here is my cmp extra 330L......i chose EP. its 7.5 lbs. havent flown it yet.....a buddy of mine has the red version EP.....he claims it flies really well for the weight. i made my own droops for this....and tinted the canopy for a different look. im sure it will be a handful to fly.....not much wing. good luck all flying it.....(including me)....lol.

I maidened my Extra 330L today , was very nervous due to all the bad things I have read about this model.
I Have an OS 56 Alpha for power and built it as light as I could mounting every thing I could in the cowl , weight came out at 3100g.
The lift off was perfect ,the tail came up on its own & she didn,t lift off untill I gave alittle up input ,2 clicks of down elevator was all that was required and she was very responsive esp in the roll , I have alot of expo dialed in.
With the landing I found she really floated in at idle ,I have spoilerons dialed in & tried them up high ,need to mix alittle up elevator in & will try to land with spoilerons on next time ,But i found this plane to be a great flyer & the verticle spinning climb was very impresive considering the engine size.
Very happy & very relieved.
CoG 84mm
OS 56 Alpha
Hitec & JR servos
Futaba T6EX 2.4 radio

I finally fit the FS-70 surpass (with 13x7 APC) and it flies like a charm. A/C don't fly very vary fast but it pulls more than the OS- 55ax, I can nearly make unlimited verticals !
After little practice kiss landing can be made at each try if approach slope is not too high and a (very) little throttle is kept.
I'm very satisfied with this setup much more than with the 55ax; I don't understand why they recommend a .46 on the box…. Nevertheless I will try a 14x6 propeller as I spin the 13x7 at about 10k Rpm.

Hello guys, I am very happy of finding this thread!

I bought one of this planes cause I crashed due to a battery problem my lovely edge.
It is ready but I am checking the CoG, I marked the average of what the manual recommends 93mm (90-96mm) and it is too much tail heavy. I'll change to 96mm as most of you are doing. I am afraid it will still be too much tail heavy and I am concerned about that.

All what I have is an OS 46AX with pitts muffler and I am worried that it will not be enough, but that is the only engine I had! and besides it is what the manual recommends, I'll try it out like that.

I think I have no choice but putting lots of weights at the very front of the plane, possibly around the engine as somebody with a red extra did..... it sucks but I do not see anything else I can do.... I am not a 3d flier, just doing some aerobatics and I'll be thankfull if the plane can roll and loop decently with the 46 engine. I had an edge of seagull with that set up and it was flying very decent.....

Hello,
I think that an OS 46 will be very "limit". I have fit an OS 55 ax and I was always flying at more than 75% of throttle and I had to add about 300grs of lead to get the CG at 90mm (wing root).
I have change the engine with an old OS FS-70 keeping same CG and the A/C just fly like a charm ! It doesn't stall like a trainer but he isn't so much far away.... Wing just drop gently, the A/C don't go in an uncontrollable spin !

It is so cool you are having fun with your plane!

Just to make sure, because I see the CofG is a big deal in this plane, and specially because it looks TOO much tail heavy to me.... I am attaching an image to this posts, just to make sure that I am measuring properly the CofG......

basically what I did was to measure the 96mm from the front edge of the wing and mark 96mm, then with a long ruler, I transfered the mark to point A.....

1. is that the way to do it???? If so, my plane is still reaaaaally tail heavy.... I wonder if it is because the OS 46 is way lighter than the 55, OS-70, saito 80...
I am planning to epoxy some metal pieces to the engine mounting to make it nose heavy...

2. This question is completely different, I am using HS425 servos (hitec), they are standard, I believe 46oz.... the ailerons move nice,fast and freely, clear sign that the servos are good enough.. the thing is that when I stop applying movement to them, and at the point where I believe they should center... they do not!!!!! I mean, just some mms out of center but I thought they should center ALWAYS.... why is this??? gonna have trouble in the air???? I do not know if it is because the surface of the ailerons are very big and might be big load for the servos or it is just normal..... I do not have handy 2 servos of more torque...</p>

To adjust Cg on my A/C I made the following:
At wing root (fuselage-wing junction) I have made a mark on the fuselage at 90 mm of leading edge.

Then I just put my fingers on the marks I made on both side and that's all ! I had to put a lot of lead with the 55ax, and less with the FS-70...

I fixed the lead as following (picture with 55ax) :

Regarding the servo, I just put high torque (about 5-6 kg) servo an elevator and rudder all others are std. I have fitted ball linkage everywhere and everything is moving right without "free play".
Take care on aileron travels, on first flight I have set up the max recommended in the manual and flight was a bit "bumpy" because roll rate was just too high (value measured at wing root) . I was able to land the A/C but I have damaged wings tips.
On next flights I have reduced travel by about 30/40 % and add expo, I finally get a very smooth A/C able to perform all acrobatics except torque roll.

so, do u just check the CofG of the plane without wings????? do u do it yourself??? I could imagine you stand up over the plane and put your fingers below?????

For the servos, well, I hope it will be fine, I just have standard servos, if I see it gives me trouble, they Ill have no choice than getting high torque servos, but for ailerons it should be fine, I'll see....

P.S. Thanks for the tip of the travel of ailerons.... I'll reduce it to 80%, I want to trim it first, then I can land and increase the travel if the roll is way too slow..

You check the Cof G with the wings on. I think that picture was posted for reference only. I normally check it with my finger also, and have the plane at about chest level with the prop facing me. Just adda mark wherethe CG needs to be with a marker or something, and put your fingers on those marks. If the tail drops, its tail heavy, and if the nose drops (very unlikely with this bird) then it's nose heavy. Then add weight accordingly.

I have made the balance with everything fitted (cowl, spinner, wings, canopy, propeller, battery, Rx, servo) but with fuel tank empty ; I just lift the A/C by putting my fingertips on marks.

Here is a silly question....

How do u check the CofG by yourself?????? how can u put it at chest level????? I always ask my roommate to help me out but he will not be here for a couple of days...

Just put your A/C on a table. Lift a bit the tail with CD cases for example to get the A/C nearly horizontal ; then gently lift it using the marks. If tail don't lift up add lead in nose ; do that until nose is gently pitching down.

I am still worried. my CofG is at about 108mm!!! way too much and I put some weight near the engine mouting and a heavier battery at the very front of the plane... that really sucks..... definetely an engine bigger than a 46 would make it easier but I do not have it!!!!!

hey, I starefly... I get your point of how to measure the CofG.... but... how can u put it on the table and then lift it being at the front?????? do you mean your put your fingers on the marks that you did DOWN the fuselage at the root of the wings????or you are refering the marks at the outside end of the wings????? (POINT A in my image I attached before...)

Thanks!

Well, I think I did something stupid....

in order to put weight at the front, I epoxied some pieces of metal to the plastic engine mount... right between the engine and the fuselage.... I put LOTS of epoxy and it looks like rock.... but I did not think that the muffler and engine are very close (not touching, maybe 1" of space)..... is the epoxy going to melt or something like that????? or I should be fine???

I put my fingers at wings roots. Just on fuselage marks.

Epoxy is a quite good "glue", it should resist to engine heat without any problem. Why don't you change the engine, you can put a 75ax which is at pretty good price.

Successful maiden!

I just came back from the field.... I finally finished putting epoxy and metal at the botton of the engine mount, in addition to that, I replaced my 2300mah battery (4.8v) for a 4000mah that is heavier, this makes 'almost' the CG, it was still tail heavy but I did not want to put more weight, it was too much already..... with that in mind, I did the maiden today, It took me about 5mins to trim it completely, it was still tail heavy and I had to give 3clicks of elevator, which I think it was not too bad after all (but it is heavy!).....

It flew ok, more sport with that engine, it seems heavy in the air, I had to fly at 75% throttle in order to fly decently, reducing speed would makea bit inestable the plane or trickier I found....
It is REALLY sensitive in the ailerons, I had 35% expos and I had to be very very gentle with the aileron, same thing with rudder, elevator was ok... I finally increased to 40% in both and it seems ok now,

Unfortunately, I had a dead stick at the third flight and I brought it the closest to the runway but I could not reach it, I landed on heavy grass but the landing skid broke... it really did not break, it UNGLUED!!!! by the inside of the fuselage, the wook frame came off from the glass fiber, I guess it was actually good because it prevented that something else broke..... nothing that some resin can not fix tonight (more weight!).... it was not really bad because I was almost at the runday.... I did not have the chance to roll it nor loop it, next time....

definetely the 46 engine is limited with that plane.... 55 or bigger would be nicer, I guess it would help a lot for the CG too to have a heavier engine....

I'll post more information when I try it more, hopefully this saturday if weather is nice!

P.S. My dead stick had nothing to do with the plane, it seems the main needle is a bit loose and it went rich in the air....., I have a spare engine so, I'll replace the whole needle...

This plane needs everything shoved up front.
I mounted my battery on the engine mount (well protected in foam )
the throttle servo mounted on the fire wall and managed to keep the
weight down to 3000g.
It,s a real floater at idle&amp; when coming in dead stick, have spoilerons
programed in but as yet have not used them for a landing.
I only have a 56 4 stroke so it can fly well on a smaller engine if you set it up
right (light !! )

Thanks a lot for the tips..... yes, you are right, battery more at the front and servo would have eliminated some weight, the thing is that I had limited time to assembly. I never thought the plane would be so much tail heavy because the manual recommends 46 engine. I almost finished building before checking the CG and this post where everybody said it was extremely tail heavy.... too late to take out servo, fuel tanks, etc. So, I went for the easy: put weight and bigger battery (battery is under the fuel tank).....

However, you are right, I'll have some flights more with it, and one day I have more time, I'll do what you suggest, for the moment, I just need it to roll and loop decently for a while...

thanks for your input....

Thought I,d post some pics of my set up...in the hope Thatit helps some one out.
I also opened up the wheel pants to fit some larger foam wheels (very light, nice &amp; fat with a
flat tread).
Trying an APC 13X4 Prop tomorrow (more thrust less speed)
Steffan.

Hey, thanks for posting pictures.....

I had 2 more flights today with it, I broke slightly the botton of the fuselage (easily fixeable)... my plane is 'heavy' for the extra weight, during the second flight, I tried to land but it was bouncy cause I was coming too slow I guess and it just cracked, I'll have to fix it. I think this is what I do not like about this plane, the landing skid is IN the fuselage and transmit the impact to the fuselage directly and it cracks it!.... I wonder if it can be modified in order to have a different (one piece maybe) landing skid outside with plastic bolts that could break in case of a hard landing instead of the fuselage! anybody knows??????

By the way, in my short experience with this plane, it does not float while coming to land, if you go too slow one of the wings will stall (that was not happening with my edge)..

Hey, question, what things do you have in your engine mount? I see the battery well wrapped but I also see something that looks like a bag... what is that????? you are giving me ideas and I might change my battery position before the next flight..... I am also using a 11x7 (46ax), and the plane flies pretty fast, I have lying around a 11x4... I wonder if it would be good to put that one or is it too low pitch??????

Hello, well,I sold out the plane....

My OS 46AX was too limited for the plane, I did not really like the FG fuselage, I think I'll stick to plywood and balsa for a while more. This extra does not take very well the bouncy landings (on paviment at least) and the frame unglues almost each time I had a bouncy landing, so much epoxy and/or resine and the plane was getting heavier and heavier...

It was a beautiful plane though..... by the way, I put lots of weight at the front and still it was tail heavy... it is definetely made to put at least a OS 55 or a OS 61 on....... (or the equivalent on 4 stroke), but definetely with a 46 was not really fun....

Ok hope people are still listening to this thread. I was given one of these planes a month ago. After asking as much as I could of various people at LHS, I was prompted to consider two elevator servos, a very beefy rudder servo and everything (JR 539's I have from last model)else standard. I was given a OS 46 AX with it but it seems this motor isn't enough of a horsepower generator for this plane from comments made. However is it worth trying with this set up at least and what were people's CG settings
for those who ran .46's? I want to run a pitts muffler and Iwas thinking a 61 of some kind and dont want to buy customer mufflers for both unless I have to.

Any help appreciated.

Atra

Hey man, 46AX is definetely not the engine for that plane..... you need to gain lots of speed with that engine for a decent take off and you will need LOTS (seriously, lots!)of weight at the front to balance it.... I strongly encourage you not to out that engine.... I would put AT LEAST an OS 55AX and not even. I would go for a 4-stroke 70 or 82.... that plane is big and heavy, it needs good power and if you are going to put extra weight, better to be with a bigger engine..... I think the OS 61 is a good choice too...
just my opinion....

P.S. The plane is beautiful....

hi..i just built one...configuration as below for your reference

CG: 95mm
Propeller:APC 14*6
Engine: SAITO 82A
Futaba S3001

i have mine two independent servos for elevator and 240g weight in front end to get the CG 95mm