the way, I mounted my battery as far forward as possible under the tank but still had to add nose weight to the firewall.

I didn't do any of the modifications you mentioned but probably should have.

I also have a VF Extra 300 and find it to be a great performer in most ways. I have a Saito 100 on it and although it seems pretty good, a little more power wouldn't hurt. Very crisp handling plane but not a good one for beginners. Fairly high wingloading and although it floats in quite well, you have to keep the speed up on landing or be prepared to replace props and re-bend landing gear. (I've had a couple of landing issues while re-learning after a couple of years with a fat wing funfly plane!!). I am still using low rates for aileron and elevator but have gone to the recommended high rate for the rudder. I have programmed in some aileron differential but haven't messed with flapperon yet (separate channels for ailerons). Might try that for landing??

I built it pretty well stock. After ripping the LG off and breaking up a little ply up front, I changed the LG mounting to 2 x 1/4" nylon bolts threaded into a basswood plate. The steel cap screws that come with the plane have no give at all. I also peeled back the covering at the attachment point for the rudder horn and put in thin ply hardpoints for the horn (both sides). I was finding that the balsa in the rudder was fairly soft and I was getting less authoritative rudder than I would like. Much better now! I used regular Hitec HS 425 servos on ailerons and throttle and went to HS 475 for the rudder and elevator. Although I strengthened the tailfeathers with some balsa tri-stock (as recommended) I didn't bother with flying wires. Horizontal and vertical stabs are plenty stiff.

I have my CG at the recommended position. I was able to do it without adding extra weight but the 6V 1650 NiMH receiver pack is buried in foam right below the fuel tank.

I am having a little trouble getting the plane to hold a knife-edge (doesn't maintain altitude). I was wondering what others have done in terms of setup to get a good KE. I guess that there are three possibilities.
1) Increase rudder throw. What are various people using for rudder deflection compared to the recommended throw?
2) MORE POWER. The Saito 100 should be enough and adding more weight would not be a good thing. The 4-stroke sounds awesome but it might do a little better with a really good 91 2-stroke.
3) Move the center of gravity back. I am using the recommended CG position and was wondering where others have found to be effective without making the plane too squirrley. I was thinking about moving it back to 4 3/4" or so but I don't want it to be my last flight!

So... How have owners set up their VF aircraft? In addition to throws and CG, it would be interesting to see what mixes you have tried.

I would rather benefit from the experience of others rather than break new ground (or new plane) by myself on this.

Ross

Nose weight ?... That's interesting.. I have the 66" with a Mag .91 4s in it... I was way nose heavy. I mounted the battery in the fusalgae about halfway back between the wing and stabs... No lead needed that way.. Wonder why the differance ???... Flys great, the .91 is adequate but not as much power as I like in a Extra... Was thinking of a Saito 100... Lots of weight gain and not that much power gain with the older 1.20's IMHO..

From my information, the Saito 100 is a couple of ounces lighter than the Magnum. With a heavier engine, I would have to have the battery in the main fuselage instead of under the tank.

Mounting position for the engine, choice of servos, propeller, spinner, fuel valves, etc could make enough difference to require some nose weight but I wouldn't imagine that it could be very much for the Magnum 91.

Ross

My numbers show the Mag .91 at 22.4 ounces and the Saito 100 at 20.9 ounces... Saito 100 is a nice engine power to weight...

Good point about the engine mounting position. I mounted it as recommended by the instructions but should have mounted it further forward to reduce/eliminate the nose weight. It's to late now that the cowl is cut.

I'm using a new YS 110 on mine. I need some info on the cowl and how to cut it. Do you cut any of the cowl off? I mean shorten it. I plan on using fuel dots for vent and fueling. Will they have to go through the cowl? My engine muffler is also going to be a problem. I'm thinking of just leaving it off and running a tube out the bottom of the fuse. Any help??

I used the entire cowl and did not cut any off. I mounted my Magnum 91 4 stk at a 90 degree angle and ran the muffler out the bottom without any problem. I used a three line fuel system with a dubro filler on the side of the cowl. I almost mounted the engine inverted but choose to go with the stock installation. If you want to mount yours inverted, you can rotate the mount and use the pre drilled holes and blind nuts installed. Good luck!

Thanks stein-- , it was actually me posting above. I was on RV's PC. My tank mount, while a good idea, is still giving me problems. I just don't want to stuff the front of the plane with foam because I've had bad experiences using that method to mount the tank. I would like to stick the tubes through the firewall but the mount is right where they need to go through. It also needs to be completely in the forward compartment because the wing will hit it if it isn't. I have the controls hooked up, gear on, engine mounted, but the tank is driving me nuts. BTW, I sprayed the total area behind the firewall with polyeurthane varnish to fuelproof it. Worked real good. The mist gets in all the cracks.
I'm posting here,,, no one seems to be responding to my thread. boo-hoo-

HA neat trick.
I thought you had RVator building one too.
Ron

lol. No, in fact I haven't got a lot help out of the lad. Just some words of encouragement.

I have been flying my VF Extra 300 for a while now and love it to death. I put a stiffer landing gear from TNT, 4-40 rods and I power it with an OS.91FX with more power then I can use. The stock landing gear is too soft for me, I got tired of nicking props.

I had to shorten the cowl about a quarter of an inch, I think. If I hadn't, the decals would have been too short.

Ross

Good luck with the tank installation. A friend of mine built the VF Edge 66 and his tank extended past the firewall on it. The Edge has a two piece wing so having the tank extend into the the fuse it not a problem. By the way, I would recommend gluing the belly pan to the wing. It makes set up at the field extremely fast and east.

I flew my Extra yesterday after adding 3/4" of rudder throw and was able to hold a knife edge with minimal pitch and roll coupling. So far so good. The plane flys straight as an arrow in the wind. I will be slowly removing nose weight over the next few weeks to improve performance.

Eric

I finally got my tank mounted Stein. RVator pulled the tank from his US 60 and it's a 12oz so we stuck it in and it works fine. My mount holds it very tight and makes removal a snap. I'm currently fighting the cowl and trying to get it cut for the engine and pipe. I think I'm gonna just use the muffler pipe and clamp a rubber extension on it and not even use the muffler at all. Later if it's too loud I'll rig up the muffler some way. I'm sick of working on this thing and want to get it in the air. If it doesn't suit me, it will be for sell real quick.

BTW, I used a rotobroach to cut the holes in the belly pan (it's glued to the wing) and man what a job that thing does. Perfect round holes and no clean up at all. I'll use it to cut holes for the fuel dots too. Do you have any photos of how your cowl is mounted? How much of the bottom did you remove? How many and what size screws do you use? I have #6 Button head and bonded washers. Did you beef up the fuse to hold the cowl?

I used 6 small phillips head screws to mount the cowl. Two on each side and two on the bottom. I have about 12 flights on it and no problem. If you email me at [email protected] I can email you some photos. There is probably a way to send the photos on RCU but the files are large and they might restrict file size.

Eric