Well I am a newbie to R/C Planes Always raced cars before.
Wife bought me 300 extra with a magnum XLS .36
I know I should start with a trainer.......BUT
If i was to try this thing do you have any tips?
thanks
beginer

That's a tall order, beginer. The basic flying skills can be developed on a trainer, or a flight simulator program, for example. Those basic skills are required, with some degree of proficiency, to fly the more agile aerobatic planes like that Extra.

A good suggestion would be to get an RC flight simulator, with a transmitter - type controller. That would help with the basic skills. Another approach would be to get a training plane, or locate someone who has one, and would agree to train you.

I think the consensus of suggestions will be that your Extra is best left for a second or third plane.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

In one Word DON'T

It would 150% better to get a trainer.

VERY VERY few people can fly for the first time with themselves with a Reular doctile trainer.

You would have to worry about elavator in turns and all kinda stuff. get a good trainer like the Hobbico Avistar are superstar. I love my Avistar, its also pretty aerobatic.

Good advice so far... here's more of the same

1 Get a trainer-type plane.

2 Find the local club, they will train you for free. It sure beats bringing your plane home in pieces.

Beginer, Minnflyer makes a good point. I should have elaborated in my earlier post: When I'm training a student, one of my ultimate objectives is to make it likely that the student's training plane will last far beyond the training period.

I developed that objective after seeing too many folks (myself included) damage their first plane repeatedly, and lose interest. It is very easy to damage that first plane, but it is just as easy to make it last a long time - by choosing to use an instructor.

That first plane, for most of us, is nothing so agile and aerobatic as your Extra. That agility, that aerobatic capability, translates into instability - which is of no help to the student. That's why we all recommend a less agile plane for the first experience. Even if you get familiar with the sticks on an RC flight simulator, it's a good idea to choose a less agile plane for your first field experience. Sometimes, you can even get an instructor to provide one.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

That plane isnt even a well maybe you can get away with learning on it. Its more of a 3rd plane. Go with something like the Avistar then you can move to a Stick or maybe even the something extra before trying to fly your extra. (Is your extra the modeltech .25 size)

If you insist on trying it by yourself (NOT recommended) I have a few tips:
Option A:

1. Go to a club and get one of the members to test fly it to trim it out first. This will remove all doubt about the airworthiness of the plane, and eliminate all excuses about mechanical issues when you tell your friends about the crash.
2. Find a friend with a video camera to videotape the flight and spectacular crash that will soon follow.
3. Wear a hardhat.
4. Go out to the desert, miles from any buildings or people. These planes can easily kill someone.

Where in California are you? If you live in or near San Diego I can recommend a club close to you. If you're near my club I'll do the test flight for you.

Your wifes heart was in the right place, and that Extra is a fine plane, but if you try and fly that by yourself you'll certainly lose it on the first flight.

Option B:

Find an experienced pilot with a buddy box to take you up a few times and see if you get the hang of it right away. If there is anybody out there that has learned how to fly with an Extra 300, I've never met him, but maybe you are that one-in-a-million that can prove us all wrong. (I really doubt it).

I started out just like you. I took my .20 size Cub to the local club and the members took me under their wing. They test flew my plane for me, let me have the sticks for a few minutes, then explained that there was basically no way I could learn on this plane. I swallowed my pride and bought a proper trainer. Your Extra, in the hands of a beginner, is MUCH harder to fly than a Cub.

Do we dare mention the duraplane incident?

OK Mike, that's not fair.

The truncated version of the "Duraplane Incident" is as follows:

The members of the club cinvinced me to go get a proper trainer. They told me to go get the Wright Flyer .40 from the local shop, which happened to be on sale at the time. Of course, being a rookie (and WAY smarter them them) I surfed the net and found this Duraplane trainer, which claimed to be a great trainer, as well as durable. (IMHO please don't fall for that load of crap. It was definately durable, but flys just slightly better than a brick).

I bought it, built it, and took it to work to show the guys. They talked me into showing them that I could start it, then they wanted me to taxi it around the parking lot a bit. With that out of the way, one guy (Fred) urged me to "see if you can get the wheels off the ground . . . just an inch or two"

I lined up at one end of the lot and gave it some throttle. . . . . .going . . . . .going . . .full throttle. . . faster . .faster . .but is wasn't lifting off like I expected. I figured I must need to give it some elevator, so my rookie thumb yanked full up elevator.

The next five seconds seemed to last 5 miuntes. My beautiful new plane LEAPED into the air. My vision narrowed, and all I could see was a spot of orange (the Duraplane) surrounded by Lexus, Mercedes, Jaguar (my bosses NEW Jag) Porsche, Cadillac, BMW. . . .then a glass fronted building appeared . . . WHAM!!!!

The plane hit at an angle. Thankfully it wasn't trimmed out and hit at such an angle that the wing tip, propeller, and main gear all contacted simultaniously. I saw the window bow inward, and the plane slid down the side of the building like Wile E. Coyote sliding in slow motion down the side of a cliff.

That was about all it took to convince me that I wasn't nearly as talented or qualified as I thought. I joined the club, learned the proper way, and now I get to teach newbies the right way.

Beginner: take our advice and do it right. It'll be cheaper, and you'll enjoy t more.