Hi,

I was just talking with a gentleman who seems to have a problem with low speed handling with the 60-size Extra. Has anyone else experienced this? I have not yet personally flown this airplane, so any thoughts or hints? Thank you!

I've had one for about 30 flights now. With the big 16 oz. tank in the nose and balanced at the recommended point, the plane is nose heavy and lands fast with little glide. I've since moved the CG back substantially and it now lands much better. Handles much better in the air also. Actually flies better if you only fill the tank 1/2-2/3 full.

Rein

What problems is this gentleman having? Throw some more details at us Shaun and maybe we can diagnose the issue.

Rein makes a good point; the balance point should not be too far forward on the 60-size YA Extra. You can get away with it on the larger 120-size, but the 60 tends to 1) float/balloon if there's a lot of elevator throw and the CG is wrong and 2) tip stall if there's not enough flow over the wing and nose (and the CG is too far off).

What are the details?

Thanks,
Juhan

Hi,

Well, he reports that the CG is at the location called for in the instructions, but that the airplane stalls and spins in on what he considers a moderate-speed approach. He has dialed in some reflex into his ailerons for landing, and says this helps, but that it's still prone to an approach stall-out. My first thought was that he is simply getting the plane too slow, but he sounds like he has enough experience to know when that is happening. I was wondering if anyone has moved the CG aft of the specified location. Anyone done this? What happened? Thanks for the help.

If he's coming in too slow and moves the CG farther back, it may increase the snap tendency. The Extra doesn't land at walking speed; it will tip stall.

He maybe coming in with the wind - this wouldn't be too good of an idea on this plane in terms of getting one's speed down.

We've got a few videos of the 60-size Extra landing at:
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia.../rc_extra.html
In the 'lots of takeoff/landings' clip, the approaches and touch downs aren't too slow. I believe the CG was at the manual's recommendation.

We've got more videos of the 120-size Extra landing at:
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia...xtra120_2.html
Again, the plane isn't coming in at walking speed; it needs the slight speed.

I've moved the CG back and approaches can be slightly slower, but throttle management is key.. especially at the final dip/4' above the deck.

-Juhan

we had lots of snapping and tip stall with our extra until we checked lateral balance and found a big difference fixed it and we have a fine flier since. and for sure to much elevator throw is out.