Extremeflight Extra 300 EXP 48"

[MIT KID]

Weather was crappy, so I made a helmet guy for mine today. It's a foam craft egg, with the tip cut off at an angle. Then the tip becomes the bust. Hollowed out the head and got it down to 8 grams with paint.

-Adam

[hpapilot]

Nice!! The helmet head looks really cool.

[xtraflyr]

Very cool..I like it alot !!

[MIT KID]

Thanks, it was really simple too. One cut, no sanding/carving, and a little paint. I used a 73x96 mm egg from Joanne's, I think it was $3.50 for a two pack.

-Adam

[danielph]

That's one sweet pilot! I need to do that now that I saw it. I have a pilot bust, but it's kinda' heavy. 8g is great though!

[danielph]

Just got my replacement EXP done, so if the weather's good, I'll hopefully fly it in the morning. Lord willing, everything will go well. I have another AR 6200 in it, so hopefully it'll work well.

[MIT KID]

	Quote: Originally Posted by danielph
	That's one sweet pilot! I need to do that now that I saw it. I have a pilot bust, but it's kinda' heavy. 8g is great though!

One thing to reduce the frustration level for anybody that wants to try this. The lighter foam eggs are made out of that kind of craggy craft foam you make wreaths and stuff out of. Paint on it tends to bleed a bit, so I did the outline of the visor with a black sharpie, and kind of crushed the foam along the way with the tip. This makes a little moat that you can paint inside that's less likely to bleed through.

-Adam

[xtraflyr]

	Quote: Originally Posted by danielph
	Just got my replacement EXP done, so if the weather's good, I'll hopefully fly it in the morning. Lord willing, everything will go well. I have another AR 6200 in it, so hopefully it'll work well.

Hey Daniel,
I forgot..what happened to your first one, lockout ? Are you using the Airboss 45? I remember that BOSSIER_ROB had the wrong ESC and his was always locking out... I know Chris sent him the new one and I haven't heard from him since,so maybe he's a happy camper now...

[STLAV8R]

	Quote: Originally Posted by xtraflyr
	Hey Daniel, I forgot..what happened to your first one, lockout ? Are you using the Airboss 45? I remember that BOSSIER_ROB had the wrong ESC and his was always locking out... I know Chris sent him the new one and I haven't heard from him since,so maybe he's a happy camper now...

He was waiting on a rudder servo to fly his.

[Low_N_Slow]

A few pics from yesterday

[JVDO]

Nice pilot!

[Bill45]

I just finished one a week ago. It was my second plane and the first one I put together.

It was pretty impressive on the first flight. Almost perfectly trimmed from the start. On the second flight, an aileron came off and it plowed in. It was pretty far out and I lost it behind trees while trying to recover. Needless to say, I'm pretty disappointed. I thought the plane was easy to put together, but I can't figure out why the hinges broke. Actually, two broke, and two pulled out with balsa still on them. I don't know how I could have screwed up gluing the hinges in. I centered them and glued according to the instructions.

I'm wondering if the set screw on the easy connector became loose and let it flutter. When I removed the carbon rod from the connector, it was loose but I didn't know if that might be from the crash. The instructions didn't say to use loc-tite on the set screw. I tightened like the instructions said so I don't know what the cause of the looseness was. Al my other ones were tight. If I built another one, I might use another kind of set up. I can't tell if the motor is ok or not. If it and the speed controller are broken, I might fly the other plane I have until it gives in and move on to another hobby. I know this stuff happens, but I'm pretty meticulous. If I missed something in the build, I can't figure out what it is. Do these things need more robust hinges? I was flying on low rates but pretty fast. The GPS in it read 80mph. I was in a 45 degree dive at half power when the aileron flew off.

I noticed some people have had problems with the Airboss 45 and losing power to the receiver. My Airboss 45 came with a bad switch connection, which I noticed when setting up the radio. The system would power up, but unexpectedly go dead. The guy who gave me the plane I'm currently flying soldered the connection on the switch which fixed the problem. Maybe that's behind some of the problems other people have had.

[danielph]

	Quote: Originally Posted by xtraflyr
	Hey Daniel, I forgot..what happened to your first one, lockout ? Are you using the Airboss 45? I remember that BOSSIER_ROB had the wrong ESC and his was always locking out... I know Chris sent him the new one and I haven't heard from him since,so maybe he's a happy camper now...

Yes, the first one had a receiver lockout and spun in. It was beyond repair and it takes a lot for me to say that.
I just went out today with my new one and flew it for 3 minutes, then hovered and caught it. I launched it again, flew for about 1 1/2 minutes or so, then in an inverted harrier, the receiver locked out again. The plane went in and cartwheeled. It survived for the most part, but the fuse needs some work. Both my elevator and rudder servos are toast, and so is the battery. I'm pretty sick about it all, and don't know exactly what's happening. I have an AR 6200 in it, and it's the same one that I've had in my foamy for 73 flawless flights. The ESC is the Airboss 45A. it's the one that Chris sent me with the plane. I don't know if it was a failure with the BEC or what. I'll do some testing, but I'm pretty baffled. This plane is just amazing and I want to wring it out, but so far, 2 flights - 2 failures and crashes.
Such is life. I am in no way blaming anyone, just don't know what's going on.

[hpapilot]

Daniel, is it the same ESC and the same receiver that were in your first plane?

[3D-Seth]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Bill45
	I just finished one a week ago. It was my second plane and the first one I put together. It was pretty impressive on the first flight. Almost perfectly trimmed from the start. On the second flight, an aileron came off and it plowed in. It was pretty far out and I lost it behind trees while trying to recover. Needless to say, I'm pretty disappointed. I thought the plane was easy to put together, but I can't figure out why the hinges broke. Actually, two broke, and two pulled out with balsa still on them. I don't know how I could have screwed up gluing the hinges in. I centered them and glued according to the instructions. I'm wondering if the set screw on the easy connector became loose and let it flutter. When I removed the carbon rod from the connector, it was loose but I didn't know if that might be from the crash. The instructions didn't say to use loc-tite on the set screw. I tightened like the instructions said so I don't know what the cause of the looseness was. Al my other ones were tight. If I built another one, I might use another kind of set up. I can't tell if the motor is ok or not. If it and the speed controller are broken, I might fly the other plane I have until it gives in and move on to another hobby. I know this stuff happens, but I'm pretty meticulous. If I missed something in the build, I can't figure out what it is. Do these things need more robust hinges? I was flying on low rates but pretty fast. The GPS in it read 80mph. I was in a 45 degree dive at half power when the aileron flew off. I noticed some people have had problems with the Airboss 45 and losing power to the receiver. My Airboss 45 came with a bad switch connection, which I noticed when setting up the radio. The system would power up, but unexpectedly go dead. The guy who gave me the plane I'm currently flying soldered the connection on the switch which fixed the problem. Maybe that's behind some of the problems other people have had.

I used the stock hinges in mine, and I beat the flippin crap out of mine.

If I were to guess, the hinges didn't break because of them not being rigid enough or glued correctly. Sounds to me like it fluttered. Likely from the easy connector being loose.

I always check back over everything after the first flight, then do it every other flight for about 10 flights. After that, I check every 10 flights or so, just to make sure everything is tight. After the first flight on mine, mine were slightly looser than they were when I put them on there.

Definitely don't get out of the hobby! Crashing is part of it, and we all learn from every single crash we have!

Seth