Build: GP 27% Extra 330S. Newbies to Gas!

[madmax]

Heya Crew,

Within the past few days, we were presented the opprotunity to get our hands on a brand spankin' new Great Planes 27% Extra 330S for the FlyingGiants Product Perspectives. We're pretty excited about this little 3D beast, and figured a build thread would be in order to bring this to you in realtime. We're also gonna try something a bit different here...

As many of you know, my good friend Heydick is an electriphile. I'm a giant scale guy, and love dabbling with the foam. Brett has aspirations of joining the club, and has heard that the transition is accompanied with a very steep learning curve. Brett is like many of you out there in internetland who may share the same interest, and we thought this would be pretty cool to take a newbie through the move from electric and glow, to giant scale. The 27% GP 330 looks to be the ultimate test case.

So let's give this a whirl! Throughout this thread, I will be working side by side with boy wonder from crate to the flightline, and walking him through the process and ins and outs of gassers. As many of you reading know, it is waaaaay different!

For those of you out there watching, please pop in and ask questions. This thread is dedicated to newbies getting into giant scale.

We're targeting a maiden flight date of 2 weeks from today, and this plane will be built to exacting manufacturer specifications, including hardware from GP and Hobbico.

[madmax]

A build thread is not complete without crackin' open the box! The Extra came very nicely packaged with all of the components tightly tucked away, seemingly UPS guy proof. All of the surfaces made it without so much as a ding in any sheeting. Everything was nicely wrapped in plastic and nothing was floating loose in the box.

The first impression - VERY nice. The colors on the Extra are incredibly brite, and the Monokote covering job is flawless. Looking closely at the covering reveals some very intricate techniques from the manufacturer. First impressions are very positive. All of the control surfaces are pre-drilled for Robart hinge points... YES!.. drilling surfaces sucked when I was a newbie, and this was a breath of fresh air. The kit includes a bunch of hardware including landing gear, wheels, struts, tank, hardware to mount a gas and glow engine, and a very well documented and concise user manual to help you through the build steps.

Below are some shots from the day of the opening, and the kit. This is looking to be the perfect entry level plane for the gasser newbie, as well as a 3D machine for the giant scale guy who's looking for something new..

We're still waiting for the brown truck to drop off the engine and electronics.

More to come.

[madmax]

Typical weekend in our neck of the woods. Building time with friends is a something I always look forward to - this is our usual weekend gig. The electrics are now off the table, and it's time to get this baby together. Brett's gonna take it from here for a few posts.

[sun.flyer]

How sweet is this. I have one of these beauties on the table myself. I went with the Fuji 43 as recommended by GP and I'm looking foward to getting this one in the air.

This should be a nice reference thread to follow. Thanks Max!!

Brett pm coming your way.

Tim

[Uncle Brett]

Hey gang,
I started buidling the GP Extra yesterday (Sunday) and didn't know Max had already started this thread. I was having such a good time building that I didn't check FG once all day LOL. Anyway, the airframe is built! That's right, I finished the main airframe in one day and it's ready for the electronics and powerplant. I'm just about ready to leave for work so I don't have time to post any photos now, but I'll post them and my comments when I get home tonight. See you then.
Dick

[LawnJockey]

I have the GP Cap 27% and a BME 44 to go in it. Should be a great performing plane. One question on the extra. Is it the Patty Wagstaff airframe just recovered and repackaged?

LJ

[showoff]

This is great! I am in this exact transition from electric to a gas 27%er and very excited about giant scale. Electrics are great but something about the gas powered giant scales are even more addicting.

Funny thing with this hobby they started small and keep getting bigger and bigger!

Look forward to the build pictures and set up.

[TheTank]

	Quote: Originally Posted by LawnJockey
	Is it the Patty Wagstaff airframe just recovered and repackaged? LJ

I hope not.

[Unbalanced]

	Quote: Originally Posted by madmax
	We're still waiting for the brown truck to drop off the engine and electronics.

Which are going to be what?

I have the GP Ultimate and CAP 232 from the "Performance Series". Both are .

[G_Rod22x]

It's not. No worries.

[Unbalanced]

	Quote: Originally Posted by madmax
	and this plane will be built to exacting manufacturer specifications, including hardware from GP and Hobbico.

Including max engine size of 43cc? Come on, you know this needs a 50.

[madmax]

Jocky, negative. My first giant scale plane was a GP Wagstaff. This is an entirely different plane. The Wagstaff I believe was qualified more as a sport flyer, this is definitely a 3D plane.

UB- the plane will definitely accomodate a 50cc, however we're going by exact manufacturer specs on this build. Size and weight considered, the 43 should pull the snot out of this bird.

Thanks for the interest fellas! We'll have this kicked off in full gear in the coming week.