canopy2k

My Feedback: (1)

Well, this is somewhat of an update to a long ago thread about the GP Extra Kit. I posted once or twice in there, and my project is finally complete! I took it out for the maiden yesterday.. and I didnt crash. Although I came darn close. Just some info.. I got a Big Stik .40 last Christmas. Ive been flying it pretty well for a few months. I have about 2 gallons of fuel through it. Decided I wanted something else, so I built the Extra. Ive never flown a low wing, or a tail dragger before, so I figured it could get interesting. Since I was pretty comfortable with my Stik, I converted it to a tail dragger. Put a few flights on it. Wow, what a difference. (if you have a stik, make it a tail dragger, you wont believe the difference. I can actually hold knife edge for as long as I want now, the rolls are amazing, and its alot faster. dont think Ill ever go back to a trike) So anyway, The last 2 flights on the Stik, the engine was not running too well. Surging, sputtering, etc. In fact, the last time I went to take off, just as I pulled up on the stick, the motor died. Never even got off the ground. Well, I figured, Ill booger with it later. Lets get the Extra out. There was no one at the field, save my wife. I got it running, held it vertical, she ran the throttle up, everything seemed good. Holy crap was I nervous. My first maiden, on my first kit build, on my first low wing. How many firsts is that? Well, gets better. I taxied onto the runway, made a few passes back and forth, then the motor quit. Well, it's a brand new engine (OS 46AX) so I figured it just was running a little rich or something. Brought it back to the pits, get it running good. Or so I thought. Taxied out, rolled up to speed, and off into the air. Flew like a dream. got up high and let go of the sticks. Flew straight and level. Didnt even need 1 click of trim. Made 2 ascending circles to about 3 mistakes high. Thought, lets find out the low speed characteristics of this baby. Lowered the throttle to about 20% and..... dead stick. Oh boy. Ive never landed an aerobatic low wing, or a low wing for that matter, and i dont have a clue how this baby stalls, not to mention the fact that I have NEVER landed a dead stick either. S#$*^T. I was up pretty high, so I started losing altitude and turned towards the runway. With the wind, which was blowing about 8-10mph. She was really moving. got low enough to touch down about 1/2 way down the runway. My thumbs were shaking. Ive never been so nervous in my life. First touch down was a little hard, bounced about 3 feet, slowed her down a bit with up elevator and brought her down about 30 yards from the end of the runway. Our runway is asphalt, with rocky/dirt runoffs at either end. I got the tail down, a hint of up elevator, and kept it down. Let her go straight out into the field. Set the TX down, shaking like a leaf and made the walk. There is a slight dip at the runway end, so I couldnt see what happened to her. Well, to my relief, she is fine. A smal scratch on one wheel pant where it hit a small rock, but that was it. Wow, what a feeling. I was just totally deflated. So lets recap, my first maiden flight, my first maiden flight of this airplane, on my first kit build, on my first covering job, on my first tail-dragger on my first aerobat, on my first low wing, with my first dead-stick. That was enough for the day. I was drained. Cleaned up, put everything away, and went home. Got to thinking. Why did it deadstick? Why did my otherwise perfect engine on my Stik die? What was going on? Went and bought new plugs for both motors, gassed them up on the bench, and they were even worse than the day before. Starting thinking, what is the same about both engines. Then it came to me. The fuel I was using had been open for about 2 months. Was the last 1/4 gallon or so of some 10% I had bought in January. I went and looked at the bottle good, and you know what, there was all kinds of water droplets all over the inside of the jug. I went and bought a new jug, and started over. Now both motors run flawlessly. I guess the bottle wasnt sealed well, and sucked up water, or the meth evaporated out. I dont know, but that jug is bye-bye. Almost cost me my first build. Sorry for the novel, but I just wanted to tell my story. The moral is, if things arent going well, quit, figure out what the problem is, and come back tomorrow. Theres always another day! Heres a few pics of the Extra. Beatiful plane, I think.

WMB

My Feedback: (1)

Great story, let us know how you like it when you get used to it.

canopy2k

My Feedback: (1)

UPDATE! I got to fly it for real today. Went great. But man, this week Ive been really off. Took my Stik with me, and put a couple of flights on it to warm up. Like an idiot, i took off, got a little ways out, and she was REALLY twitchy. I thought whats the deal. Looked down at the TX to see if I had dual rates on or what, thats when I noticed the TX antenna was not extended. OOPS! Quickly yanked it out. Never fully lost control. Thank god. My wife taking video. Got a screen cap below. Unfortunately, the battery died before I flew the Extra. But anyways, got the Extra up, man, what a dream. It flies soo good. Im really proud of myself! I know theres way more that it can do, but I kept it low key. Probably will for the next lot of flights. If youre thinking of getting one of these, you cant go wrong!
Brice

dabigboy

Congrats canopy, yeah the .40 Extra is a great kit. This was my third complete kit and first "real" plane built from a kit (previous two were a Grasshopper and a Gentle Lady, pretty simple planes). I built it several years ago and actually only got 6 flights on it before we moved. Then college and flying field difficulties got in the way of R/C and I haven't flown it since. From what little experience I got with it, I was very impressed. At the time I had only recently become competent with a Tiger 2, now that I'm a little more skilled and confident I can't wait to try the Extra again. It needs some stuff, sometime I'm going to order a new engine and accessories for it, recover it, and fly it again. I was surprised at how well it handled on the ground compared to my GP Cub! The Cub seems to be a good tail dragger trainer, it exemplifies many of the iodiosyncracies of convetional gear planes.

Is the plane pretty fast with the .46? Ijust ran a .48 4-stroke in mine and it was rather quick (of course I was used to the Tiger). I'm probably gonna go with the 2-stroke Magnum .52 now, the plane should really scoot.

-Matt Bailey

canopy2k

My Feedback: (1)

Its a pretty quick little plane. To be honest with you, I havent really pushed it yet. Ive only flown it 4 times, and Ive never gone over 3/4 throttle. I does snap awesome though. I had a little speed coming down, and just kicked it. Holy crap, it was like a blur. My AUW came out about 7.5lbs. Which is consiberably heavier than the 5.75 advertised. I dont know how i added nearly 2lbs of weight to it?? I used everything that came with the kit, futaba s3151 digital servos(4) and covered it like you see. Basically the same as the scheme on the box, only different colors. I used 1/8 bottle of 30min epoxy, and less than 1/2 of both thick and thin ca. That definately doesnt add up to 2 lbs. Are they weighing it without the engine or what? Any body have any ideas where the heck the extra 2lbs came from?
Brice