Awesome Servo Testing__ProModeler DS100DLHV

With at least two new 52" 3DHS planes coming in 2019, now's a good time to invest in the class. While these are still medium sized planes, they are very, very serious performers. While the Xpwr power system ands Xcessories are perfect for these planes, the servo argument never ends as people try to find that elusive gold plated wunder servo. 

Only this time we may have actually found it.

ProModeler's new DS100DLHV is on the leading edge of this class. It was designed specifically to fit in the Extreme Flight 52" series and outperform other manufacturer's offerings. The servo drops right in with no fuss and delivers outstanding performance, durability and reliability. This is a brand new servo that was made especially for these planes.

I'm not going to get into specifications too much. That's not what we do, but you can check the site for all the numbers if you're into that. Good specs are nice and all, but more important is what the plane is telling me, which we will get into later. To me, flying is more important than specs. However, most important spec on this servo is the staggering 100 ounces of torque. This is nearly double what have been getting. No one is going to be stalling or blowing back these servos. As a result, the servo is also (comparatively) under stressed, which always goes a long way toward assuring reliability and durability.

First, a quick look at the outside shows this is a quality piece. After you have done this hobby for awhile you can spot a quality product just by looking at it, and this is it. What interests me is what I have read and seen in pictures about the servo's design and construction. This is a serious servo that's designed to last.

You can see above the use of six bolts to secure and align the case top. This gives more precise alignment and increases torsional rigidity to assure perfect gear train alignment under all stresses, though that machined aluminum case already looks pretty darn rigid.

Most of the problems we face with these smaller servos are with the gear train getting sloppy. This leads poor overall performance, especially centering. Poor centering leads to a poor flying plane.

Nothing is more infuriating than chasing your trims all day. A nice, solid, smooth gear mesh that stays that way makes for a perfectly trimmed plane, which is why we are all looking for that perfect servo anyway, right?

Promodeler addresses this with higher quality materials and tighter tolerances. You will also notice the entire gear train is all metal with no sacrificial plastic gear.

Especially telling is how the gear pins secure in the case top. Most servos have their pins secure in plastic that can wear and even outright break, cause the servo gears to come out of alignment and center poorly (at best) or just outright lock the servo up (definitely worst).

Promodeler inserts brass bushings into the case top to secure the pins, so they will stay in perfect alignment after a lot of use, or even hard usage.  Also noteworthy here is how the output bearing is pressed into and aligned in the case top. Good alignment minimizes friction and makes for a smooth running servo. 

I can tell from the smooth gear mesh that they will be extremely long lasting.. I do not expect them to get loose or sloppy. This assures good centering, which to me is possibly the servo's most important attribute.

I'm not a tech guy and this isn't a tech blog, so that's as teched out as we are going to get. I did, however, want you to see the insides of the servo and how well they are built. As a result of this quality design, engineering, material and construction coming together, you get a super powerful, smooth running, long lasting product.

I highly recommend reading ProModeler's John Beech excellent article on how ProModeler servos are engineered and manufactured with special insight into the DS100. That can tell you a lot more about the servo than I can, and it was enough to convince me these were worth a try. I also now know a lot more about servos in general than I ever have.

FLYING

Extra EXP__Awesome Servo Testing from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding ProModeler lately, and after reading about the servos and studying the photos of the internals, I was expecting a lot. I got an appreciation of the servo's quality installing them, running them, and setting up the control surfaces. The centering caught my attention right away, maybe because that was the improvement I was looking for most, but also because these are the best centering servos by far that I have ever seen. By far, and while this stood out on the bench, the difference this makes in the air is pretty stark.

So, you can see I went in with high expectations, even though I was trying to temper that a little. You never want to get caught up in the hype, but then again, this time it was impossible because just working with the servos and setting them up went so smoothly, and of course the servos run so smoothly that I was already pretty happy. Seeing the quality on the inside of the servo from pictures, and sampling the quality on the outside working with them, it was hard not to be convinced even before I flew them, but remember, flying is the only part that counts.

Extra EXP__Awesome Servo Testing II__Uncut from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

After a quick trim pass I turned the plane around and immediately felt the difference when I let go of the stick. The plane stayed exactly where I put it as I stood there watching it fly completely across the field in a dead straight line. Immaculate centering, and we weren't just lucky either. After repeated turns, snaps, and spins in both directions, the plane always came out exactly were I put it and stayed there, kind of like an airplane is supposed to do.

You trim it and forget it, and after a full eight flights (so far), I still have not touched my initial trim settings. The plane has also gone where I pointed it and stayed where I put it every single time. ProModeler servos undergo a one million cycle test during development testing, and I have no trouble believing these servos will center like a vice for at least that long. After repeated rolls, snaps, spin, etc, nothing could shake off the trim lock these servos provide. Zero trim shift a full eight flights in as compared to some servos that drift back and forth every pass across the field.

This...... right here.......Takes us to the next level.

Now, you don't fight the plane. Now you can concentrate 100% on flying the plane, and completely forget about the trims. Forget about the set up. Forget about everything except you and the plane and the sky, which is what all of this is supposed to be about anyway. I can't even begin to explain how important this behavior is in instilling confidence in the pilot, and taking a huge work load off him. When the servos center properly the plane stays trimmed. The pilot can relax and let the plane do the work. You don't have to fight the plane every inch of the way, or put up with it fighting you. You point it where you want it to go, relax, and then tell it what to do when it gets there.

Point, shoot, relax, repeat. Special focus on the relax part. Yesterday was some of the easiest flying I have ever done, all while pushing the plane hard as hell.

Just in centering alone it was a milestone day for me. With the plane flying so much more precisely, I was able to fly it more precisely instead of making corrections all the time. You can see in the videos my flying gets better and better as I become more and more confident the plane is going to go into a maneuver the way I want it, and come our where I want it, and stay where I put it. The plane is infinitely easier to fly like this.

So, we could stop right now and fully justify, and more, switching to these servos, but there's even more. I do want to point at that at this point, even without considering the other attributes, I was still satisfied.

When it comes to torque, now we have double of what we are used to using. Even that was sufficient, but now there's a new zing to snaps and tumbles. At the moment, while waiting on a longer servo arm, I am running less than my usual amount of elevator throw, but the response is so fast and strong that I may not change it. It's working so leave it alone! The Extra is such a benign plane that it is not the ideal plane to demonstrate walls and parachutes with, but there are several of those in all the video and you can see for yourself those come off with absolutely no stalling or blowback. Nothing. Again, we are dealing with double the torque that we are used to. A fast servo doesn't help unless you have the torque to push that control surface against the elements, and this servo excels here. Double torque.

The faster speed caught me out a little. Initially the plane felt jumpy, but that was just the instant response. It is so much faster than what I am used to that I was over controlling the plane on entry to maneuvers, and it looked like someone who was either not very good, or had too much control in the plane. By the end of the first day I had adapted to that and it wasn't so bad, but this was something I had to get a grip on.

Overnight I had a bit of a rethink and as usual, setup is everything and that's where the answer was. I have been dialing my expo back since I started flying electronic stability systems, so I had room to put some back in. I put 10% more back and the next day all trace of the problem completely disappeared. Now I can put the servo's smoothness more to work, and you'll see that in the next set of videos which we hope to have soon.

Extra EXP__Awesome Servo Testing III from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Intangibles, And The Nail

So, we have checked all the boxes with a score of excellent. The quality of engineering and construction was never in question. It was just a matter of how they did in the air that was left to be tested. Torque is more than we actually need, but nice to have, and speed was more than I could deal with until I tamed it with a little expo. So far the servo is outperforming the pilot, and I'm sure they will probably outlive me too.

The only thing I have not had the time to test is the durability, but at this point I have no doubts. I've seen the insides and I've seen them in action. I've felt the difference they make. This was like test driving a Porsche. After half a lap around the block you didn't even need to drive it hard and you just knew you had your hands on a bad ass quality hot rod. These servos are bad ass quality hot rods.

The final piece is the intangible, and those are almost impossible to put into words. It's the feeling you get, and with these, the simplest way to explain it is that the plane feels magical. Again, it goes and stays where you put it, and it does that every single time. Essentially, you have absolute control of the plane like never before. These have always been nice planes, but now with these servos the plane responds so much better and so much more precisely that it goes from really nice plane to deadly serious 3DXA weapon.

This showed up in how much more precisely I was able to line the plane up for maneuvers, and how close I could cut my margins. I used to need more margin because the plane was never super fine trimmed and centering perfectly, but now that it is, if I put it somewhere, that's where it goes. I never have to make corrections on my entry because the plane is always flying straight, and this makes the maneuver, and especially the exit straight, like it's supposed to look.

The most telling comments came from my friends who were gobsmacked with how much better I was flying just overnight. I'de like to claim I'm flying better, but to be real, it's the plane that's flying better, much, that is. The most common comment was something like "that thing is locked in. What the heck did you do to get it like that?" The plane was flying so much better it allowed me to excel with it instead of fighting it. The higher performance makes the plane easier to fly and easier to look good with.

My final observation after flying yesterday is probably the one thing we should take away from all this. I have never felt more connected to a plane, and have never been able to extract as much performance as I can now, and it's all down to this simple change.

I knew what faster servos would feel like. I knew how more torque would play out. I knew what a colossal improvement laser like centering would make. What caught me by surprise is just how much difference it would make when added together, and how much better the plane would fly, and allow me to fly.

Nail: EPIC

Set Up

Changing to a different brand of servo and using different servo arms could have been a major adjustment requiring a lot of guessing, missing, and tinkering, but this was a breeze. Promodeler's excellent PDRS101 polymer 1" servo arms are essentially identical to the Hitec arms I have been using, only they offer an additional hole's worth of throw. You can spend a lot of money on arms, or you can use these which aren't as snazzy, but they get the job done that way it's supposed to get done. No fuss. They just work.

Ailerons

No drama here. This plane had previously flown with HS85MG servos, so all that was required was drilling the servo holes and changing out the servo arm. Here notice that I used the second hole from the outside. This gives you about 31-33 degrees of throw, which is what I like on these planes. If you need more throw, there's another hole available.

Rudder

Again with the 1" arm and using the second hole, I have nearly perfect thrown both directions. I wish there was more to add, but it's just simple and it works. It doesn't make thrilling reporting, but it does make for easy and reliable set up, which is more important.

Elevator

Here I used the 1" arm and the outer hole. Usually use an Xcessories 1.25" arm to get 88 degrees of throw, but I did not have any in the required 25 tooth spline. I can order that next week, but for now with the 1" ProModeler arm and my end points cranked, I can get about 70 degrees, which for most people is well more than enough.

Extra EXP__The Radical Project

 

 

As seen in the past with my 47" SHP and 48" MXS EXP, I like to take familiar old planes I know like the back of my hand and throw everything new I know at them, along with all the latest and greatest equipment I can get my hands on. In short, I try to radicalize the place, and make the ultimate version of it. Technology moves on, but it also takes the older planes right along with it and makes them even better.

While the newer 52" EXPs are a big step forward, the 48" EXPs are still very potent machines. They were pretty close to perfect to begin with, but by using the newest equipment we can take them to another level of performance. Equipment, however, is another story, and equipment like servos and batteries have ben improved massively. Add to that how good Electronic Stability Systems have become, and we can make the entire package better than ever.

So, we're set. The new plane will have every trick I have learned in 10 years of flying this airframe extensively, all the best equipment I can find, and of course, a good ESS.

Also, if this is your first EXP build, I suggest you check out my article on Miscellaneous Build And Set Up Tricks.   

 

FLYING

Astute readers will remember that I have already written a considerable amount about this plane. You can either use the search feature at the top of the page or scan the chronological archive on the right of this page to find these articles.

 

The Extra should have been my first EXP, but at the time they were out of stock and I ended up getting one after first, the Edge EXP, and then the MXS EXP. I had already gotten used to the EXP lineup's additional stability and using bigger control surfaces and increased throw to get the agility back, so moving into the Extra was more of a sideways move than a radical one. Right away I loved the long, pattern plane-like moments of the Extra, and in precision really appreciated the improved tracking.

 

As I trusted the plane more and more in 3D, and pushed it harder and harder, it just became better and better. This trust increased over the last 10 years until the plane became like an old pair of slippers, and there was no circumstance where I did not know exactly what to expect from the plane. I also knew exactly what to expect any time I tried a set up change, though this settled in pretty quickly and I am running essentially the same CG and throws I was 10 years ago.

Extra EXP__Stabilized from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

These planes have always flown close to perfect right out of the box. There is a certain intangible with this plane and that's the confidence it inspires. Maiden flights became a simple matter of checking the trim and then flying it like it was a plane I had been flying for years.

 

The 48" Extra EXP was my go-to airplane right up until the 52" Extra and Slick came out, and then I sort of lost interest in the 48". This turned out to be a bit of a mistake because I still had all the equipment, most of it serviced, cleaned up and ready to go. Essentially, that was money just sitting there. Having a small amount of Scottish blood in my lineage, I found this to be unacceptable.

While the Extra is very much renowned for it's precision attributes, it's always been very much underrated for it's 3D chops. In high rotation maneuvers like walls and parachutes the Extra will actually slide. For example, if you do a high speed parachute and hold the elevator in, the Extra will pop to level, and then drop into a High speed sinking elevator maneuver. This can be a little unsettling the first few times you try it, but the plane stays stable the entire time. The unsettling part is watching the plane go in a direction different from which it is pointed, but it's so amusing you get used to that pretty quickly, and it becomes a remarkable tool.  I learned 3D on Extras, so to me this is how a plane is supposed to fly. It was when I got into planes that don't slide so much I realized not all planes do this as well and it's a useful flying characteristic.

Extra EXP__Closing Out 18 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Once you know what to expect and it's fun to fly the plane in one direction while it's pointed another. It's almost like sliding a car on purpose on a wet road, or sliding a sprint car on dirt. You can slide the plane into harrier turns like this too, but I suggest you work a lot of parachutes and walls to get the feel for it before you try anything like that down low. This is what separates the Extra for the other 48" EXPs that share the same wing.

The 52s are still a quantum leap forward, but the 48s are still so good they can't be overlooked. They are still jolly good fun to fly. Most of us have a handful of HS65MGs, a power system, and maybe even some 4s 2250-2700 battery packs laying around. It makes sense to keep using it until you get your money out of it, and an Extra EXP is the best way I can think of to do that.

 

 

  

 

Extra Stabilized

Thankfully the resistance to electronic stability is subsiding. It took some of the accomplished pilots embracing this concept to change the minds of others, much like it was when computer radios were introduced. Now though, enough people are having so much remarkable success that even the naysayers are reconsidering. I figure in five years you won't be able to buy a radio that does not have it built in. I'm certainly ok with anything that makes the plane fly better or allows the pilot to enjoy it more.

To bridge the gap to the new 52s, I first tried an ESS in my 48" MXS. That was such a mind blowing difference that I knew it was only a matter of time before I wanted a new Extra and install one in that. While a good ESS is superb in a 52", it's simply black magic in a 48" MXS, so I was expecting, and got, the same kind of improvement in a 48" Extra.

The Extra's basic character does not change much with an ESS. It's still an Extra. It just gets better. Like with the MXS, you keep the small plane agility, but get big plane stability, so that's the best of everything. The ESS unit I am using gives you more stability. but gets out of the way when to are trying to do something violent. The Extra is not a violent kind of plane anyway, though it's certainly capable enough at this. The Extra rewards smooth, precise flying more than anything, and flying it so much has been instrumental in improving my game here.

The way I set my ESS up, you hardly know it's there. The plane just flies better, so this Extra is just more of what I have always loved about these planes. Precision manners are improved simply because any bad air you fly through is neutralized by the ESS. In even slightly bumpy air it can be difficult to set up something like a slow roll because a gust can pitch the nose up or down which is not a good way to start a precision move. When you fly in close, this looks even worse, so having the plane track better is a useful improvement.

Extras 3D really well, but if you are sloppy you can get some wing rock. As odd as this may sound, if you try to fly too smoothly transitioning from  full flight into post stall 3D, you can stall one wing before the other and drop that wing a bit. It's not going to spin into the ground or anything, but it does look sloppy. This is just how a triple taper wing flies, and you are better off yanking it into 3D and stalling both wings at once. However, with the ESS, all of this goes away and now the Extra is every bit as good in 3D as an Edge. You can walk it up and down the runway with the nose way up in the air and the wings don't wiggle even a little bit.

In the end, this is the same Extra we have all loved for over a decade. The newer high voltage servos make the plane livelier, and with better, more precise centering. Essentially, this alone makes the plane better than ever, but the addition of a good ESS simply catapults it to yet another level.

 

EQUIPMENT

Airframe

This is still the Extra EXP we have always had a love affair with, and the factory has been building them for so long they have it really locked down. Fit an finish is even more flawless than ever before.

So, not much is very different, except quality is better,  but it doesn't need to be either. This plane was pretty much perfect by the time I got my first one ten yeas ago. After all the new planes that have come out you might think I am getting tired of the old girl, but timeless and classic are the two best terms I can find to describe her.

For an in depth look at the Extra EXP's features and construction please check out Extreme Flight Extra 300 EXP__Clean Sheet

 

 

 

I was scraping nickels together to make this plane happen, so I wasn't going to be able to buy a set of custom decals for it. Fortunately I had a few left over other projects and all I needed to buy were the Extreme Flight deals for the elevator. With the Big X and white SFG decals it's got a few different look, which is a good thing after all the years I've been looking at this plane. While I will probably never get tired of looking at this plane, the fresh appearance is very welcome.

Hardware

The hardware that comes with the kits is top notch, but with the new lineup of Xcessories hardware we will be doing some minor upgrades. I really like the Xcessories cowl and servo screws, and the twisted servo extension wires. Outside of that, everything else comes out of the box.

The rest of the standard hardware pack has performed so well and been so durable there is no reason on earth to try anything else.  One small change, though, is the new tail wheel assemblies now feature a one piece machined aluminum tiller arm. This piece is so durable I have ripped the entire assembly off the plane in a crash, and all I had to do was beat it back into shape, and it was ready to keep using. It's still on one of my planes, but I can't tell you which one because it still works so well I forgot about it.

Servos

In the past, when radicalizing these 48" planes, I have used Hitec HS5070MH (and HS5087MH on the elevator) 7.2 volt servos. These have served me so well that I don't have a reason to change. They are smooth, quick, have tremendous torque and good centering, and are trouble free, which is all you can really ask from a servo. That's actually quite a lot to ask from servos this size in such a powerful plane that puts so much stress on them.

 I also have a set of these 7.4 volt servos sitting on the shelf, courtesy of a fresh service from Hitec's excellent service department. These servos had been wrung out for two years my SHP, but I have enough confidence in Hitec service to put them in a brand new plane.

Battery Eliminator Circuit

Since these are 7.4 - 8.0 servos I am going with the always reliable Castle 10 amp BEC set to 8.0 volts. It's small. light and reliable enough that the only time I  ever smoked one was when I soldered it up backwards, but they are not warrantied for idiots. Stunk like hell though!

Once you have the BEC's leads properly soldered, the only concern is making sure you mount it in the airflow. These planes have so much air moving through them that it almost doesn't matter, so I picked a spot down low that would keep the BEC and wiring out of the way. I used Velcro to facilitate easy installation and removal.

 

 

Power System

I had considered using the insanely powerful Xpwr 3910 motors on this plane, just to really radicalize it.  I tried one briefly in my last 48 Extra and MXS, but it was so much motor that I was hanging on it the whole time I was flying. It was certainly fun, but I don't think I flew it real well. That or it was just so much power it made the plane too hard to fly. It was certainly crazy fun, but in the end I am going with what we already know is the perfect power system for this plane.

When I first started electrics I didn't have a clue how they worked, and not surprisingly had some reliability issued. These completely disappeared when I flew my first Extreme Flight Torque 2814 and Airboss 45 Elite Electronic Speed Controller (ESC). It was so smooth and powerful with such a beautiful sound I have never wanted to stray from Torque/Airboss (and Xpwr) brands. In fact, this motor is  the reason I wanted to fly for them, but that was still a few years off.

There are a lot of good ways to mount the electronic speed controller, but the method in the manual is the cleanest and easiest. Mounting it on the bottom of the motor box puts the ESC square in to cooling air coming in from the Extra's chin scoop and also puts the plug for the batter right where it's easy to get to.

Here you can see I made a block out of balsa to lift the ESC up a little and over the first former. This way I can slide it back a little and get the deans plug closer to the battery and make hooking it all up a little easier.

 

In the end, like a lot of  you, I was scratching and clawing at every nickel I could find to make the plane happen, so having a brand new set up made the choice easier. I may try a 3910 later when I have some more jack, but I have always been so happy with this power system I may not. Worst case scenario is that it will still be pretty fantastic.

When you order your plane, opt for the power system combo. This gets you the airframe, Torque 2814 motor and Airboss 45 Elite power system at a cool $70 savings.

Mounting The ESS

While I currently have experience setting up only one brand of ESS they all share the requirement of having a solid mounting. If the ESS is not mounted solidly, it can move around, which the ESS interprets as the plane moving around. This can make for a wonky flying plane, which defeats not only the purpose of the ESS, but that of having a good airframe to start with.

When I installed my first ESS, it mounted it on the receiver tray so I would not have to rearrange my servo leads, and maybe need to change the lengths. The receiver tray on these planes is not super stiff, but then again it does not need to be for just a receiver. The receiver does not care, but the ESS certainly does. With the ESS there, the plane didn't really lock in that well, but moving it to a solid shelf made an incredible difference.

Here you can see I have the receiver mounted like always, and now I have he ESS mounted on a solid, rigid balsa shelf. This was not a big job, because the carbon rods in the fuselage makes a nice mounting point. The only hard part was sizing it and getting the angles on the sides match those on the fuse.

 

My previous planes were excellent, though since I started mounting the ESS more solidly, they are much sore stable and locked in. This us a crucial point. If you are running something like a Spectrun with AX3X, you just need to stiffen the receiver tray.

Also make sure you keep all the wires nice and tidy because there have been several reports of the plugs working their way out with catastrophic results. Keep it clean, keep it tidy and you reduce the changes of that happening. Some guy have even used hot glue to secure their leads, which is not a bad idea, but a clean installation can solve that issue too.

 

Set Up Photos

We're going to depart from out usual format here because I've already written so much about the set up there isn't much to add. Therefore, I am sticking this part on the end.

While we are upgrading the servos, my linkages and set up have been the same since I started flying these planes in 2010. The only change at all has been the elevator servo arm because what I was originally flying was prone to becoming sloppy and wiggling around on the servo output shaft.  Here you can see the Hitec PN55709 arm. These have been terrific, though I have also used the Xessories 1.5" arm which I like much better. I ran out of those, but I can always change it out later.

 

For the other servos, I still use the set up that comes right in the manual. You may notice the back area around the rudder servo. That's a wood piece I used to shim the servo out and away from the inside of the opposite fuselage side. The 5070s are a bit tall will bottom out unless you space the servo out.

 

 

 

Laser EXP__Conquering The High Winds

 

A lot of people really struggle with flying in the wind, which is why in 2015 I wrote High Wind Testing__How To Survive The Elements. The advice in that article is still good, though as technology advances it became time for an update.

 

Our 48" airplanes are roughly equivalent to 1/8th or 1/10th scale. Let's call it 10th scale and keep the math easy. Flying a 48" span plane in 8mph winds is a scale speed of 80mph which equates to a small hurricane.  Of course that's bit dramatic and our planes handle that kind wind of and pretty well, but it does demonstrate what we are up against in anything but calm conditions.

 

I feel sort of uniquely qualified to talk about wind because I fly in Pinellas County, which I have read is the wind shear capital of the world. We are almost always flying in 10mph or better, and as such you sort of get used to it and develop your own techniques for dealing with it. Much of those are in High Wind Testing__How To Survive The Elements, but they are only good on a reasonable day.

 

That, and some people just can't deal with it at all, and some just get so spooked that they won't even try. You are not going to learn how to deal with the conditions unless you actually try it, but once the flags starts to stand out a little most fields become deserted. There's only one way you can help those folks, and that's to encourage them to use the available technology. More and more sport fliers who used to pack up early because of the wind are now staying later and later with the use of a good stability system. More and more students are actually making it all the way through their basic training, and doing it faster than before, because they can now fly when before they were too terrified. For the sport community this has been a really big boom.

 

Stability systems are also really good even for experienced pilots, and especially advanced 3DXA pilots. 3D planes are generally really good in the wind because they have so much control that you can fight your way out of most problems high wind can throw at you. Still, that's good fun only for so long. A good stability system keeps you in the air long after you would ordinarily bail.

 

We have too much invested in these planes to be tearing them up just because we don't want to wait for a better day. Some guys work five or six days a week, so waiting for them might mean two or three weeks. For those guys, being able to fly in the wind is essential, but now we have the answer for them.

 

For these videos I used a musical soundtrack on the first one, but the wind is ripping so hard the music doesn't cover it. In the second and third videos I just left the sound alone so you can hear for yourself what we were dealing with.

 

A bit of a disclaimer here: We are professional clowns. If you try this at home your results might not be as humorous.

Laser EXP__High Wind Testing 001 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

When you get into really ridiculous winds, you are going to need some help, and that's also where a
good stability system comes in. Since we started testing these we have flown more and more in conditions that would ordinarily have kept us in the shop. Not only that, but as long as you pay attention to the wind direction and not get caught out down wind, you can still fly pretty aggressively in anything up to 25mph winds, and maybe even beyond.

 

I went into our ESS experiments expecting the planes to track and groove better, so that didn't surprise me. It did catch me out that a good stability system almost cancels out a lot of turbulence and bad air, and generally turns a windy day into a nice one. OK, I'm not saying go fly in a hurricane, but most people can certainly go out on days that usually keep them away.

 

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me has been that even on a really crappy 25mph day, I did not have to alter my flying all that much other than watching my downwind speed and not getting too slow. The worst thing a bad wind day does to you comes from wind gusts. A sharp blast can not only knock

you off course, but it can also either put you in the ground or make you fight for your life. With an ESS, a lot of this simply disappears. Choppy wind can really knock you around, but now it's not nearly as bad.

 

We did not intend to write windy day flying article. We just planned to go flying. I was just going out to have a few laughs with my friend Jimmy K (who also does awesome camerawork for me).

The forecast looked good, but when we got there the conditions were so bad we almost scrubbed the day. However, we were already there when the wind picked up, and we are a bit crazy, so why not give it a try? I wanted to see just how much a stability system could help, or if it would be useless in such bad conditions. It was so dicey that we wanted to keep the camera rolling, just in case it got the better of one of us. 

All Pictures: Click To Enlarge

For these videos I inadvertently selected my beloved 48" Laser. This is an incredibly special plane for me, and I sort of retired her to display when I started flying the new 52"s. She is way too good of an airplane to let sit, and I thought that adding an ESS would give her some new life. Like with my MXS seen in New Life For The 48" EXP , the Laser exceeded any expectations I placed on her.

 

I'm so back in love with my Laser that I am planning to build a 48" Extra. I always loved those planes and if it can be improved as much as the MXS and Laser have, I am all in.

 

 

 

I am going to stop short here so that people can watch the videos and make up their own minds. After the first video the conditions became even worse. In one video you will see me land and go chase after my hat, which blew off more than once. Usually you quit when it gets that bad, but you can see the plane stayed composed through almost all of it.

 

Laser EXP__High Wind Testing 002 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

 

Now the latest two videos which were shot in bear ideal conditions. Toy can see it does not look much different because the ESS essentially equalizes the conditions.. Sire, I'm more precise and smooth in the good conditions, but the gap between that and bad conditions has been substantially reduce.

 

The message is pretty clear here: if you want optimum performance in bad conditions that ground everyone else, a good ESS is a great tool.

Laser EXP__Eye Of The Storm from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

Extreme Flight Laser EXP__Life is Good from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

New Life For The 48" EXP

Thanks to all my friends and followers at Facebook for reading this article. On the first day we are closing in on 1000 views, and I am really pleased about that. Please share this with your friends.

 

 

The 48" EXP lineup has performed so brilliantly for so long and they are still deadly effective 3XDA weapons. In the rush to build and fly the latest and greatest offerings, it's easy to sort of take them for granted, but I believe that's a mistake. I wholeheartedly recommend them, especially if you already have one and some spare parts, batteries. and equipment. 

 

There have been so many cool new 52" and 60" EXPs coming out that a lot of us have sort of  set our faithful 48" EXPs aside and have flown the latest, greatest and coolest instead. This gave me the opportunity to build, fly and experiment with the new 60" Slick V2 (which, BTW, is an utterly terrific plane) and the 52" Slicks and Extras. Sadly, there was not enough time to fly my beloved 48s, but now I am getting back to them..

 

A lot of guys though, either have a bond with their 48s, or buying completely new equipment for another size plane is too expensive for them. A lot of people aren't making the move to 52" simply because they are so invested in 48s with spare servos and power systems sitting on the shelf. I faced that problem too, so I feel your pain. I asked myself what we could do to help the guys who are still trying to get the most out of their 48" EXPs and their investment in them. The answer is so obvious that it took me a couple of days to dawn on me: install an Electronic Stability System (ESS).

 

 Inside my 48" MCX 

 

 

Admittedly the 52 is always going to fly better because they have the latest aerodynamic advances and lighter construction, not to mention bigger planes generally fly better. However, with an ESS the 48" EXP can more than hold it's own with the newest planes. If you have 48s it makes sense to upgrade them and get even more enjoyment and life out of them. 

 

And, while the difference between setting up a new 48" or a new 52" is not really that much more money, if you are scratching and clawing at nickels trying to put together a killer 3DXA plane, that money makes a less expensive 48" more practical. Many times that extra $100 has made one of my projects grind to a halt, so for the budget minded, a new 48" is probably a good choice.

 

If you are switching to 52s, your 48" suddenly got a little more expendable, didn't it?  This makes it perfect for installing an ESS and learning how to get the most out of one of those systems. This is better than getting it wrong in the new plane, right? If you smash it, you weren't flying it anyways, so why not have some fun, install an ESS and learn enough that you know what you are doing when you do get a new 52" or 60"? It's also great having a plane you don't have to be so careful with, priceless, actually.

 

I was so sold on the 52s that I was going to sell off or crash the rest of my 48s and then switch wholesale to all 52" EXPs, but installing an ESS in my two remaining 48" MXS has so completely transformed them that I think I can get another five years out of them.

 

 I'm not going into brands or set up here because I already did that in Slick 580 EXP__Flying With An Electronic Stability System.  Where I am going with this article is to point out installing an ESS will make your 48" EXP fly so well that you will want to keep flying it. You might even want a new one, and I am planning to build a new 48" Extra with an ESS.

 

Old Faithful

I have two really sweet MXS that are three and four years old respectively. The primary is the plane I first tested Hitec's excellent 7.4 - 8.0 volt HS5070MH and 5087MH servos in,  and it's always been the king of badass. I later tested one of the first Xpwr 3910s in this plane, but it was so overpowered I was a little bit too afraid of it, and put my Torque  2814 back in it.

 

 

 

This plane is still in such good shape that people often ask me if it's a new plane, so I figured it is worth doing something special with. I had some graphics made up from 3M high performance vinyl, and that also completely transformed the plane that I plan to update my other MXS.  I've always love this color scheme but I wanted it to have something worthy of it being such a nice plane. I really love how she looks now. 

Flying

 

I was planning to keep my two 48" MXS anyway, at least if/until Extreme Flight brings us a 52" MXS. I've been quite enjoying them, and they are still really solid flying planes. Putting an ESS in my primary MXS so completely transformed it that I am rediscovering it all over again. The amount of improvement was so great it truly surprised me. I was ready for it to be better, but I was not expecting as much improvement  as I got. I would say of all the planes I have tested with an ESS, the MXS is the one that has had the most startling improvement.

 

The MXS has always been an outer limits performance kind of plane. but it's short coupling and triple taper wing made it the most advanced flying plane in the lineup. The performance has always been there, but you had better know what you are doing, and previously this was not the best plane for the inexperienced. With an ESS, the performance is still there, but now the MXS is about as stable and easy as an Edge, which is the benchmark of easy in a 3DXA plane.

 

If you compare these to earlier MXS videos, you can see how effortless it is to toss the plane around with abandon, and in complete confidence too.  To get supreme agility, you have to give up some stability, but with an ESS this compromise vanishes. Combining the stability of an ESS with the MXS wild character gives you the best of both of those attributes. The plane is now more stable than ever, but ESS is advanced enough to get out of the way when you want to do a violent maneuver. Basically it's still the same advanced flying, wild assed  MXS, but now she has a softer side. It's no longer a plane strictly for advanced pilots. This plane is now stable enough that almost anyone with a little 3DXA experience can jump right in and look like a pro.

 

The biggest improvement is in harrier performance. The MXS could wing rock some if you were sloppy, but again, I now compare the 48" EXP to the Edge, which is the king of harrier. You can also see the MXS is still capable if some pretty violent stuff and has amazing agility. Even rolling the plane on the deck is now easier and much less scary because the plane remains stable, and it pretty much does everything you tell it to do, goes where it's pointed, and stays where you put it. Unless you are flying in small craft warning conditions, the wind hardly affects the plane at all. We edited the first video with no music just so you could hear how bad the wind was that day, and how I had enough confidence in it to fly it harder and lower with no regard for the conditions. Essentially you don't even know the ESS is there. The airplane just feels a lot better and you can push ridiculously harder.

 

In the end, if you have some 48s, this is probably the best thing you can do for them.  A good ESS is the improvement that really makes these planes sing. I'm going to absolutely wear my remaining 48s and their equipment out, and maybe even put all my spare equipment together and build up a new 48" Extra.

MXS EXP__Bad Attitude 2018 from Doc Austin on Vimeo.

MXS EXP__Bad Attitude 2018 Pt.II from Doc Austin on Vimeo.