Thinking about getting one just for a weekend flier,has anyone flown one?

Thanks Rich

Rich:
I just received mine today, for the money it appears to be a quality plane.
Because of where the elevator is located, the elevator servo mounts on the rudder, just below the elevator.
You just have to remember to buy an extra long servo extension cable.
I hope to run a GMS 61 two Stroke engine for power. It seems to be a relatively inexpensive Engine.
Nitro RC Planes has some really good prices and the quality appears to be really good.
Regards
Bruno

I took mine out for the first flight on 8/8/08. I have a Saito 82A installed. I also fly pattern but thought this one might turn a few heads at the field. My experience:
• Manual is OK for experienced builder, novice may experience some problems.
• My finished weight (digital scale) is 8.7 Lbs not 11 Lbs as stated in Nitros site, nor the 6.2 Lbs as stated in the manual. The 6.2 is probably without servos, etc. As I said I fly pattern and am very conscious of adding weight. I don’t know how I could have saved any weight, although the Saito is a little heavier than 2 Stroke.
• I installed the gear first in order to have a stable platform. I found the gear to have a left and right design, it will be apparent if you have them reversed. I added 1/8� light ply spacers under the gear to keep them level and avoid cutting into the glue build-up for the gear blocks.
• I epoxied my wings together. Be aware the supplied dowels are too loose for the predrilled alignment holes, be careful here. Installing tighter/larger dowels will be a problem if dowels are pre-glued in one side and are too long, wings won’t align due to dihedral. Keep the unglued side minimum length -1/4-3/8�. (You may have a better solution)
• Cutouts for wing servos were larger than my JR/Spektrum std size servos. I added balsa fillers and painted them black.
• I use DuBro pinned hinges with canopy glue, so I can’t comment on supplied hinges but thought they were clever with glue slots, looks like a good idea.
• I stretched a string between the centerline of the dorsal fin and the center of the firewall to establish a centerline for the wing and marked it accordingly. I found that I had to add hardwood (basswood) dowels on the underside of the front wing hold-down bolt holes because the preinstalled ply between the ribs was flexing and may become weak or broken over time. I then made/installed rolled paper tubes with CA on the top side to act as guides for the hold-down bolts so that they wouldn’t get lost inside the wing cavity. I painted these black.
• I used the supplied blind-nuts for the wing hold-down bolts, I don’t like these, but, Oh well! I fitted ¼� basswood blocks with countersunk holes to accept the goofy design of the blind-nuts and epoxied these to the underside of the saddles. I thought the 1/8� thickness was not enough for me and I also wanted to get the bolts to go vertical into the wings.
• I pre-fitted the wing tips. I had to sand in some spots and add 1/32� filler strips in others to maintain level surfaces. I added micro-balloons to the epoxy to fill any gaps and painted the joints silver. I also had to add 1 1/8 oz. of weight on right wingtip to counter-balance the heavier left tip design. (I installed the weight and wing tips as the last item after engine and everything else was installed so that I could balance the plane laterally).
• For the elevator servo, I epoxied small basswood blocks inside the vertical fin to accept servo screws.
• I found the elevator installation to be a bit challenging in terms of keeping the two stabs level, maintaining the same incidence as the wing and keeping an equal measurement from the tip to tip alignment with the wing. I installed the wing first as reference and blocked the plane level. I then put the incidence meter on each stab (for front-to-back) incidence and marked each stab fairing with a paper template so that I would know where to drill the holes for the carbon-fiber dowels and alignment pins. (After all this I still had to enlarge the holes somewhat on one side for final alignment, you may have a better solution). I had to sand the fairing surfaces before installing the stabs as indicated in step #1, it took a fair amount of sanding. I was careful but didn’t get both exactly straight and level, top to bottom and front to back. So I mixed microballoons with the epoxy and glued them in place checking with incidence meter front to back and left to right and taped them in place until glue set.
• My solution for installing the elevators was to cut a slot in the vertical fin instead of drilling a hole for the steel wire connector. I slid the wire into the slot, taped the elevators to the stabs just below the wire and marked the location for the wire holes. I then drilled the holes, trimmed the slots and added thin CA to harden the holes. I then epoxied the wires into the elevators, slid the assembly into the slot and taped them in place until the glue set (using wax paper to avoid gluing to the stabs). After this dried I removed the assembly and installed the hinges as usual. I did not fill the slot and it looks OK to me, but you may want to fill and paint it.
• The fitting and installation of the hinges for the rudder into the vertical fin when using the supplied hinges are suspect to me. Not enough of glue surface. I used the pin hinges again with epoxy and turned the plane on its tail letting the epoxy settle into the hinges to form a thick glue bond on the inside of the fin. I wasn’t able to pull the hinges loose. I could not use the pre-installed pushrod guide for the rudder. Mine was poorly installed. So I bypassed theirs and had to install a new one with plenty of movement for the rod where the rod exits the fairing at the back.
• I normally use Fults dual nose gear but opted to use the supplied gear. It’s either too short or the main gear is too long. I don’t favor the extreme nose-down attitude.
• I didn’t use the supplied motor mounts so I can’t comment on them. I used Great Planes adjustable mounts as I had a pair available.
• I had to fuss with the fitting of the cowl relative to the position of the motor mounts, alignment of the spinner and mating of the cowl to the fuse. Be careful if you trim the length of the cowl as it becomes a smaller diameter to mate to the fuse. My cowl had to be tilted downward to align and I had to sand the bottom of the firewall block considerably at the bottom to get the cowl to align with the spinner. This left a gaping hole between the glass fuse and the firewall block so I filled it with a considerable amount of epoxy-microballoons.
• The last thing I do is install the battery for balance. I made provision for two locations based on the conflicting info in the manual, 5.12� and 4.88�. On my plane there is a 3� difference for battery location using a 5 cell NiMh.
• There is no provision for containing the fuel tank. I installed two “J� bolts with blind nuts and hold the tank in place with rubber bands stretched across the back side of the tank. I use clear silicon at the front. I also cut two teardrop vents in the top of the cowl as my engine seemed to be running a little hot.
• Covering/ finish. The covering was wrinkle free but the wood surface beneath is not good.
• The first flight was OK. Power to weight is less than I like. I ran a 13-8 APC and it struggled a bit on take-off. I had no expo dialed in and at 30 percent travel I had my hands full. I didn’t keep it up long enough to dial in trim. The landing was better than expected. I brought it in rather fast since the position of the elevators doesn’t get much if any propwash. I didn’t want to stall. I want to try a 12-8 for more RPM, so I didn’t try to go up again on Friday. We should be back at the field today for another flight. This time I have expo and have reduced the travel of the ailerons. I also have flaperons initiated with a guesstimate of down elevator dialed in. I’ll save that for last.
• I didn’t know what to expect for a 60 size scale ship with a glass fuse for $155.00 (incl. shipping).

This is my first Nitro model and I suspect from what I have heard about Nitro this plane is probably not a good gauge by which to judge Nitro. This is not the best ARF I have assembled but I suppose one must allow for the price level. It did get a lot of attention at the field, but I hope I get more impressed with the flight characteristics at the next session. I think power to weight is the biggest issue. I don’t like to overpower my planes. I like them to fly on their wings. Hope this helps with your build.
Bob Marks AMA 4645

I flew the plane again on Friday the 15th of August. I had a good engine run and trimmed the plane, a few clicks, about normal for a new plane. The CG is set at the 4.88 inch location. I also set 5 and 8 degrees of down elevator for the two flaperon flap settings. This thing is a blast to fly. I went back to the 13-8 APC and took some extra time with the tach to dial in the engine again. The plane needs distance on takeoff from the grass so I switched to our hard surface. Flying with the flaperons is great fun. The plane handles great at slow speeds with or without the flaps lowered. Loops and slow rolls are a breeze. We took her up high and cut the throttle and it started to glide like a glider. We also did a vertical stall turn and it was uneventful. The plane is gentle on landings, it floats in. You will have a lot of fun with the 500.

BMarks4645 you obvious KNOW what you are doing.

It seems that those who do have the most luck with the NP arfs.

BMarks4645, I purchased a NitroPlanes Extra 500. I like the plane and the price and plan to power it with electric. Mine came with only about the first three pages of the manual. I may have to ask you the favor of sending me a copy of yours if the folks at nitroplanes don't come through soon enough. PS, Do you still have and fly yours? Thanks, Tom

Yes, I keep all of my manuals. I can scan the pages you need and forward PDF's. I still fly mine and I really like it. I have a Saito 82 with a three blade prop and I have flaperons set up. I drop the flaps and run the engine close to idle and it just floats. It still gets a lot of attention at the field.
Here are a couple of my links of other planes:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BMARKS46...eat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/BMARKS46...eat=directlink

Thanks 4645, I really don't know what is missing because the pages are not numbered. Do you need an email address to send the manual copy or could you place it here in the forum? I appreciate your helpful RCer attitude. I checked out the photo links and man these are fine model aircraft! I thought the Yak cockpit was of the real thing! The P6 is superb also. Are these your planes? I'm flying a Hanger9 Showtime 4D90 with Saito 1.00, Futaba7C 2.4. It flies great after I moved the CG a little fwd of recommended. I have a 27% H9 Extra 260 still in the box. This will be my next RC project. Thanks again, 410...

Here are some pics and the PDF file.
I had one bad landing on a windy day and went "nose-in". The firewall came loose and the only way to repair it was to cut a hatch in the bottom and repair with epoxy and micro balloons. Let me know if you have any Questions. This plane has approximately 50+ flights.

Thanks BMarks for the PDF file of the instruction manual and the photos of your striking Extra 500! neat plane for sure. This is all the instruction I'll need to get started and completed. My manual must have been for version one although I have version 2 (white and purple finish). Your manual is much better. I truly appreciate you taking the time to do this for me. This is one reason I love this hobbyyou get to meet the greatest model builders who are willing to share their time and talent with other. I'll keep you posted on my progress. However, I don't know how to upload pics. I tried by clicking "Click here to upload files and images" but after picking the image from My Pictures and uploading the pics didn't appear in my message. What am I doing wrong? Im new at this forum stuff. Thanks again, and God Bless! 410...

After choosing your pictures or other files you must click "OK" at the bottom of the screen-nest to Preview and cancel. Also if the pictures are to large, say around one megabite, they may not upload.

Test Reply

I chose a smaller KB picture to test. Worked ok. This one is larger. I had been expecting it to show-up in my reply before clicking "OK"

I flew my Extra 500 for the first time on Nov 5. I powered it with a Turnigy 50-65 outrunner, 16x10 prop, ICE 75 esc, Turnigy 3000mh 6S batt, controlled by a 2.4gh Futaba 7c. I was shocked and thrilled at the acceleration and power of this set-up. The plane flew like a glider needing only 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. It needed approx. 10 deg of down trim to fly level without climbing. It sounds like a turboprop when flown overhead. The motor came with a 10mm prop shaft so I had to buy a prop reamer and drill and tap the shaft to accept the spinner bolt. The plane got a lot of attention at the field and I like having a standoff scale airplane that is different and interesting. Anyone wanting additional info, just reply with e-mail and I'll get back to you as soon as I get the notification. It took a lot of work to convert this plane to elec, but it was worth it.

NICE JOB. THE PLANE SHOULD GIVE YOU LOTS OF FUN. I'VE HAD MY MOTOR QUIT A COUPLE OF TIMES (GLOW) AND HAD NO PROBLEM GLIDING IT IN SAFELY.

When I built my Extra 500, the instructions were pretty much useless, it was like they had mixed up several airplanes when they were writing them up.

Anyway, The nose gear was too short. I needed to put on a Fults nose gear unit. Otherwise it was nose down and you couldn't get it to lift off before you ran out of runway. This in flying off our grass flying field, no pavement. I also put on larger diameter wheels too.
After fixing the nose gear then it flew great, it only needed a little trim. Because it has a semi-semetrical airfoil you can pull back on the throttle and cruise around nicely.

I mounted a Fox Eagle 60 inverted, and because the engine was fairly light, I needed to add some lead to get the CG about right. I also used a magnetic pickup so I could hold the blind nuts on the inside and get the motor mount situated and bolted down. My hands were too big to reach way up in there.

The plywood where the rear landing gear mounts to isn't glued all that well to the fibreglass fuselage, so you should add some fibreglass tape and epoxy it in more. One not so good landing and the landing gear pops loose.
Now the rear horizontal stabilizer is up high and as such it is more or less out of the prop wash, so it could stall out if you slow down too much, then the plane will have a tendency to pitch down on you (drop the nose), so don't try coming in too slow.

I set mine up with flaperons, two positions. I can slow the plane down to a walk and the plane is still maneuverable. The high stab works more efficiently than I first thought it might. See my earlier post re cutting an access panel to get access to the back of the firewall. It hasn't weakened the structure in the slightest. You will note that the thick firewall is not tapered to match the rake of the fuse so I filled the gap with epoxy-micro balloons to strengthen the firewall. I also drilled a new hole in the main gear to move the wheels up another 1/2 inch.
Enjoy!

Good job on build post. My 500 will arrive june 4th 2012. Will use electric.
Its version 2, not sure what changes they made. But will update when it arrives.

One of our club members just finished his and we flew together in formation. Only change I noticed was the landing gear. Mine is thick fiberglass and his is standard aluminum. He had no problem with the gear.

Ok Mark,
Thanks for the reply. What did he use for a power source?

.90 glow 4 stroke. I now have an OS .91 4s in mine w/ 3 blade.

Go to my Google/Picasa link below. We had an event at our field last Sept. Our photographer took some great shots. I also had my Great Planes P6E Curtis Hawk, now 4 years old. (paste this into your browser)


https://picasaweb.google.com/BMARKS4...eat=directlink

Cowboysam, I think you sent me a email requezting info on my plane elec setup. I'm out of town, but I will answer your inquires with photos when I get back home.

OK thanks. will be looking forward to your reply.

Mike

Nice pics of your flying field. how does that 3 bladed prop perform on the extra 500? I thinking of putting my OS 4 stroke 71 in mine. not sure if it will have enough power to pull it around. what do you think?

thanks

Mike

Nice pics of your flying field. how does that 3 bladed prop perform on the extra 500? I thinking of putting my OS 4 stroke 71 in mine. not sure if it will have enough power to pull it around. what do you think?

thanks

Mike