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Friday, December 23, 2016

52" Extra EXP__Slo- Mo Theatre And Full Speed Remix

First, thanks to my friends in Russia! As of Dec 26th, Russians have visited my blog 1731 times. Thanks so much for your support!

Some of you may remember Edge EXP__Slo- Mo Theatre. That was a fun project, and we've decided to do it again with the fantastic new 52" Extreme Flight Extra EXP.



 Here is a collage of footage from previous videos, though remixed with some of the more awkward moments removed while retaining the awesome moments.

52 Extra EXP__More from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Sadly,

Gandalf The Thunder Poodle has left us. He was a wonderful friend for the past 12 years and will always be in our hearts.



 
Since we so love our dogs, we wanted a puppy as soon as we could find a good one. Fortunately Gandalf's breeder had one puppy left and now she is going to retire, so we were lucky how it worked out.
 
As you can see, the resemblance is absolutely stunning.  This is Rambo The Rampage Poodle. Right now he's about eight month old and full of cuteness and mischief.
 

Monday, December 19, 2016

52" Extra__Update

We've had so much nice weather lately that I've been flying my 52"s almost every day. All three are dialed in really well and I've got supreme confidence in all of them. We're well past the point of discovery, so now it's just time to enjoy them.




 

 

Sunday, December 11, 2016

52" Extra EXP__What To Do With Your Spare HS85MGs

Doc's Disclaimer: Extreme Flight recommends Hitec HS-5087MH Digital HV Premium Metal Gear Micro servos for this plane. Using HS85MGs in this plane is something I took solely upon myself to try.
 
 

Times are tough. A lot of times you just  have to use equipment you already have, and pick your plane accordingly. However,  most of us have a few Hitec HS85MG servos laying around. This is a robust and reliable servo that is also reasonably priced. 

While not the recommended servo for this plane, the HS85MG served many of us extremely well for years in the highly popular 3DHS 51" Slick. A lot of those planes got crashed or just plain wore out, so most of us would like a nice plane to put that gear into. These servos will happily drop right into a brand new Extreme Flight 52" Extra EXP, so I thought it was worth a try.

A lot of times $100 or so is enough to keep a project from happening. I was really tight on this one, so I had to save some money somewhere. Being able to use servos I already had made the difference between flying this plane and hanging it up for display. New HS85MGs sell for about $30 apiece, or $120 for a whole plane's worth. If you add to that you won't need a separate BEC,  that's another $25 savings.

While the recommended servo for the 52 Extra is Hitec' excellent HS5087MH, the specs on the HS85MG are still really good, and judging by how well they performed in our 51" Slicks, I was sure they would be fine in the 52".

HS85MG Specifications

Motor Type:3 Pole
Bearing Type:Top Ball Bearing
Speed (4.8V/6.0V):0.16 / 0.14 sec @ 60 deg.
Torque oz./in. (4.8V/6.0V):42 / 49
Torque kg./cm. (4.8V/6.0V):3.0 / 3.5
Size in Inches:1.14 x 0.51 x 1.18
Size in Millimeters:28.96 x 12.95 x 29.97
Weight ounces:0.77
Weight grams:21.83

 
 The Shout Out
First, a big thank you to my friends in the Hitec service department. I tend to be a little bit hard on my equipment, so I rely on them to inspect and repair my high usage and crashed equipment. Generally Hitec inspects and cleans servos at no charge unless you have stripped gears or broken cases. Any time I am not 100% sure of a servo I just send it in, and when I get it back I know it's going to work fine.

I generally like to use new servos in any new plane, but for this one I had a handful of HS85Gs in my "serviced" collection. Hitec service has been so good that I confidently put them into a brand new plane with no worries.

So, thanks to Hitec service who helped make this project possible.

Servo Arms
For this plane I wanted to use Xcessories Light Weight 1.25" Servo Arms on all surfaces.

For the ailerons I used the inner hole on the Xcessories 1.25 arm and ran my end point controls out 125%. This is more throw than I am used to, but I like it this way. Having the additional authority at slower and near stall speeds is extremely useful. My post stall 3D flight has actually improved because of the additional control, and now I am rethinking my set up for all my planes. I will probably turn the aileron throw on my other Extras up a little too, and learn to be a little smoother on the ailerons at speed

Click To Enlarge On All Pictures
 
Spoilerons
I added my now customary 25% spoileron mix and this is what it looks like: 
 
 
 Elevator 
I was really careful with my hinging on this plane. I made sure I could get a full 90 degrees of elevator throw. I was not sure if I could get it all with the arm I had, but it was worth a try. I had to drop the servo down about 1/8" because the servo arm was just barely rubbing on the bottom of the stab a little. It was no big deal ...... I used a small straight edge and Xacto to cut the a straight line. 
 
I have not measured the throw yet, but I am satisfied with it! I'm pretty sure there is no more left to get.



Rudder
For the rudder I really wanted to use an Xessories arm, but we don't have 7/8" arm just yet.
I used the small arm from the Hitec PN55709 set instead and it's perfect. I've got my end points turned back just a little and the the rudder almost touches the elevator halves.


ESC Installation
One really nice benefit of using the 6 volt HS85MGs is that you don't need the extra complication of a separate BEC. Not only does this make for a simpler and cleaner installation, but you save about $25 and a little weight. You just plug the Airboss in, set the timing to high, and go fly it.



Battery location
As always, battery choice is Thunder Power. For this plane we went with 4s 3300 Elite 70C series packs. Power is sick. Running the plane hard I still get 4.5 minutes, and come down with around 15.25 or so volts in the pack. this is a good margin and being nice to the pack pays off with longer lifespan.

This is where the pack ended up in my other Extra, so here is where I started. So far I think it's dead on where I like it, which is slightly ahead of neutral.

What decals?
I love this color scheme so much I didn't want to clutter it up with any decals. Of course, Old Glory will always be on the nose, but outside of that I wanted to keep the plane's appearance clean and pristine.



 
  
As of this writing, I only have three flights on the plane, but I am delighted with it. I don't seem to get any stalling or blowback at high speed, and the plane just feels really good. I did a few high speed walls and parachutes, and the servos were up to the job every time. At full speed with full aileron deflection, I have no hope of keeping up with it for more than a roll or two, so there is no stalling or blowback here either. The servos just do their job, and while that sounds matter of fact, it's actually a jolly good thing.



While the HS5087MH is a faster, stronger servo, there is still a lot of life in the HS85MG and I think they are probably fine for this plane. They are fine at least for the way I fly them. The HS85MG has served us so well in the 51" Slick and other planes that I have no concerns about their reliability at all. In fact, these have always been so reliable that I use them confidently.

We hope to be shooting lots of video with this plane soon, so keep an eye on the blog.



 


Saturday, November 19, 2016

Championship Throwdown: The King Of Badass



Or, more correctly, have we just seen "badass" redefined? For years the Extreme Flight 48" MXS has been the undisputed king of badass in four foot class planes. This has become a little less clear with the arrival of the new Extreme Flight 52" Extra.

The Contender
With it's explosive 1068 watt Xpwr 3910 motor and use of Hitec's superb HS5087MH 8.0 volt servos, the 52" Extra presents a serious new challenge to the now six year old MXS in the hardcore 3DXA sweepstakes. The new Extra is big and light, overpowered with huge control surfaces and servos that simply refuse to stall or blow back. The Extra has the control authority and brute force power you need for extreme aerobatics, with maybe even some left over.



Top speed of the 52" Extra is deceptive because the 3910 is a comparatively quiet motor. Instead of screaming like the 2814 motor used in the MXS, the Extra's 3910 appears to run at a lower RMP, but that's just a guess. I say this because it just sounds like that. The motor is certainly not working very hard and that mutes the appearance of speed.  Funny how sound can affect something visual, but then again, that's why we like loud racecars. You only have to fly it by at full throttle really close one time and that notion is shattered. This plane covers ground as quickly as the MXS, even if it doesn't quite seem like it.


52 Extra EXP__Secret Testing 11-18-16 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

The power of the 3910 makes the 52" Extra truly badass in punch out or any other vertical maneuver. Right now the 52" Extra stands alone in my fleet for time to altitude. The only plane I have ever seen rival the 52" Extra's rate of climb  was when I put a 3910 in my MXS.

As always, the Extra's precision manners are it's strong suit. Like any strong attribute though, there is a price to pay in the form of compromise. The Extra is so stable and locked in that you have to work a little harder get crazy stupid tumbles out of it. It's just not that kind of plane, and to me it's really too nice to treat that way anyway.


 
This 52" Extra is certainly a very worthy challenger, especially in view of the fact that Extras are generally not considered to be super badass airframes. In the end, the Extra's challenge to become the king of badass falls just a little bit short, but it is remarkable just how badass the Extra truly is when you consider that it's not really intended to be that kind of plane. It's smooth, stable and reassuring to fly, and while it is fast and capable, it's just not scary enough to take the crown from the undisputed champion.  This is good because the MXS is just badass enough that the average guy will want something a little less intense. The 52" Extra is not supposed to be as bad ass as the MXS.  The Extra EXP in all the sizes I have flown it in are solid and confidence inspiring, and that is how this plane is supposed to be.
 
The Extra has always been the plane the average guy can pick up and excel with instantly and the new 52" Extra probably does this better than any Extra I have ever flown.
 
Still, with all that insane power and control authority, this is the baddest Extra yet. While it's strong suits have shifted a little more toward wild than other Extra EXPs, it's still a reasonable balance and very much Extra-ish. It's just the baddest Extra yet, and as a big fan of Extras (if not even a little bit weird for them) I heartily recommend this plane. This recommendation is also based on the fact that these were the cleanest and easiest builds I have ever experienced, and especially for the newer guys, assembling the 52" will be a really sweet experience.
 

Still The Champion Of Bad Ass
The MXS remains as fearsome a beast as ever, though now I am flying it with Hitec HS5070MH servos on ailerons and rudder, and an HSD5087MH on the elevator. Running on 8.0 volts from a castle 10 Amp BEC, this combination also has enough speed and power that stalling and blowback are never an issue with this plane either. Good servos cost more money, but only because they are worth it.


Flying the MXS and Extra back-to-back on a beautiful day, I became pretty brave and started hammering the MXS lot harder. As you can see in the first video,  I dove a bit harder into the pull up for pop tops and changed the timing a little. As you can see, what used to  a gentle maneuver has turned quite violent, just by searching for that little bit extra.

What makes the MXS snap, tumble and spin so well is it's shorter tail moment. This is the distance between the wing and horizontal stabilizer. A longer moment (as seen on the Extra) generally aids in pitch stability, while a shorter moment (as seen on the MXS) gives the plane more pitch authority and the ability to wad itself up tighter in wild snaps and tumbles. Either way, you gain something and you give up something, and the big advances in the last few years of airframe development has centered around getting more and giving up less. Now the planes are more closely balanced in all aspects of performance, but everything else being equal, a shorter moment is going to give you a more agile plane.



In the past I have not flown the MXS quite this hard because, first, you can make a mistake and drive it into the ground, and second, the EXPs are just too nice to abuse that way. Still, we were here to determine the world championship for badass 48" class airframes, so there was no tomorrow and we didn't want to leave anything in the ring.

I also changed up my snap timing, and you will see in the second video, I was also putting as much force as I could find into it. This involved deep full throttle downlines to build speed and momentum, and forgoing the usual nose up attitude entering a tumble that acts as a safety buffer. Basically, I just threw caution to the wind and came out swinging, and the MXS responded. There are two tumbles in the second video that cross the border of sanity and go straight into stupidity. After the flight there was nothing for anyone to say except to just laugh it off. That was the only appropriate response!



A big thanks to Hitec for making the lineup of MH mini and micro servos. For really extreme aerobatics, the time tested HS65MG was starting to become highly stressed. Remember, the HS65MG was designed at the time we were flying the 45" Extra 300E on 3s 15C packs, and no one could envision the power system, battery and airframe performance leap we would see in the next ten years.

The new lineup of upcoming 52" airframes will probably use the new HS5087MH servos, so for the MXS and other 48" EXPs to keep the pace of performance, Hitec's MH servos are going to be essential in these planes. The only drawback to using these servos is that you need a 7.4-8.0 volt power source for the servos, but my contacts deep in the Extreme Flight empire are telling me an 8.0 volt Airboss ESC is a distinct future possibility. For now I am running that standard Airboss 45 ESC with a Castle 10 Amp BEC, and that works just fine, even if I hate the extra complication.



The Nail
 
While the MXS retains the badass crown, the 52" Extra could just as easily be said to have retained the smooth, stable and reassuring crown. They are simply two different, though similar types of planes. Chris and Ben have worked tirelessly to eliminate any flying performance compromises, and while they have come pretty close, different airplanes are always going to have an advantage in one area or another over each other. Now the differences are much more subtle, l but more importantly all of these planes are becoming easier to fly and easier to look good with.
 
The MXS remains the king of badass, because it was meant to be. The Extra remains the best performance balanced airframe on the market, because it was meant to be. The bare knuckle cage fight we just put these two planes through only serves to illustrate how balanced the yin and yang of the Extreme Flight world really is









Friday, November 18, 2016

48" Extra EXP: You can't have enough Extras



I've been flying the fabulous new 52" Extra EXP so much that my beloved 48" Extra hasn't been getting much love. I corrected that yesterday by running six packs through it on a beautiful day. This is still the same 48" Extra that, for me, redefined what an airplane should be. While the 52" Extra is the next step forward, the 48" is still good enough that I want to continue flying mine, and maybe add a red to the stable. You can't have enough Extras.


Extra EXP__Unspecified Huckola 001 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.





BONUS 60" YAK FOOTAGE
There's not going to be much text here. Just catching up on a bunch of sport video we shot this week. The weather is simply superb, so we have been taking advantage of it every day.

 The 60" Yak just doesn't get flown often enough and it's always a joyful experience to fly that plane. We got a couple of reasonable videos out of it, but I was really just flying or fun and not playing to the camera.


 
 
Something newish for my 60" Yak is the "Oz Mod" cowling insert. It's 3D printed, and mine is painted with Testors Model Master Metalizer Magnesium paint. It seems like a nice contrast and bright enough to show off the detail. You can get the Oz Mod here.

Click On All Pictures To  Enlarge


 


 
Yak EXP__Return Of The Big Dog II from Doc Austin on Vimeo.


.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Extreme Flight 52" Extra EXP Is The Truth: UPDATE

First, a hearty thank you to our readers in Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Spain and Italy! Thank you so much for your support, and please tell your friends about my blog.


This is a video update of the adventures of my 52" Extra EXPs. I'm having so much fun flying these planes that I'm going to save myself a lot of work by updating this blog article daily instead of writing new articles every day.  I'm saving up my writing savvy for the upcoming 48" Demonstrator.


UPDATE: November 14, 2016
We had a rough spell with the weather, but now it's calmed down real nice. I had a chance to try a Xoar 15/6 propeller on my red 52" Extra and the difference in 3D ability and control was evident right away. I gave up a little top end speed, but the bigger prop blows more air over the controls when the plane is stalled. This provides more control surface response, so you can really drag this plane around very slowly. It 3Ds much better with the 15" prop.



UPDATE: November 9, 2016
A great day for America, and a great day to be flying such great American products.


 


 
November 8, 2016:  The truth is out there and it's the 52" Extra EXP
People have a lot of differing opinions on 3D Xtreme Aerobatics (3DXA)  flying, and especially 3DXA planes, which designs and which manufacturers are best. The truth, though is always in the flying, and the Extra EXP in all it's sizes is the truth.

All Pictures Click To Enlarge
 

I have to plead guilty to being an Extra man, but only because of the way they look and they way they fly. Everything an Extra does, that's the way an airplane should do it. The Extra EXP is the gold standard. Rather reprint what I have written over and over about the virtues of Extras, I have consolidated my observations about these planes on Wierd For Extras__Passion Meets Pragmatism

The 52" Extra is much the same as the 48" and 60" Extra EXPs, though I think the 52" flies even lighter than the 60, which is hard to believe. Traditionally Extras give up a little bit of 3D ability in exchange for better precision manners, but the 52" doesn't give up anything to any other plane that I can see. The 52" seems to fly so light that it does 3D as well as any of my other EXPs.


We finally got a decent day to fly the Extra! My first flight was by far the best of the day, but I was just warming up and we didn't shoot video. However, in the calm air everything clicked superbly, and now I realize I've never flown this plane in even marginally acceptable conditions. It's so good in bad conditions I wasn't really even aware how bad the winds have been was until I got to fly it in calm air!

I had not taken time to get the CG, low rate, or trim perfect because it's been just too gusty,  but today I added one click of up and it's perfect. CG remains where I started, which is on the front of the wing tube. That's where I like both my 48" and 60" Extra EXPs, and my Extra SHP too, so it seemed like a good place to start and ended up being a good place to settle in. With better conditions I will be able to dial it in better, but it's really close now.

I ended up missing my low aileron a bit and had too much, but it was only off 4% off. For a brand new design I had never flown, that a pretty good guess!

Flying Thunder Power's badass 4s 3300 Rampage 70C pack, here is where my battery ended up......

 
Running a Xoar 14/7 propeller, I've got my timer set for 4.5 minutes, and like this I am coming down with an average of 15.25 volts, which still leaves a decent margin in the pack. I can either add 30 seconds to the timer or go up to either a 14/8 or 15.7 prop, but for now I've got plenty of power and no reason to make it any harder on the power system and battery.  I have a 15/6 I am planning to try, and it will be interesting to see how much that Extra inch of prop helps with 3D. The Extra is already pretty righteous in post stall.
 
From the beginning the 3910 has delivered monster amounts of power while running smooth and cool. I've actually had more power and speed than I needed, so propping down allows me to still have big power but takes considerable stress of the whole power system.
 
I need one more flight off camera to piddle with my KE mixes because I missed by a percentage point or so, but that was a pretty good guess. It was just hard to tell in bad conditions.

Unfortunately the winds rolled back in for the flights we got on  video, but it was nowhere near as bad as previous days. It was actually quite acceptable, though we still had 10 mph wind to 15mph gusts. Still, the plane surprised me with how good it is in precision point and slow rolls when you aren't flying in a 20 mph crosswind! I've also recently rediscovered the Double Immelman maneuver, which this plane tracks through superbly. You need to have perfect loop tracking to make that maneuver look good, and once again the Extra's  smooth precision manners carry the day. There is one Double Immelman on each video I believe. It's a very impressive move when you hit it right.


Novemeber 7, 2016:
Still horrible conditions. It's still a little warm, but the big issue is high wind gusts. It's border line go-home kind of weather, but since I've got one of my camera guys on hand, we're shooting. The Extra flies really well even in the high gusts, but I have to leave myself a big margin. I like this plane too much to tear it up when it's too rough to be out there anyway.

These have been previously published on RCG and Facebook.

 

Monday, October 31, 2016

52" Extra EXP__Flight Test


I was probably looking forward to this plane too much, which made the wait even more painful. Add to that a nasty bout of the flu, and I didn't get to fly mine until two weeks after I got it. Like all really good things, though, this plane was definitely worth the wait.
 
As chronicled in 52" Extra EXP__Synergistic Integration, this is probably the nicest plane I have ever built. So many little things that take up building time were already done. Servo holes were cut and pre-drilled, and all the holes in the covering for wing tube, wing retention tabs, anti rotation pins, holes for SFG bolts, and on and on were all precut. You could almost build this plane without using a hobby knife! The only time I used a drill was for the cowling.
 
The level of prefabrication is so extreme that these two Extras were probably the easiest builds I have ever done. I was able to concentrate on the important things like getting the tail on straight and hinging perfect.
 
Click To Enlarge On All Pictures
 
 
 
After building a few EXPs, you know the method. Once had my hands on the plane, it was so familiar that I completely forgot to consult the manual and just started building it. Everything was instinctual. All four pushrods were the same length, and the servo holes were pre-cut and pre-drilled, so it would be hard to get wrong even if you tried.
 
Once I saw the red, I ordered a blue right away. Since the weather was so bad and I was still not feeling my best, flying was out of the question, so I took three full days building the blue as slowly as I could. I enjoy building anyway, but working with such a premium kit and as much time as I needed was a real luxury. I probably enjoyed this build more than any plane I have ever owned.
 
 



 
FLYING
 
"Instinctual" also applies to the Extra's flying. My overriding thought is that it's just an Extra.  This is not a dismissive observation, in fact, that is the most glowing praise I can put on a plane. It looks like and Extra, and it flies like an Extra, which are the two things I most absolutely adore about Extras.
 
So far I haven't been able to fly one of these planes in anything less than 20mph winds, but both planes handled it extremely well. Both times I had a dead 90 degree crosswind, so the conditions were very close to un-flyable. Still, years of flying EXPs gave me the confidence to just go do it.
 
Everything I have said about previous Extra EXPs applies to this one, though it does have a bit of it's own character. While the Extra's precision manners remain unchanged, it's 3D ability has been improved. This one seems to be easier to 3D than either the 48 "or 60" and I attribute some of this to the planes lightness and excess power. The plane just feels lighter, even lighter and more powerful than the 60" EXP. Some of this could be lift from the high wind, though it still felt very light even going downwind.
 

Extra 52 EXP__Synergistic Integration from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

While I did not measure it, the elevator looks like it is a larger percentage of the tail on the 48" Extra. The pitch authority on the 48" is still very, very good, and only extreme nut cases would want more. Still, it's fun to have, and the 52", even running only about 65 degrees, has more pitch authority than the others. It's almost like a 48" MXS, which considering the long, stability inducing tail moment, is quite impressive.
 
Precision maneuvers are smooth and easy. The plane tracks like an Extra, so no surprise there either. With that 90 degree crosswind trying to push the plane out, you might think slow rolls would be difficult, but the plane tracks so well it was not a big problem. Still, my slow rolls on a calm day are better, but considering the conditions the 52" was extremely solid.  
 
 
You might notice I pull a couple of stall turns in the video. Stalled and turning in a crosswind is a bad combination, but the extra tracked through those really, really well. You can see the plane come to a dead stop, hover almost, and with full rudder and a slight application of throttle, the big prop blows so much air over the rudder the plane simply pivots on the center of the wing tube an heads straight down and coming back opposite the way you went it. Generally 3D planes have so much post stall control authority that they do good stall turns, but the Extra also continues to track well, even in bad conditions. This plane stall turns about as well as a 0.60 Currare pattern plane, which is saying something.
 
This ability to pivot on the rudder so well shows up even stronger in harrier turns. You just pick the nose up, hammer the rudder with a little opposite aileron and give it some juice. The plane just spins around.

 



Notably absent from both of my Extras is a spoileron mix. I wanted to fly the plane and learn it's character before I reported using a mix other people might not want to put in. So far, I don't see a need for a spoileron mix because the plane's manners are quite impeccable. Generally I use a spoileron mix to counter sloppy pilot inducing wing rock, but this Extra harriers so well I didn't miss having the mix. The other place a spoileron mix is useful is making the plane drop absolutely dead straight down in an elevator maneuver. As you can see in the first video, the 52" doesn't need any help there either.

To sum up the flying, the 52" is everything I love about the 48" Extra, with improved 3D ability and power to weight ratio. Essentially everything on the plane s bigger and produces more lift, without sacrificing much added weight. Like this it's going to fly lighter and 3D better, and with the bad ass 3910 torqueing the prop over with authority, the whole package is peaked out all the way around.


 
 
NAIL
Being so comfortable so instantly with a brand new size of plane is a really good sign. I've been flying the 48" Extra EXP for just about six years now, and I know the plane inside and out. I'm very, very early in my relationship with the 52" Extra, and I am sure there is still a long way to go before I learn to get the most out it. The fact that I am so at home with both of my 52" Extras after only five flights grand total only speaks to how well sorted and developed the entire package is.
 
This plane is a good illustration of what goes into developing a complete product. The plane and power system are perfectly balanced and built around servos that are slightly overkill. This gives the plane room to remain relevant when power system and battery technology gives us even more performance. I believe if you invest in equipment for the 52" class planes, you will be able to get five or six years out of it before the next big thing comes along and we have another quantum leap in performance. This is probably as much performance as we can get out of a four foot plane with the technology we have available today. Performance alone makes the 52" worth having, but along with using Xessories, the quality of the kit makes the build and entire experience another level of satisfaction
 
In short, another  ground breaking and landmark achievement for Extreme Flight.
 
Set Up 
 
I ran out Xcessories arms so I reverted to the trusty Hitec PN55709 arms on the ailerons and rudder.
 
Ailerons
This is the small PN55709 arm with the ball link attached to the outer hole and the end points in my transmitter pegged. This is a little more aileron response than I am used to, and you can see that in the few times I over rolled or over snapped the plane. It also shows up in how well the plane still rolls even when it's at nearly zero airspeed.  I may dial it back a little or just keep flying it like this and adapt to it.  The extra authority is really useful at low speed. 
 
 
 
Elevator
The elevator servo arm is a standard Hitec metal arm that comes with the HS7245MH servo. They are nice arms that fit snugly, but are otherwise useless for 3DXA since they are so short. However, they are perfect for use with the G10 arm. The metal arm is just a little too long and interferes with the ball link, so I ground off the outer hole.
 
I had to open the hole in the big hole in the G10 arm a little with an Xacto, then drilled the G10 were you see the bolt. The metal arm is drilled and tapped for 2mm there, so I just spun the bolt into the arm, through the G10 arm, put a nut on the back side and some medium CA on the exposed threads. I ran some thin CA between the two arms and let it wick in,  and after that set up I finally I ran a beat of medium CA around the outside. It's never coming apart. 
 
  
This is reduced throw compare to my red 52" Extra, but it still pops as hard in parachutes, walls just as hard and doesn't seem to give up any pitch authority. I'm probably going to leave it that way.
 
 
Rudder
I'm also going to leave the rudder alone because the it barely hits the elevators with the end points pegged. I backed them off just a little and it's perfect.
 
 
 
BATTERIES
I'm still running my Thunder Power Magna 70C packs in my 48s and 55C Lightning packs in my other planes. They have lasted so long that until now I didn't have any of Thunder Power's current lineup of batteries.

 
 Since I needed new packs anyway, this was a good time to try the new 70C Rampage packs. I chose the 4s 3300 packs, and in the picture below you can see where the pack ended up at the end of the day. We were flying in 20mph gusts, and being a little nose heavy in those conditions helps the plane penetrate the wind better and stops the plane from ballooning up. I am sure as I get more time on the plane and in better conditions I will be moving it back. 
 
I've only got about three runs on each pack and the give me great punch and run cool. I've got a couple of more packs coming, so it's going to be a big winter for my 52" Extras.
 
Extra Wallpapers
3000 X 1688 jpegs suitable for use as wallpapers.