Extreme Aviation: 64" MXS_

Yes, it's been way too long since I have had a 64" MXS. Some of you may remember my original Yellow Zonker MXS that served me so well. That plane was my video darling, and I believe we scored over 20 films with that plane. Eventually she became a little ragged from the abuse, so I restored her and then she flew better than ever.

I enjoyed that plane so much that I simply got too attached to it, which is always a bad idea when it comes to something that flies. I put untold hundreds of flights on that plane until I realized the only thing I had not done with it was crash. I never wanted to have any sort of bad memory of that plane, simply because it had been so superb, so it was better to pass it on to a friend, and hopefully have it bring him an equal amount of joy.

In fact, my friend/bro Danell Rodriguez had been after me for awhile to sell it to him, so when I made the decision, we cut a deal in about 30 seconds, and he is still flying it, well, in fact.

Danell Rodriguez__MXS EXP First Flights from Doc Austin on Vimeo

While it sort of hurt to part with her, the plan was to build a new red MXS. A lot of different things got in that way of that, from multiple Extreme Flight releases, being out of stock when I had the time to build one, or just plain running out of scratch. There just never seemed to be a good time to do it.

Until now.

The Kit
There is not going to be much here because I've already done this part. The MXS was the first 60" Extreme Flight 60" plane to use the newest construction techniques, but instead of writing it all over again, I would like to refer you to the original article: First Look__Extreme Flight 60" MXS.

My last MXS was built in 2014, and the only change I can see in construction since that time is the plastic wing support tubes in the wing have now been replaced with carbon. This will make for a stiffer (and better flyting), longer lasting airframe, even if the plane was already close to perfect before.
I'm not going to go too crazy posting pictures just yet because I don't have the decals finished. I like to let the covering settle in for a few days before I use too many deals. If you get a wrinkle under a decal it's usually a mess to fix, so I like to give the covering a few days to see if it's going to loosen up any.

I am having some of the stylized MXS logos made out of 3M high performance vinyl, and eventually those will go on the wing and stab, much the way they appear on the plane's picture on the box. That will complete the look and then I can hammer it mercilessly all winter.

Photo Update: My poor MXS sat for awhile because I have so many projects, but I finally got around to applying the rest of my custom made vinyl decals. Thanks to my friends at Graphics Team. Now that's she's finished and we have some cool weather, I plan to fly and shoot video every chance we get. I've also installed an Aura 8 stability system and now have that dialed in. Can't wait to get started and will probably write a follow up article.

Set Up

This is going to be slightly different from my first MXS, but only because with Xcessories we now have better hardware to work with. First, we start with the superb Xcessories 1.25" servo arm and Xcessories fine twisted servo extensions. We are also going to use Xcessories servo and cowl screws simply because it really like them, and they will trick this plane out.

Ailerons
Here I did something a little different. I had my friend Cansfan from RC Groups drill a 2mm mounting hole at 7/8" from the center hole, and snip off the excess arm. This duplicates the length of the Hitec PN55709 short arm I like to use on my 60" EXPs.

Elevator

Here I used the outer hole in the Xcessories arm and maxxed out my end points. I get plenty of elevator travel. I need to get an exact measurement, but it looks to be about 65-70 degrees or so.

Rudder
Finally, the Xcessories 1.24" arm is perfect for the rudder.

Radio Installation
Again, I am relying exclusively on Xcessories new line of twisted servo extension wires. They look great and they work. If there is anything else one would require from a servo extension wire, I can't imagine what that could be. I like these for a lot of reasons, but it's especially convenient that each plane's order page specifies the length of extension you need for that plane. You can order what you need and they come in the kit box.

Futaba makes the radio installation a bit trickier because it has two antennae that have to be laid out at 90 degrees to each other, though it's not that big of a deal. The part that is hard is setting it up to keep the antennae out of the way when you are putting the wings on and hooking up the wires to the aileron servos. Here I did the best I could with it, but I may tinker with it some more. It's fine the way it is but I am a bit obsessive about getting the radio installation as cleanly done as possible.

BEC Installation
These used to bother me a little, but now I have my soldering technique down a little better, and installing one is like any other process in the build. I used Velcro and tucked it neatly down into the bottom of the fuselage.

Right now I am between projects and short on time. For now, here are a few quick videos from the first day out. The wind was horrific, but I really wanted to fly the plane. Well be shooting plenty of more video with this plane and I will probably write a complete flight report to go with that..