My brother in law just gave me a complete Byron 1.20 size Extra 300 kit. He bought it at an auction about 5 years ago when he thought he was going to start flying and never got into the hobby. He is selling off his stuff but knew I liked this kit and gave it to me just after xmas, just made me promise he'll get to see it fly.

Thankfully it's 100% complete minus a few balsa parts that I just ordered (sheeting, a 9" block, etc). Everything unique to the kit is there (wing mounting hardware, foam cores, sealed hardware bags).

It's about 70" I'm guessing, there are no specs in the paperwork. Fuselage and vertical stab are a single molded fiberglass unit, wings and horiz stab are foam core, also fiberglass cowl and pants.

One other thing that was missing was the canopy, however I took some measurements and found one of similar size on Tower so ordered it.

I'll have pics of it up shortly. If anyone has any info about this kit please share, I google'd "byron extra 300" and next to nothing came up. I know it's pretty old and out of production. I am looking forward to building it up and flying it. Thinking of the new Saito 1.20 gasser for power.

Thoughts?

I'll keep this updated as I build it. Target for completion is the week of 4/16, with a hopefully maiden flight 4/18. The 16th is my birthday so I figure this will be a nice gift....

Pictures of the kit....

Good score!!!! Never built one and it's very rare to even see a Byron plane at a field these days. Good luck with it.

Iron Bay Models took over the Byron line. Just an FYI.

Yeah I read that, I don't see the extra 300s on their web site. One of the articles I found when I google'd byron originals was a court case between Iron Bay and Byron. There were no details, the page was a bad link when I clicked on it.

Work has officially begun.....

Got the canopy from Tower, it was a bit big but I cut it down and it will definitely work. Also started the wings, made and installed the wing spars and got the skins all glued together and rough cut....

Huminski,

I see you have a great brother like I do. My brother gave me a late Christmas present on Saturday, A Hangar 9 Miss America... woo hoo.

Thats going to be an awesome plane when you are done. Keep up the good work. Regarding your motor choice, I've seen one of the new Saito FG20's. Its based on the Saito 125 and I really don't think it will be enough motor for an aerobatic plane like your Extra. IMHO a better choice would be the Saito FG35 which is based on the Saito 220. That motor should be powerfull enough to give the plane awesome performance....

Keep the awesome pictures coming.

Got the wings skinned today, tomorrow I'll sand the edges down flush with the cores and attach the tips, leading edges, trailing edges and root plates.

Regarding the motor, I just liked the idea of having a 1.25 size gasser. I might throw an OS 1.20 2 stroke in it. Still don't have my mind made up. The kit calls for a .90 to 1.20 four stroke so I was thinking the 1.25 gasser would be a good fit, Saito said it would be about 5% less power than the 1.25 glow motor which would be plenty (I think). This isn't a 3D plane, it's scale, with scale size control surfaces. More like a pattern plane.

Nice work huminski, just a suggestion: these older kits tend to build a little heavier than current stuff. I would go with the best power-to-weight ratio engine I could. The OS 120 AX is hard to beat for that.

OK here's some more progress. Wings are now completely done except for servo cutouts. Also got the horizontal stabilizer done as well. Next up is the rudder (it's "scratch built" from templates) and then I move on to fiberglass work installing formers and the firewall in the fuse, which will be a first for me. So far so good, it's been about 8 years since I built anything except an ARF but it's like riding a bike, only this time I've got more goodies like a band saw and a belt sander. Also included a photo of my faithful little shop helper....

Got the stabilizer aligned and glassed into the fuse tonight. Was waaaaay easier that I thought it would be. Just wet down the surface and placed the glass down with a pair of needle nose pliers, then brushed it down till it was saturated. Did top and bottom, it was tough to take pictures.

Huminski
Great project. I have a short kit for an Eagle that has a FG fuse that measures 46" and I'm trying to figure out the scale. I don't know who built it and it's a little imposing even for me, an experienced builder, because I have no plans just foam wing cores and some control surface tracings. It does have the cowl, belly pan, wing tube, canopy and all the critical stuff. I picked it up some time ago (pre ARF days) from a fellow north of Prescott. I think someone was building these in AZ. Anyway I'd like to match it up with a Pitts or an Eagle in the right size so I can maybe get an ideas or two on how to finish it.

Could you please give me the measurement for your fuselage from the glass firewall to the rudder hinge line? A PM would be ok if you don't want to clutter your fine thread.

Dave

AV8DJC, Fuse from the firewall to the rudder post is 39.75".



No new big progress on the plane, the workbench is overrun with other crap. Gotta get it straightened up before I get going again. Hopefully this weekend or next.

I did manage to get the rudder built, came out good. I'll have some pics when I get some more work done. Want to add a couple more pieces of glass on the tail inside the fuse and then install the rudder hinge post next.

I hope I'm just blind, but I'm not seeing any wire anywhere for your aileron servos. I hope you will tell me I'm blind....................won't hurt my feelings at all as my wife tells me that all the time! nice work so-far, Sugarfox

You're not blind.... The cutouts still need to be made in the wing panel for the servos.

If you haven't noticed yet you will find the wing / fuselage joining to lack. The couple threads you get will soon wear out, and the wings will not want to stay in place. I had to drill and tap into the wing mounts to resolve it.

Well after a number of weeks of inactivity, Iam back in business on the Extra build.

Been chipping away at it about an hour or 2 a night for the last couple days. Got the rudder completely done including the counterbalance which was carved from a solid block. Also have the rudder post for the fuse ready to go in, but need to first fiberglass in the tail wheel backing block since Iwill lose access to that area once the rudder post is installed. Iused thicker stock than they called for on the leading edge of the rudder so Icould have a steeper bevel and therefore more throw, Ilike a ton of rudder. Went up from 1/4" to 5/8" on that. It's the first mod I've made, however minimal.

Also picked out an engine. My local shop, sadly, is shutting it's doors, everything was 50% off. Of the four engines he had left, one of them was the ST2300, which was on my short list. Got it for $70 brandnew with muffler. Can't beat that. I'm aware of it's quirks and I've had a ST4500 in the past, along with numerous other ST's .90 and smaller, so I'm confident I can have it running fine. Plus, I mocked it up quickly and it seems to fit entirely in the cowl, including muffler, without requiring any cutouts. Huge plus.

Also picked up a sweet tru-turn spinner for about $10, kevlar pull-pull's, and a bunch of other hardware. Only thing still remaining to buy are the servos and battery. Probably going to do Hitec 5475's on all surfaces, with a 5645 on the rudder and a mini digital on the throttle. I am also considering a smoke system, however Iwant to see how the plane balances first. If Ineed nose weight I'll add a smoke pump, tank and battery so at least the ballast will be functional.

Mocked the plane up with the completed rudder and elevators. Looks nice. Measured the wing at 64" tip to tip, and the length overall is 53" from the nose of the cowl to the tip of the rudder. About 56" including spinner.

I'll post up some more pics when I take them. I think Iam going to get to the tailwheel block and rudder post tonight, and maybe start glassing in formers in the forward part of the fuse.

Also been thinking about covering / finishing. Ithink for the sake of color matching, Imight cover all of the balsa surfaces white with ultrakote, as well as paint the fuselage and cowl white, then paint on the trim on both the fuse and the ultrakote surfaces. I've had good luck with this in the past as long as the ultrakote is scuffed up slightly before painting.

Ihad my doubts about this system. Ithink it's made so that youthread a bolt down onto the top of the aluminum bar, right? Iwas thinking of drilling clean through the bar and the 'socket' from the front and then using a blind nut epoxied into a hardwood block on the back side to hold it together. Probably use a nylon thumbscrew type of setup for ease of assembly. Still have to think about it, will be able to get a better idea of my options once Ihave the formers in the fuselage.

I used a YS-120 in mine with a Grupner 3 Blade 10x7 Prop. Had a great time with that plane. I also had a smoke system. Finialy ended up giving it to a friend
when I moved, was just too much work to pack 5 built planes and transport across country.
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Huminski, <div>Is Seaport still open, or did he close for good already? I need some fuel and props.</div>

He was still open last weekend. Still had some props, I think all the fuel was gone but maybe not. He was planning on closing up for good by the end of the month. Best bet is to call first Iguess. Ilive 2 minutes from him so Ican drive by on the way home after work and check, and post back.

Here's what I got done yesterday, got the formers tacked in place and mounted the wings properly. Epoxied the aluminum channel sockets onto the formers while closely monitoring levels on the fuselage and the incidence meter on the wing. Everything is absolutely freaking perfect. Took my time since there's no going back once these are glued in place.

Tonight I'll glass them in completely and if there's time I'll move on to the landing gear block and F1 / firewall formers. So far so good.

Unfortunately I got a little over zealous sanding the rudder counterbalance block and I might just cut it off and start over. I over sanded it, so I then sheeted over it to add a little thickness back, but it's becoming a bit of a mess. Will have to look at it again tonight.

Here are some more pics from yesterday.

Here's what it looks like with the control surfaces, cowl and canopy taped in place.....

Ordered up the electronics today.

Went with a 6.0V 2000mah rx pack, six Hitec 5485HB digital servos, and using a standard JR 7 ch FM reciever I already have.

Got the wing roots glued on and sanded. The wing roots themselves were not a perfect match to the fiberglass fuselage, about a 3/32 gap in some places, so what I did was make sure that the ply root cover was flush against the fuse, then attached the wing to the fuse while the epoxy cured. So now I have a perfect wing to fuse joint on both sides and just have some very small gaps to fill between the ply wing root cover and the wing itself.

It finally stopped raining here for a couple days (raining for weeks straight it seems) so actually went out flying the last few days after work, so not much headway was made on the Byron lately, basically just the wing mounts / formers and the ply root covers. Now that I have the servos and rx pack I think that is 100% of what I need to complete the plane, other than labor....