You may have noticed we are flying a lot of the 60" EXPs lately, which is because we have been. Since October I have built a new Yak, Extra and Laser in 60" and my Edge is a year old but still in excellent shape ..... new almost. I've got one of everything except a 64" MXS, but I plan to build another one soon. That will give me a pretty righteous fleet of badass extreme aerobatic monsters.
When shooting video for "Picking The Perfect Extreme Flight 60" EXP" I kind of got hooked on these planes and I've lost a little interest in my 48" planes. Usually I will take a 60" out on the weekend with a 48", but the last few weeks I have taken out both even during the week, and a few times the 48s never even got flown.
The jump in stability, smoothness and solidness is quantum and then maybe even some more. It's just a one foot difference in wingspan, but the difference in flying is completely day and night. We fly for fun, but we want to look good too, and the 60"s put you way ahead on that front.
Each of the 60" planes has their own individual strengths. Previously I thought the Extra was the smoothest and most graceful, but since flying the Laser so much, that plane has the smooth part locked up. It's solid and locked in to the point it is very much like the 60" Yak in the way it completely inflates the pilot with confidence.
As such you will try a lot of crazy things until you scare yourself. I have had a few scares, but nothing that has shaken my confidence (especially in the plane) outside of realizing I was pushing too hard. With both the Laser and Yak you have to push ridiculously hard to go past the limit, and even then it's probably my limit and not the planes. It sure seems like Jase's planes have a higher limit, doesn't it?
To me, though, the Laser's shining characteristic is it's smoothness. I look good with the Laser even when I don't fly it well because the smoothness just looks good, even if I don't. This smoothness is like a fine shine. A really good glossy, shiny clear coat will hide a lot of imperfection in a paint job, and a smooth flying plane will hide a lot of piloting imperfections.
First video is just a warm up, but I had the CG dead on and was really groovin' with the Laser. The main thing to notice is again how smooth the plane does everything. Even when I jerk the plane or enter something off kilter, the plane hardly gives it away.
This second video is not real good because I got the plane too tail heavy. The first 30 seconds or so are a bit spazmatic, until I realize what I have done and then compensate by abandoning my precision game and strictly 3Ding the plane. You can get away with a bit too tail heavy if you are staying in post-stall flight more, but the precision aspect of the plane goes totally bonkers.
Finally, I moved the pack back to where it was and the plane went back to perfect. Smooth perfect.
Yet Again, the HS7245MH Rocks
In the never ending servo saga, I have to say I would never recommend building this plane with anything less than Hitec 7245MH servos. The Laser is a really big plane with huge control surfaces, and now Extreme Flight is stongly recommending the HS7245MG without mentioning any other servos. As such, if you have a set of HS5245MGs laying around you are probably out of luck. You might get away with using them in this plane, but you won't get the full potential out of it and would probably be disappointed.
I am flying mine with a Castle 10 amp BEC set at 7.4 volts. I tried them on 8.0 volts (which is where most people run them), but the plane seemed a little twitchy at high speed. I have since set them at 7.4 and they feel just right with no hint of stalling or blowback or any other sort of unpleasant behavior.
Mostly I am shocked how fast this plane rolls on high rate at speed, and the pitch authority I have on the elevator in high speed parachutes and walls. At speed is where you see the biggest difference in servos because the weaker ones don't have the torque to slam the surface instantly to full deflection in a high speed snap or tumble. I believe it is in the second video where I do a sick parachute and you can actually see the elevator stand straight up right at the most critical part of the maneuver, and with zero hesitation. If you are going to fly that hard, you gotta have that kind of control authority and servo holding power
I'm done looking around at servos because I am so happy with these. Anything new I build will get HS7245MH servos.
One last word on servo torque: The HS7245MH servos have enough torque to sink the Bismark. I think that covers it.
Bonus Footage: 48" Laser
I had the 48" Laser out as well and it was really cool they were both in identical yellow, kind of like big brother, little brother. The 48" is nowhere near as totally locked in as the 60", but this just makes it more agile.
This plane is using Hitec's HS5070MH servos on the rudder and ailerons, with an HS5087MH on the elevator, running on 7.4 volts. Power, of course, is by Extreme Flight Torque 2814/820 and Thunder Power 4s 2700 65C Pro Power packs.
In the end I believe I need both sizes. The 48s are so practical and easy that they make great every day flyers. The 60s are great every day too, but they are so nice that sometimes it's too much stress to fly them. I just love them too much and it's great to be able to beat a 48" with inpugnity. Still, I think everyone looks better with a 60," so you'de better have a few of those in the fleet too.
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