So, did anyone shortin their cowl? I will assume I should keep my .91 XLS Magnum as far forward as possible to help with the balance?

Tofast4U, do not cut the cowl. It is supposed to overlap the fuselage quite a bit. I just let it slide on the fuselage as far as it wanted to, and that gave about the right distance from the firewall to the cowl opening, about 5 inches for my setup.

I put the 50th flight on my 66 inch Extra today. All that I can say is WOW this plane just keeps on getting better everytime that I take it up. The TT 91 is running better with every tank of fuel that I put through it. This plane now has unlimited vertical with this engine. Today was the first time that I flew it since resetting the valves on the engine. It starts and runs perfectly. The wind was blowing very hard today so I only made 3 flights but what a nice handling plane. Even in the wind it lands nice. I am using it to learn the IMAC basic sequence and to practice with so that I can compete in IMAC someday. Vectorflight your products are the best value for the dollar out there. Very satisfied and have recommended these planes to several people. I am the only one at my club that has one so far and everyone that sees it wants to know where I got it. I hope to see somemore out there soon.

Rick

Where do you have your TT .91 set?
Mine runs great for about 3 minutes and then sputters, no full power available
then continues to dead stick.
I almost lost my 300S VF 66' TWICE because of it.
I have the HS needle about 4 turns out and the LS needle about 1 1/2 out
Wildcat 2/4 stroke fuel, 15% nitro OS FS plug with an on board glow at idle.
Any TT set-up tips? I love my VF 300S and don't want to give it a dirt nap

I don't quite know where the needles are set at exactly but here is where to start from. First thing you need is a tach. Use the tach to set the high speed needle at wide open to the highest rpm setting that you can get. You have to turn the needle in in very small amounts. Let the engine set for about 10 seconds after each setting change. Once you get the highest RPM setting back off the needle about 400 RPM's ( about 4 or 5 clicks). The way to get the low speed needle set is to unhook your onboard glow. Use a regular glow starter and start you engine. When you pull the glow starter off does it quit. If it does lean the low speed needle in small amounts until you can take the glow starter off and the engine will still run. Once you get to this point you are really close to having it right. It will be right when you can pull the glow starter off and it does not loose any RPM. Once you get the engine to this point rapidly advance the throttle to wide open. The engine should transition smoothly. If it bogs it is too rich. Adjust the low speed needle in very small amounts( 1/16th of a turn). Once you get the low speed set right reset the high speed needle. The low speed needles on these engines are set very rich from the factory and have to be leaned alot. It sounds like your engine is running lean on the high speed needle. If it has good power when you take off and then looses power after a couple minutes it is running lean. I had the same problem with mine also and just had to tinker with it until I got it right. Once you get it right you will love it. If you haven't checked the valves yet do it now. I just set my valve clearance for the first time. This engine rocks now and runs excellent and makes great power. You need to run a least a gallon of fuel through it before it starts to get good. These engines take some break in time but run great once broken in.

Rick

I've been following this post for 6 months now. I just wanted to throw in my two cents. I am a proud owner of a Vectorflight 58" Extra. Needless to say I am very pleased with my airplane. I installed a Magnum .91 4 stroke turning a 13x8 APC prop. She has great speed and vertical climb. Overall I am extremely happy with this plane. My only suggestions to VF would be to include nylon bolts for the landing gear strut and use bigger wheels. I've had a couple of less than perfect landings and have appreciated that aluminum strut absorbing the impact. I pulled it off, bent it back into shape, bolted it on and I was back in the air. The nylons would be nice for rougher strips to keep the wooden plate where the strut mounts from breaking out. Again, these are minor issues. For all of you out there wondering about engines for this plane, my suggestion is to use the biggest one that will fit. As I said, I'm extremely pleased with my 4 stroke. It took a little doing to get it to run right, but I am so happy with it now. Anyways, those boys at VF are doing a good job and I hope they keep it up.

Well putting the wing together was a tight fit to say the least. I did get some of those dark spots in the white covering from the epoxy too. I used 2, 1/4-20 nylon bolts in the landing gear as per our friends at VF. I replaced all control rods except throttle with 4-40 and am going to try a Sullivan Ball Elevator Splitter which I have never used before in place of the wheel collar thing. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBWL8&P=0
Anyone else ever try it?
Do I cover the cowl before cutting for the head and muffler or after ??? Normally I would cover it after.
Thanks

Have tried both before and after cutting out the holes for the engine, after cutting is better if using a circular saw, before is better if using scissors. Dont forget to spray water or windex first before putting on the main decals. The text and checkers decals should be put on dry.

Cover the cowl after

Rubezahl aint talking out of turn, that plane flies great. I honestly dont think a plane can fly much better. I am his flying buddy. What he neglects to say about the poor landing gear is his obsession with 90mph touch and goes based on me daring him to do so and questioning his manhood. Honestly, that poor plane will most likely end up getting flown into a chain link fence after I dare him to thread the needle through our pit area.

dont worry though, I will take pictures.

OK
The cowl is done! I can see why we cut and shape first. Came out pretty good too. Thanks for the post on how to put the decals on, I would have been dead with out that footnote. Did the masking tape trick to get thge checkers on perfect as well.

Did anyone remove some wing covering to epoxy the belly pan to the wing?

The smooth covering should be sanded or removed to give the epoxy a good surface on the wing to hold on to. Same with the belly pan using a fine sandpaper. Just make sure any opening in the front of the belly pan is sealed so it doesnt catch air. Works great! Saves a lot of time on the field and the hassle of saving the screws.[8D]

Just a note for you guys flying with a TT .91FS on your Extra.
The valve cover decided to become a sky-diver somewhere over my clubs
flying field today. Never saw it jump and never saw it again.
I recently reset the valves on mine and tightened the hold down screws well but they still backed out and
departed. The valve cover saw them jump and wanted to try it too.
The gasket saw the cover jump and wanted to see how it could fly and it jumped off as well.
Dern sky-diving valve covers!
I flew the plane 5 times after that and never missed a beat but don't know how much blow
by lube got to the rockers and lubed them up before each run with 30 wt oil I had for my car.
Hate it when stupid stuff like that jumps off your plane

Well the 66' Extra is ready to fly. Just need the time. I used all 4-40 rods ( my little twist), Tru-Turn spinner, Magnum .91XLS with a 14x6 prop. I too put a fuel dot in the cowl but I usually squeez the fuel line at full throttle to see if the needle is to lean and I dont have any access to it with the cowl on. I guess I will just have to back off a few rpms at max tach. The Pitts muffler is so much more quiet compared to the stock muffler I broke it in with on the test stand.

The reccomened throws seem so small but thats what I will start with. I hope 3/8 is enough up to start. I also used a Sulivan tail wheel and used to 1/4-20 nylon bolts to hold the landing gear on instead of the 3 steel 6-32 bolts. Im still up in the air on the belly pan, have to see what kind of pain it is at the field. I like the insert idea.

I also want to add the tail wires but havent figured it out yet. Someone posted a picture of the bottom side but i still need more instruction. I havent seen much in Sulivan as another poster mentioned.
Thanks I will let you know how the maiden goes.

Tofast4u, sounds great! But dont leave out the tail wires. Just this last weekend saw a very cool plane go down because of a broken tail. Just use any contraption nuts and screws to fit 2-56 rods on the tail and youll have a failsafe machine. happy landings!

Don't give it anymore throw that what is recommended. It will be plenty if you use more throw it will snap on you when you go to full deflection. Set it at the recommended throw then fly it. Get a lot of altitude and pull it into a tight loop and see what it does. If it snaps out of the loop dial down the throw a little. It doesn't seem like much throw but it will suprise you. This is one great flying plane and you will love it. On another note I lost mine today. I was making a landing approach on my fourth flight of the day When making the final turn I lost all radio control at about 60 feet up. The plane spun to the left and went straight in. The wing survived but the fuselage from the canopy forward was totaled. This plane was the best money that I ever spent since starting in the RC hobby and I will be ordering another one soon.

Rick

OK Men
This bird is ready to fly, finally. Every time I had and email with VF and most everyone else you all recommended the tail wire brace so I did it. Not much fun but its done. Looks like its just under 9lbs dry. I will have a better weight once my new scale arrives. I will post results of her maiden when it happens. Weather forecast this weekend is not good. This being my first fuel dot install I couldn't figure out why you need 2 clunks. Well now I cant empty the tank all the way with out the 2nd one. OOPS
Long Live RCU!

Good to hear about the tail struts! Its a good insurance for any performance airplane. Happy landings!

Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this extremely long thread and i only have one question:
I'm thinking of getting a Extra 58 and mounting a Thunder Tiger GP 61 with a 12 x 6 prop into it.
Am I wasting my time (as far as the motor is concerned)
I stripped this brand new motor out of my Kyosho Pitts (weighed 6.8 lb and went vertical untill out of sight) and now it needs a new home.

Thanks all..

Has anybody flown the sukhoi yet? Thinking about getting one.

I have the 58" version and I had the MDS 68 on it, that got replaced later by the Saito 91 and I was happy. Keep it light and that engine should be fine.

good luck

Matt

Does anyone have a Saito 100 in the 66" Extra?. I was planning on putting a Saito 120 in it but after doing some research on this site I don't think it will work.. The 1.20 apparently weighs 12 ounces more then the 100 and only puts out .3 hp more according to threads on here.. This is not a good choice... I have seen the Saito 100 haul the Funtana .90 around with plenty of thrust to pull out of a hoover.. The Funtana weighs around 8 pounds.. Trying to find an engine for this and to stay away from YS....

I have been flying one for about a year with an OS 91 4 stroke and would buy another if something happens to this one.

thanks Sarge.

I flew my 66 inch extra with both a Magnum and Thunder Tiger 91 4 stroke on it. Both engines flew the plane nicely with good vertical. The TT engine is much stronger than the Magnum and will pull the same prop at the same RPM as a Saito 100. It weights about 2.5 oz more than the saito. I was able to balance the plane without adding any additional weight to it with the TT engine. A saito 100 will pull this plane really good with unlimited vertical performance. It will be a nice match.

Rick