sowega flyer

Finally got this thing off the ground! I was waiting for better weather, but I had to take what I could get, so with an overcast sky and 5-10 mph shifting winds and 40 degrees- I turned this Magic Extra 300L to the sky. I sure am glad too, I love this plane! I'm using a GMS .47 with a Mac's muffler for power and a 12.25x3.75 APC prop. This plane jumps off the ground and climbs straight up! Landing it is so much fun, that mostly touch and go's are all I did. Picture quality isn't that great- I had to enhance them because they came out dark...

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

It is a nice flying airplane isn't it?!
I had a TT .46 w/ a Tower muffler on mine, and a 12x4 APC...flew it so much that the covering wouldn't stay on anymore and I had to retire it after about 400 flights

BTW...that's one thing you might want to keep a close eye on...the covering material is some strange sort of polyester film (that's what I was told...AKA "China coat"? ) that is difficult to iron back down if it starts to peel...

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

sowega flyer,

I had one a while back with an OS 50SX running an APC 12X4 prop. Nice flying plane. There is a weak spot in the fuse where there isn't much wood about a couple inches aft of the LE of the wing. Watch those hard landings.

sowega flyer

Proptop-
I just got back from flying it some more- you're right, it is a nice flying plane! I got a chance to put it through some more paces today and even flipped the dual rates to high. We had about a 10mph steady breeze coming straight down the runway and watching this plane stand still 5 feet off the ground was cool- then flip the throttle all the way up and pull the elevator and it takes off straight up. Very cool airplane. I guess they changed the covering on them, because mine is covered in monokote- real nice covering too, btw- I will take your advice though and keep an eye on it.
Do you plan on getting another one? I'm thinking I'll keep one of these around...
Jason

sowega flyer

Zippi-
Thats what scared me about this plane- I noticed that when I was assembling it and I'm not the best at landing. One of the things I like about this plane after flying it though is how great it lands...nice and easy, even better than my trainer!
The top hatch broke on mine before I even got to fly it- I had to put the 6 volt battery on top of the fuel tank to get it to balance so I put a zip tie all the way around the fuselage to make sure the battery stays on board the plane during flight.
One thing is for sure- you have to be careful about how you pick up this plane, it is built very light.

I bet yours was a rocket with that 50 on it!

Jason

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

When I built mine, I brushed several coats of Titebond glue all along the inside of the fuse. and in/on as many stress locations as possable with a plastic modelling paint brush. I stressed the heck out of it and never had a structural problem, but I always kept in mind the fuselages small cross sectional area just above the high point of the airloil, and the landing gear area.

I have thought several times of getting another...but right now, I have found the H-9 Tribute 4D 36 profile job to be pretty darn close

The Magic Extra is a great "Fun Fly" type airplane and extremely capable [sm=thumbup.gif]

FWIW, I ran the 12.25 X 3.75 prop on my TT .46 for quite a while, but just as an experiment tried the APC 12 X 4 and liked the throttle response (quicker ) much better. It doesn't have the raw pull of the 12.25 x 3.75, but IMO, the better throttle response makes up for that.

Knowing now that they're covered w/ MonoKote, looks like I gotta re-consider getting another one! Thanks for that info [sm=cool.gif]

sowega flyer

proptop-
That is a good idea about brushing the glue on around the stress points- I will do that when I get the chance. As I stated earlier in this thread, I'm not the best at landing-so that will be a must-do on my priority list!
Jason

Flying Scotsman 70

The glue alone will have very little structural strength. The best thing would be to glue carbon fibre strips to the area you want to reinforce or some ply wood strips. This be much stronger than just adding glue to the area.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

O.K. you might be right, but when the existing glue joints are virtually dry (at least mine were ) because the person assembling it (wherever it's made) doesn't use enough glue...the "extra" glue isn't really extra.

My way of looking at it was to put it together as inexpensively as possable and just have a cheap, throw around/throw away airplane...cheap airplane, cheap (inexpensive) engine...TT .46 = 80 bucks and 14 dollar servos...(I more than got my money's worth out of it )

I flew the snot out of mine for a few years, until it got to the point where I had to repair the covering after each time I flew it
and I just got tired of fixing it[:'(]

tnarg78

Hi all you magic extra fans,
I have just flown mine for the first time on the weekend I love it for the price. I'm running an OS AX.46 with 11x6 APC prop only because i have no other suitable props at the moment. I would like to know if the props you guys are using are wide blade props, I have to order a prop in at my local hobby shop as they do not stock much in the way of 3D props for the smaller engine, any help on the right size one would be great.

sowega flyer

tnarg78- I'm using an APC sport prop- 12.25x3.75, and a 2 oz hub nut to hold it on. Performance with that prop is excellent.
Proptop said he likes a 12x4 APC, I haven't tried that one, but you can read what he said about it in the above posts
Congrats on your new Magic Extra! I hope you have as much fun with yours as I do with mine!
Jason

tnarg78

Thanks Jason
I think i will order both in, After all it doesn't hurt to have too many spares.

Jesus is my Co-Pilot

tnarg78- How is the covering on your Magic Extra? Is it the cheap polyester stuff that all the reviews warn us about(prone to peeling and bubbling)? Or is it it higher quality covering like monokote or ultracote? Where did you order yours from and how long ago did you order it?

sowega flyer- How has the covering held up on your plane? Any bubbling or peeling? Where did you get it from and how long ago did you order it?

I've been eyeing this ARF for a long time now, but all of the reviews I've read complain about the covering. I'm basically looking for an ARF that will fly similar to a Sig Somethin' Extra, but can hover on a .46 with a change of props - I may be asking too much

I'm not a big fan of the usual "floaty" 3D planes, so I was wondering how well this kit performs standard aerobatic maneuvers(loops, rolls, snap rolls, knife edge, spins, inverted flight, etc.)? If you switch to a "faster" prop will it perform the standard maneuvers better? Sorry about all the questions, there's not a lot of info available on this kit. Thanks!

sowega flyer

Jesus is my co-pilot,
I bought mine from Tower sometime last november and it sat in a closet until the last week of jan.. I put it together and flew it for the first time in the first week of feb., and I fly it all the time now. As a matter of fact, I've only flown my extra 300s twice since putting this plane in the air- same goes with my yak. I estimate I have about 30 flights on it, possibly a little less. The one that I have is covered with Monokote and still looks as good today as the day I unpacked it from the box. I believe that they are all covered with Monokote now.

I'll post some pics in a little while-


As far as the performance, I couldn't be happier with it. It does all of the basic aerobatic manuvers very well, and it will fly inverted very well also with little if any "down" pressure on the stick. It will also fly at WOT without any flutter of the control surfaces. (which isn't very fast, considering the prop pitch is only 3.75)

The only complaint I have with it is balancing. It is hard to obtain the proper CG with the way this plane is set up. I had to put a 6 volt batt. on top of the fuel tank, and add a 2 oz. prop nut and it was still leaning towards the tail. Because of that, I haven't even tried to play with the CG location- but I'm happy with the way it flies, so thats no big deal.

Let me know if you have any more questions and I will be glad to try and answer them

Jason