Project: Extra.

Extra 300 build documentation.

After selling my 1.60 size Great Planes Extra to my brother, I decided to get another Extra. Why get the same type of plane? Because it is the hottest looking aerobatic plane ever made. Decided to move up to a 50 cc plane due to their increased visibility, impressive power to weight ratio, and the luxury of running on regular unleaded fuel.

This is my first gas R/C plane, so here we go!

Aeroworks Extra 300 50cc QB
DLE-55
Slimline Pitts muffler
7955TG servos
5625MG servo for throttle
42% Opto-Gas kill switch
Cermark Super Switches
SWB Servo arms (1.5 inch for ailerons and elevator and 3 inch for rudder)
FASST 14 channel receiver

The "QB" stands for quick build. Supposedly, it can be fully assembled in 8-10 hours. Which is very fast for an R/C plane. I'm a slow builder, so I expect to triple or quadruple that time!

Still waiting for more parts to come in.

Haven't started assembly yet but have mocked it up and it is a very nice looking plane. Great build quality and the paint job is sweet. Can't wait to fly it!

Here is my make shift work bench. Used the original box that the plane came in! It is kinda hard to sit on the floor for the entire build though.


4-13-10:
Received servo safety clips and fuel dot from Bad Brad Graphics. Fast service.

4-14-10:
Ironed and heat gunned the entire plane. No problemo. Got a little carried away trying to remove and bubble on the wing and caused a little over shrinkage of the silver strip. No biggy though.


Installed the main landing gear but turned out I used the wrong washers. Been reading off some small instructions that I printed in econo mode so I couldn't quit tell if I was using the right stuff. Decided to fix later.

4-15-10:
Fixed landing gear washers with correct washers. Installed gear cuff, wheel and wheel pants. Rear tail gear assembly installed. Sweet!

Rudder hinged. Decided to use 30 minute epoxy versus gorilla glue.

4-16-10:
Sealed hinges on both stabilizers, rudder and a portion of the wing. Could not get as much done as I wanted to. Oh well.

4-17-10:
Finish sealing all hinge joints. Noticed that rudder turns right better than left. Will have to clean up the hinges a little to get equal deflections.

4-18 and 19-10:
Used the heat gun on the rudder hinges to get equal deflections. Not hard to do. Screwed in both aileron servos. Trial fit SWB servo arms and they are tight! Looked up tricks on forums and found that it is supposed to be that way. Recommended several tricks, lubricating the teeth, scratching off the anodized portion on the teeth, and of course using a flat head screwdriver to pry open the clasp. We'll see how that works.

4-21-10:
Installed control horns on wings and stabs. Used medium CA to lock wood screws in.

Stabilizer servos have now been installed.
4-25-10:
Control horns on rudder and rudder servo installed. Next step, mounting the motor.

5-3-10:
Ball links connected to control horns on rudder. Push rods assembled for elevators. Received two Xoar propellers (22x8) and a 3.5 inch aluminum spinner today from valleyviewrc.com. One wood and one black with silver tip propeller. Amazing quality.

5-23-10:
Drilled holes for stand offs. Bought more bolts to mount the engine. Mocked up engine with pitts muffler. It looks good! Need to get larger diameter washers and maybe hex head bolts. 0.8 pitch.

5-31-10:
Tightened stand offs to firewall. Used blue lock tight.

6-1-10:
Installed throttle servo 5625 to plywood mount.

6-2-10:
Prepared rudder servo arm for installation.

6-4-10:
Installed ignition control and ignition battery. Drilled hole in firewall for throttle push rod.


7-15-10:
Haven't been keeping up to date on my progress, but plane is complete. Started the engine up for the first time at the field today. With the help of my Dad and little brother, we got the DLE-55 running well. Idles low and transitions to full throttle smoothly. Using Shell regular unleaded fuel mixed with Penzzoil air cooled two stroke engine oil. Eight ounces oil per two gallons of fuel. Have yet to maiden due to workers on the field. Taxies beautifully.

Things of note on building completion:

• Moved ignition box and ignition battery as far forward as possible in order to balance plane at the recommended 4 inches from leading edge wing tip.
  
• No additional weight added to balance.
  
• Lateral balance seems to be adequate.
• Reshrank covering on the entire plane. Black covering suseptable to wrinkling in sun light.
  
• Need to figure out a way to cover plane in hot weather. Huge surface area.
  
• SWB control arms will fit when screwed on. No problem. But, difficult to remove.

7-17-10:
Maiden complete! One 5 minute flight. Nothing fancy. Take off roll was very short. Powerful climb. Nice and slow landing. Might be a little tail heavy still. Expos were a little touchy and low rates. Decreased to -20 to soften up the center a bit. Did not touch other rates. After landing, roughly 20 cranks needed to empty tank. Awesome plane. Now to turn this build blog log to a flight blog log!


7-25-10:
Covering on wings has swirls/scratches from troybuiltmodel wing bag. Bummer. Now put wings in bubble wrap first, then insert into wing bag. Used scratch x and removed some swirls. Going to try turtle wax in the future.

7-30-10:
Tried the turtle wax and it makes a slight difference. A little more polished looking. Swirls/scuffs/scratches are not as obvious. Good enough!