Skywing 48" Extra NG__More Flying

As you may have seen in Skywing 48" Extra NG__Flight Testing, I was pretty pleased with this plane. I knew I was going to like it because it's an Extra, and I knew it would be light and tough because of my experiences with the Skywing Slick. Like the Slick, the NG surpassed my expectations, and I can't wait to see what I can discover about her next.

I've already laid out the plane's basic character in the pervious article, so here I will be going into specifics.

There was so much to go into with this plane the article ended up a little long, so if you're after the video scroll to the bottom.

Stall Turns
Some might wonder why I talk about a basic maneuver that's not spectacular or hard to do, but there's more to it when you try to work them. With this plane you can put an interesting twist into the move that's so much fun you'll start doing lots of them.

 I carried a bit more momentum into it and yawed the plane early, so it was still climbing while rotating on the yaw axis, sort of sliding a little sideways on the way up. The nose comes around and you dive out and fly away. It's kind of hard to describe it, but that's why we have video. Oddly the plane is going one way and pointed another through the turn, but it doesn't look sloppy. It looks controlled, but loose and free. It's actually delightful to fly it through the turn, sliding and all, and reveals the plane's lively but stable nature.

This was just something cool I discovered by accident. I've done it before with the Velox, but on this NG I could repeat the maneuver and hit it every single time, like that's almost how the plane wanted to do it anyway. You're sliding the plane through a stall but it never goes off line or acts weird. I can hit it 10 out of 10 times no sweat just because it does that so easily. It's just a demonstration of how willing the plane is when you chuck it into a maneuver.  

Stall turns teach you how to fly into a stall, maneuver through it and recover, all essential sport skills that translates into post stall, and something a good sport pilot has already mastered. New guys however, would be well advised to embrace this and work it to improve those skills. Having a good stall turn down gives you the skills to start working harrier, and we all know that's the key to this 3D thing.

The NG is also sweet in a conventional stall turn, and this plane is so much fun this way that I'll probably try a few more variations.

Slow Rolls

Now we're in the Extra's back yard. The absolute gold standard for this in 4 footers has always been the Extra EXP, and while I did not expect this, the NG is it's match here. At speed the NG locks in hard and little gusts or turbulence don't seem to bother it because it just plows through. This is a fast plane and remember speed is stability.

You've got three controls all going at once in a slow roll, and if the plane goes a little off line on any of them it throws the whole control sequence off. It's your job to keep the plane straight, but having one that tracks takes so much load off the pilot. Tracking is so important, and even with it's shorter moment the NG slow rolls as perfectly as any of them. It's not fun to fly a plane that doesn't track, but that's no issue with this baby. 

This tracking also comes into play during point rolls, which is why I include them here. The important thing here is tracking, yet again. If the plane doesn't track straight, you'll be fighting it at every point in the roll, so you can see the importance of having a straight flying plane.

Comparing to the Extra EXP, the NG doesn't give up anything here. Certainly the plane is different, but Extras have always been the benchmark for this and the NG is no different. It took a few tries to dial in the range and start hitting it, but it was really pretty effortless. 

Harrier Performance

While I don't have a scale, I'm pretty sure the NG is the lightest plane I own, and this shows up in really nice harrier performance. The little things Skywing has done to cut weight might seem ridiculous, but every little bit adds up. A gram or two is nothing until you shave that off a few times, but if you save that seemingly insignificant amount enough times the scale never lies.

This and the Slick can fly ridiculously slowly, and even if you get it wrong the stall recovery is blindingly fast. Part of this is surely design, aided by light weight, gonzo power and that big 13" prop. You get a huge blast of air over the plane, so whatever lift and control you lost can be regained with the hammer.

There's enough post stall control authority that you can get fearless pretty quickly. That and it's got really great confidence inspiring harrier manners. It's not quite as good here as the Slick, but it's still shockingly good. I still get a little rock when I am pushing hard and maybe getting a little sloppy, but I don't feel anything is lacking. I just think the Slick's harrier is irreproachable.

Hard rotations

This plane has superb pitch authority. The importance is in the balance. It's enough to make the plane do anything you ask, but not so much the plane comes close to getting away from you or being jumpy. The pitch authority is very controllable and even in something as violent as a wall or parachute the plane will rotate straight and come out straight. More throw (and there is plenty of room for that if you turn up the end points) might make it pitch harder, but the way it is I'm happy enough.

In something like a parachute you have to be careful not to peg the elevator too long because at full rotation you can stall the plane so completely it might get scary. Best bet is to pop to flat, but lead with a blast of throttle and ease off the stick a little. This is not a scary behavior, but more part of what you have to do to keep air going over the plane and some lift going on.  As I am moving the CG forwards this characteristic is more manageable, so I may have been flying it tail heavy the first few flights.

Having spent the last 15 years flying long, sleek EXPs, things changed when I moved to these short coupled Skywings. Rotation maneuvers are now so hard you have to be more careful how much you demand. This is not a hard thing because the pilot's job is to adapt, and it's not a problem anyway. You just learn the plane's behavior and fly accordingly. What's nice is unless you go  in with the wings not level the plane will pop flat and stay level, while tracking straight ahead.  This takes a lot of the scare factor out of it because you aren't going to lose control or even go off line unless you let it completely stall. This is not a problem at all if you have a little altitude, simply because the plane recovers from the stall so instantly, but if you are on the deck you just have to be careful not to blow all the lift completely off.

Also I did a wall maneuver that pitched so hard the plane fell on it's back  and for an instant it was travelling backward inverted. It was a real Rooster Bradshaw "what the *** was that" moment! I do a lot of high rotation stuff, but that one really surprised me. I've tried to repeat that, but I'm going to have to work it for awhile to get it right, but it certainly showed the plane is a lot more capable than I was expecting.

Stall Recovery

The NG is so comfortable in post stall partially because it's stall recovery is nearly instant. Part of this is the airfoil (which I don't fully understand) and part is certainly that big 13" fan on the nose with all that 6s grunt.

One of the first things I learned about 3D is you have to be lightning fast on the throttle, and sometimes anticipate it. Here the modern power systems not only provide more grunt, but it's instant, and can be more easily modulated than older systems. I can't say enough for how much extra control afforded by that extra inch of prop. 

Knowing you can recover from a stall so quickly allows you to fly deeper into it and get yourself out of it if you got it wrong. It makes the plane more fun to fly knowing you can thrash it like that and it won't bite you.

Snap Manners And Timing

I struggled with the snap timing on my Slick and finally figured it out, but that wasn't necessary with the Extra. Right off the bat I was hitting my snaps the same way I am used to with an EXP, so in this respect snapping and spinning is instinctual.

One area the plane is exceptionally strong is in power spins. You do these with full elevator and rudder, with a little opposite aileron to keep the wings level, and give it a little power. This speeds up the spin and if you hit it right slows the descent. I tried a few throttle settings, including wide open, and she spun around like a big frisbee.

Most 3D planes on high rate don't do a conventional spins (up and full right everything) very well, but I discovered if you go right, right, down the plane does a super tight spin, maybe a little fast, and when you release the controls it stops all on it's own instantly. This is a good one to teach the new guys simply because the plane recovers so fast it's not scary. You can pinpoint your exit with dead on precision, and of course that simply gives you confidence.

 

Skywing 48__Extra NG Sport Hucking 2023 002 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Skywing 48__Extra NG Sport Hucking 2023 001 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Knife Edge Performance

Here it's very much like the Slick. Again tracking is important, with the benefit of authority. 

Few things are as unsettling than trying to KE a poorly tracking plane, especially down low, but the NG is so locked in I'll really be working on improving my game with this plane.

Additionally, nothing is more horrifying than KEing down low with a mushy rudder response, and that's not a worry with this plane. The fat fuselage sides provide lifting surface as do the nice SFGs and even flying it down in a death slide doesn't require full deflection until you get pretty slow. KE is still a little scary for me, so this solid tracking and control authority is just what I needed.

General

Like all Extras, the NG has that overall feel of smoothness, gracefulness and solid locked in control. Where the NG differs from previous Extras is the short coupling makes the plane more lively, all while giving up nothing in smoothness. The EXP still has the edge in being smooth, but with a longer tail you would expect this and it is not a day and night thing.

 As much as I have loved the Extra EXP for the last 15 years, it was a little surprising I compare the two so favorably. Admittedly the two are both similar and different at the same time. It's also really not fair to compare a plane I have thousands of flights on to one with only a handful, but still the NG comes out looking really good.

The plane is solid and reassuring, and there is nothing to be afraid of once you adjust to this new level of agility. Any good intermediate sport pilot can fly this thing around on low rates with more confidence than even something like a T28, which makes the plane absolutely idea for sport flying. No matter what level you are with your aerobatics, you can handle this plane no problem, with room to use it to improve your game.

Past all the specific qualities, the plane is just fun to fly, which is probably it's most endearing quality. I'm betting most of you will know what you have after a lap or two and you'll be pushing the plane in no time.

Overall, an easy project that yielded big results.

Set Up

Well, it was already done when you got it, right? I used the arms the way they came on the elevator and rudder with my end points at 100. Where I deviated was running a little less aileron because that's what I am used to. I used a shorter 7/8" Skywing plastic arm and regained my resolution by cranking the end points. I'm right at 31-32 degrees, which is exactly what I have been using on my other 48s. I did this with my Slick and continued that with the NG, and for me it was a very positive change. The plane gives up nothing other that it won't do blinding rifle rolls that I can't keep up with  anyway. Most people will be happy with the set up the way it comes out of the box. This was a change simply to suit my personal preference.

You can read about this here:  Skywing 48" Extra NG Receiver ready.

And don't forget about that low rate because that makes precision much easier and cleaner.

As far as CG, mine came out on the tube, though I moved the pack forward 1/2 so the nose would hang a little. This is just the way I prefer them because a little ahead of neutral doesn't compromise 3D, but it makes the plane track much better. It's an Extra, so there's the one attribute you need to play to.

Best bet is to set it up the way it comes out of the box and fly it, kind of like we do with all new planes.

Skywing 48" Extra NG__Flight Testing

Day One
All we wanted to do was check the trims and get a good general feel for the plane. That lasted about 30 seconds and I simply forgot the game plan and just started flying it hard. It is so similar to the Slick I knew what I had pretty quickly.

This is a very stable plane, but it's also pretty lively. It snaps and tumbles really well, slows down into a beautiful harrier, and does beautiful slow and point rolls. There's nothing it doesn't do well.

So far, I'm really liking the plane. The plane was dead neutral on the check flight, and I like them a little ahead of that. I moved the pack 1/2" forward and now it's exactly the way I like it. It's kind of amazing the plane comes out of the box nearly tweaked out like that. 30 minutes to assemble, one simple adjustment and it's perfection. Absolutely remarkable.

 I was comfortable with the NG very quickly, and at the end of the second flight I was fearless with it. 

Click to enlarge, then right click and "save as."

Day Two 

After two quick flights on day one I was already comfortable with the plane. I just couldn't lean on it too much until we got some decent weather and video in the can. Once that was accomplished, it was just a matter of flying the plane and testing the limits.

We only had enough time to shoot one video, but hopefully you can see how much potential the plane has. This was only the third flight and I was still tweaking the CG and still not sure how much I could push the plane. Right now my flying is looking a little ragged because I am pushing the plane so hard, and this was also the first time I've flown her in decent conditions. The first day was so rough that this was more like the plane's real maiden, but it is so smooth, stable and confidence inspiring that I just gave it the hammer. 

Right away the plane was so much fun I kind of forgot about video and started to look for the limits. You can see a couple of pretty good saves in the video, but it was more like I bailed before I got in too deep. Here I noted that the plane has so much power and so much control that I wasn't afraid to get into trouble. The plane has the tools you need to fight your way out.

Toward the end it became easier and easier to fly the plane more smoothly, which was due to burning off the excitement as much as anything else. 

Mostly it's just easy to fly and pinpoint precise, which is what you expect and demand from an Extra. Now we see the differences to the Slick a little better. The Slick has slightly better harrier manners, though the Extra is still really strong here. The flip side is the Extra has a more predictable and repeatable snap timing. The Slick scared me a little at first in snap rolls because I had to learn how to make it come out where I wanted it, but with the Extra my snaps were dead on right out of the box. That's really about all the differences I have found so far. They have the same wing and tail, and roughly the same moment, so they were always going to be similar. I think most guys won't care about the differences, or maybe not even notice at all because they are so subtle, and they never come into play unless you are really pushing the plane hard. 

No report on an Extra is complete without talking about the plane's precision manners. Big sky stuff is easy for a few reasons. First this plane really hauls the mail, and speed is stability. For example, my 48" EXP was always superb here, but when I switched to TMotor and about 20mph more top speed, the difference in how the plane locked int was mind-blowing. The NG already has a nuclear reactor in the nose, so it hauls too, and this shows up in the field length slow rolls and huge cuban 8s. The plane simply tracks to the point looking good in precision is simply easy. I said I would not compare this with the 48" EXP, but here I just have to note both of those planes are the benchmarks in precision in this size, with the Slick not far behind.

One thing that caught me by surprise is this plane has insane pitch authority. You can see in a lot of hard pull outs the tail actually drops below the plane. Other planes will sink, but the Extra pops a little past flat and stops losing any altitude because stall recovery is so instant. Maybe this is due to the design, or maybe it's all the grunt behind a 13" propeller blowing air over the plane, but once you get used to it this is a pretty handy tool to have for on-the-deck shenanigans.  I have not figured that out yet because this plane is so much fun that I paid more attention to that than analytics.

A quick word about the power system: it's super bad ass. More power than a reasonable person would need and runs as smooth as a stick of butter. I rate it an equal in every metric with the TMotor. They have the same power, same smoothness and same perfectly linear throttle response. All that's different is the sound.

Overall, and I know I also said this about the Slick, it's hard to be more pleased with a project. The assembly was next to nothing, I only had to make one set up change to suit my preference and she flew of the bench very close to perfectly dialed in. A couple of clicks of up trim and so far that's been all she took.

Before my camera guy got there I did a warm up flight on low rates, which simulates a sport set up, and she's as easy and capable as any sport plane I've ever flown, This makes such a perfect sport plane I think the new guys will eat it up. Perfect size, cheap batteries, tough and docile makes this plane almost mandatory for all of us.

Here's something few consider: The best kept secret in the sport community is that any good 3D plane on low rates makes an excellent sport plane, and any many, many cases it makes a better sport plane than the best sport planes. 

On low rates the Extra is much like the EXP lineup in that it's delightful in conventional aerobatics. I try to bring a lot of guys into 3D, and I usually take them from something like a T28, and put them straight into a 48" 3D plane and make them keep it on low rates. First they tell me it flies better than their T28 because they are not always fighting it, and once I can show them a few tricks they can't believe how easy it is. Generally 3D manufacturers don't cater to the sport crowd and pitch their stuff to us hammerheads, but the best way for a sport pilot to get good enough to transition into 3D, now all it takes is a flip of that rate switch. This Extra is light, straight, tough and super stable, which are all the things you want in a sport plane anyway.

Conclusions, sort  of

Some may notice this report is a little disjointed. I sat down right after I got home and started writing, and the more I wrote and the more I edited the video the more I realize just how much was there and how much I like it. I've had to edit about 10 times because the more I wrote the more I realized just how nice this thing is.

Four flights isn't enough time to hardly know a plane, much less pass judgement on it, but it was enough time to really fall in love with it. It generally takes about 25 flights to really know a plane, but since today was the start of flying season here, that's not going to take long. 

We'll shoot some more this week and tag it onto this article, as well as some more commentary, so stay tuned.

 

Skywing 48 NG__Unspecified Testing from Doc Austin on Vimeo.