Picking The Perfect Extreme Flight/3DHS 52" Plane

 I've been wanting to write this for quite awhile, but it has not been until recently we had enough entries in the class to publish something meaningful. With a new Edge and Velox joining the 3DXA wars this year, now we do. We now have the choice of four absolutely superb airframes, and more are surely coming.

52 has everything going for it because they will still fit into a new Nissan Altima assembled, and in other smaller cars (like my older, smaller 2000 Altima) with one wing removed. They are only slightly less convenient and practical than a 48" but that extra four inches of wing and 3 inches of additional propeller diameter pay dividends you have to experience to believe. The final piece of the pragmatism puzzle is the 52s use reasonably priced 4s 3300 batteries. You can shop around for yourself and make your own deal, but I'm flying ProModeler packs that retail out at $50.

The hidden beauty of the 52" is that, other than their incredible performance, you can equip them with the most premium equipment on the planet for very few dollars more. Super mega magic servos can be had for the only a little more, and sometimes the same price as the standard equipment, and a good electronic stability system (ESS) runs from a paltry $20 to $100 for the industry standard Aura (available from Extreme Flight). For roughly an extra $100, you can turn a perfectly nice 52" into a deadly serious proposition. With standard equipment the 52s are world class fliers, or you can spend a little more and have a bad ass 52" that can go toe to toe with even a similarly equipped 60" plane.

So, it's up to you how serious you want the plane to be. Personally, I think the premium equipment makes so much difference that I'm never going back. We can delve into the equipment issue a little later on, but for now let's look at the planes. Previously I have ranked planes on their ease of flight, and the Edge always won there. Now though it's little different because all the 52" are such advanced airframes, and stable that it's hard to separate them.

Click To Enlarge On All Pictures

Edge__Still The Easiest
Nothing has changed here in that the Edge is still clearly the best platform to learn 3D with and capable enough that even the most experienced pilots will enjoy it. With the straight leading edge (LE) of it's wing, the Edge remains the most stable of all in harrier with no wing rock, no matter how sloppy the pilot gets. This makes learning harrier much easier because the plane never fights you. Pull  nose up and steer it with the rudder, and she will never rock, drop a wing or veer off course. This is invaluable for the newer pilots.

The Edge also flies just a little lighter, so that will buy the new guys a little time when working on their post stall stuff. When you add in it's unrivalled alpha stability, there's a reason people have always said flying an Edge was like cheating. For the new guy, this is the unfair advantage.

For all of this, the Edge is shockingly good in slow and point rolls and other precision conventional aerobatics. It's not quite as graceful as the Extra and Slick, but it's so close that only experienced pilots will pick up on this.

When you get into more violent stuff, the Edge rotates hard on the pitch axis and the wings never deviate from where you put them. There is no wobbling, tip stall or any of that. If you have the wings level and yank the elevator, the plane will rotate hard and those wings will stall flat. This pays off big in walls and parachutes, and there's nothing that will drop into an elevator as smoothly and precisely as an Edge, and this one is no different.

3DHS 52 Edge 540__Deadly Serious from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Perhaps the most telling experience with this plane so far was the first day out when my friends cornered me and told me I was too confident and was going to wreck it! I simply fell into a groove with her instantly and was driving her around on the ragged edge. This is not the best way fly on the first day, but the plane was so good I couldn't help myself. I never fly this plane at less than 100%, simply because I can get away with it.

New guys, this is your best bet. Experienced pilot already know the Edge is the plane they can hang out there without worry. Pretty much nothing but win.

 

52" Slick EXP Vrs 52" Extra EXP
I grouped these two together because they are actually very similar. Mostly I fly them and enjoy them and don't really think about which one is better because I can't choose. They use the same wing and tail (except the rudder), and have roughly the same moment. The differences seem to be in the alignment of the stab and wing to the thrust line, but even that's not too different, and of course the styling.

In the air they are quite similar too, though each has it's own personality. The Extra, like always, is the most graceful plane in the sky and excels at precision maneuvers. This has always been the personality of this plane, though the 52 flies lighter than other Extras I have owned, and actually mimics the floaty-ness of the 60" EXP. Smooth, stable and precise define this plane's attitude, though the Slick surprisingly gives up very little here. The margin is razor thin.

The big surprise is the Slick can match the Extra in big sky precision. She will point and slow roll with equal ease, as she will also stall turn and do crisp Cuban 8s, and other conventional aerobatics. The only difference here is that the Extra is just a little more graceful, and even at that, this is a subjective observation.

Extra EXP__Awesome Servo Testing III from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Extreme Flight Slick 580__Release The Kracken from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

In harrier the Slick has the advantage with next to zero wing rock, though the Extra will very gently rock rhythmically, almost like a deliberate little dance. You have to get sloppy for this to happen, but it's better than other planes that freak out and go off course or fight the pilot. Any rocking you can get out of an Extra looks more like you meant to do it and I don't even notice it when I am flying. I only see it when I am reviewing video, and it actually looks kinda sexy.

 If you can't have both, the way to separate these two is the Extra stands alone for being graceful, and while nearly as good here, the Slick excels in snapping, tumbling and pop tops. It's a very close call between the two and it's taken two years for me to figure out which plane I like on any given day. They are so similar I fly them alike with the exception that the Extra likes to slide when you rotate it hard or  snap it around in an alpha turn, parachute or wall, where as the Slick will pop and stop. That may be only meaningful way to pick one over the other because they are both so utterly superb.

There is one area where no plane can touch the Slick, and that's cool factor. In this size and these color schemes, nothing is as cool as a Slick EXP, and that's probably enough for a lot of people. The Extra is long, sleek and sexy, which is also pretty cool in it's own way. The Slick, though, wins when it comes to wow factor. So again, almost impossible to choose.

I wish there was more to say that sets these two apart, but they are both so close to perfect that they were bound to be more like fraternal twins than identical ones. Each is still different, but I can't really choose one over the other, even in the flying. It's going to be up to you, but rest assured either one is going to fit your need perfectly. Think of it as falling in love with the beautiful brunette girl next door, or running off to get married to her redheaded fraternal twin. No way to lose!

You're going to have to choose between these two for yourself, but if you want smoothness and precision, one or both of these are for you.

Velox Revolution__Much More Than You Were Expecting
Of course we all remember the original hair-on-fire Velox. That was such a ground breaking plane it revolutionized the entire 48" market and had such a high level of performance we never expected to see that it changed the way we fly. The plane was such a high level of agility that we all still think of that plane with a bit of awe.

The new Velox is absolutely it's own dog. While the original and the new are still Velox, they are not the same plane, much like a 58 Corvette is the same as a 2020 Corvette. They are both Corvettes, but they are sure not the same car. The new plane is so refined we are in a different world.

I made the mistake of expecting the new Velox Revolution to be a lot like the old one. In some ways it is, like it's superb and unrivalled snapping, spinning and tumbling ability. What caught me totally by surprise was, unlike the original, the new Velox is very surprisingly stable and easy to fly, and it's clearly not the same plane. Much of the original Velox' character is still there, though this plane is so refined that comparing it to the old one is useless.

The big surprise is the new Velox is an absolute harrier monster that rivals the Edge. Not even a hint of rocking or instability of any kind. At first I thought something had to be wrong because it's not supposed to be that good, though there's no doubt it is. It's almost a little eerie to be flying a plane that is so agile, and then drop it into the smoothest elevator maneuvers and harrier flight you've ever seen. Stability and agility generally work against each other, but on this plane that simply disappears.
 I am flying it a lot like I would fly an Extra SHP (which was the plane I used to learn 3D), and in a lot of ways those two share a lot of the same DNA anyway.

So, I really enjoy flying the Velox in an easy relaxed manner, taking advantage of this new found stability, and found that even with less control surface throw the plane will still shamelessly wad itself up when you snap or tumble it. This is that old  Velox character that I was talking about. It can be as wild a you want it to be and all you have to do is bend the sticks harder and she will respond.

The biggest part of the Velox is it's surprising stability, though a close second is how easily she will throw the tail over the nose or spin like a top in a blender. We kind of expected this, but what I did not see coming was just how little force or speed you have to use to accomplish this. From a dead stopped hover I can accelerate up into a pop top in less than 50 feet! This makes tumbling into less of a bend the sticks and pray kind of maneuver and more into tossing the plane in with a bit of finesse and having it come out exactly where you want it to. This part is key because you fly into it with complete control and fly out the same way, which looks a lot better than hammering the maneuver and waiting to see where it stops. This transforms snapping and tumbling into precision maneuvers!

3DHS Velox__Doc Austin's Day Off from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Of course, it's still fun to build up a terminal velocity head of steam and beat the airplane senselessly to a tumble, but it's nice you can do nearly the same thing with a lot less effort.

In the end the Velox becomes the most versatile plane in the lineup. You can fly it easy, or you can hammer it mercilessly and it's happy either way. Is this a plane for beginners? No. It's probably still a little too agile to actually learn 3D with, but once you are comfortable with any of the others, that transition will be seamless and the extra agility will be an asset instead of making things more difficult.

Nail
In the end, you're going to have to choose or for yourself but I have tried to break things down and make that process easier. The Edge is the easiest for newer pilots while still remaining capable of wild 3D, and the plane that absolutely everyone one can love. The Slick and Extra have the most finely balanced performance between stability and agility, and the Velox remains a plane in it's own league that is versatile and adaptable to be almost everything you want it to be. Since I love them all, it's difficult to say any one is better than the others, but it's nice to have so many superb choices.