Extreme Flight Extra EXP V2__How To Update Perfection

 

The Extreme Flight 48" Extra EXP is such a perfect plane in every respect that I didn't think there would ever be any improving it. Everything the Extra EXP does is the way an airplane is supposed to do things. My first Extra EXP completely changed how I thought about 3D flying, and most assuredly was instrumental in my development as a pilot. As over 10,000 sales suggests, I am far from alone. It's convenient, practical, and affordable size has kept it as my primary plane for over a decade, but time, technology, and Extreme Flight's never ending crusade for perfection means it's time to upgrade with the arrival of the new 48" Extra EXP V2.

Foundation
Before we move on to talk about the Extra EXP V2, it's worth mentioning the foundation laid by the original V1. It is so well executed that it survived and thrived in the savage 48" 3D market for over a decade, and considering the way other planes come and go, that's an extraordinary achievement. The V1 was a revolutionary plane in many respects. It was one of the first to employ the extensive use of mixed composite materials and geodetic construction. There are many things pioneered by the V1 that we simply take for granted now, but at the time this plane was a mind bending leap into the future. It was also absolutely perfect for the kind of flying we do, with the right blend of stability and agility. It was essentially perfect, but now that definition is changing.

The planes have become so much better and so much more capable that we had to change the way we flew them. 3D began with a bunch super lightweight, super fragile planes that hovered and puttered around all day. Once we started flying them fast and doing high stress maneuvers the planes didn't hold up so well, and that's why mixed composites are so valuable in keeping the planes light, and also adding the strength and stiffness needed to really hammer on them.

We are now flying the planes so hard that 3D doesn't describe it any more. The game has become so different, we had to start calling it something different,  and this is where the term 3DXA (3d Extreme Aerobatics) comes from.

The original Extra EXP was in on the ground floor of this movement, and with a few V2 tweaks here and there, plus the use of superior engineering and futuristic mixed composites, she should be set for another 10 year run at the top of the food chain.

As the V1 flies of into the final sunset, the V2 is truly the dawn of the new age of 3DXA.

 

 

 

V2 Features and Kit Build
With this kind of foundation, there really wasn't a lot that needed to be changed. Most of the updates to the V2 revolve around building it out of lighter, stiffer, and stronger composite material. A lighter plane is going to fly better, and a stiffer plane is going to be more lively and precise.

As seen on other V2 models, Extreme Flight is moving ahead with the extended use of carbon and mixed composite materials. Previous 48" Extras used carbon rods to support the motorbox, but the V2 has the newer, angled side motorbox, which is also heavily reinforced with carbon. This is not only more stiff than the previous motorbox, but also simplifies the design and gives you a lot more room to work when changing out the battery. Combined with the V2 composite top, sides and bottom of the motorbox, plus carbon formers all the way to the back of the battery compartment, this is the strongest, stiffest 48" we have ever seen. We leaned in pylon racing that a stiffer motor mounting transfers the most power to the propeller itself instead of wasting it by flexing and absorbing it. This is simply better engineering.

Generally the V2 is stronger all the way around, but it's not like the V1 needed any more of that. I never broke one in the air, and even in outright crashes the planes held up extremely well. Where the V2 treatment really comes into play is in the air, where all this strength,  and especially stiffness gives you a more precise plane. Nothing is flexing or moving, so the plane stays straight and flies straight even under the most extreme stress. This is crucial with snaps and tumbles, walls, pop tops, and other high stress maneuvers, where it helps you control the entry and exit better. Once you figure out the timing it's easier to make the plane come out pointed exactly where you want it, which becomes more of a precision thing than just mindlessly flopping around and waiting to see where it comes out.

 

I have got a lot of flights on my 52s, which feature the same mixed composite construction. I've crashed a few of them and while it hurt, all of them were easily repaired in crashes that would have cremated other planes. So, you get a stronger, better flying, more durable and longer lasting plane. I don't recommend you abuse these planes, but they don't seem to suffer a lot from it.

Again, like all the other V2s, this one features the self jigging horizontal stabilizer. You simply jam it all the way forward and it locks into place perfectly aligned. I've build 10 or 12 planes using this feature and they all came out perfect. I measure them anyway, and I recommend that, simply because I want to be sure.

Mostly this eliminates the most stressful and time consuming part of the job. I used to spend about an hour on this, but now I push the stab forward, measure it, and it's always perfect. Having a bit of OCD with these planes, I measure it over and over, and this part is probably the most time consuming part of the build. 

In general the build went so easy I can heartily recommend this plane as a first balsa build. The only part of the build that took much skill and patience was the hinging, and my secrets for that are in my Miscellaneous Build And Set Up Tricks article.

Aside from the stab and hinging, everything else on the build is a simple bolt on operation. If you are not happy with it, simply take it apart and do it over. Since once glued, you can't do that with the stab and hinging, it makes sense to do those first when you are fresh, take your time and build patiently.

As such, your best tool is going to be patience, and forget about the claims people make about building in X amount of time. It's not a macho contest. Generally it takes me seven or eight hours, but remember, I've been building planes my whole life, had good teachers and know the tricks. I also cheat and have all the sub assemblies (landing gear, pushrods, power system, etc) assembled ahead of time using spares.

Don't rush it , and it takes as long as it takes to get it right. Mostly I enjoy working with such quality equipment and I am usually disappointed it didn't take longer. I used to hate building but now it's almost like it's another hobby. Slow down and enjoy! The Extra went together so perfectly with so little effort that it was done before I was ready to stop! After being locked down for so long with nothing to do it was a real treat to have something to build, but it went too fast! I guess I had better get a yellow one right away!

Hardware
I don't like a lot of change just for the sake of change, so I'm really glad Extreme Flight has kept the same hardware package we've been using since the introduction of the EXP series. It's all tough, reliable stuff that we all know forward and backward, which makes it easy to work with. It's also nearly bullet proof, but it's nice most of us have a good supply of spares built up over the years.

There are a few changes here, but they are all good. Most of the Phillips head bolts have been replaced by Xessories titanium colored case hardened allen bolts. You can use the same allen tool to check the landing gear, and cowl screws. Not only does this simplify pre-flight inspection, but they just look really good and the titanium color goes along nicely with the composite construction's modern, hi tech look.

Equipment

Power System

Once again, it's going to be the Torque 2814/Airboss 45 ESC power system. I have been using this combination in my 48" planes, again, for over a decade. Reliability and durability has been 100% dead solid perfect. There is more power than you actually need, with enough to give unlimited vertical performance, and throttle response is perfectly linear.

 

Like all Extreme Flight power systems, once you bolt the cowling on you can forget about the motor and ESC and simply fly it. Most of my 2814s and Airboss' are years old, but I have so much faith in them I will drop an old beat up one into a brand new plane with no worries. The Torque is the Maytag of electric motors.

BEC

For 8 volt servos you either need a 2s lipo or an external BEC. I chose the BEC because they are not that hard to solder up, and once installed you simply forget about them. I have always used the Castle 10 amp BEC on all my 8 volt planes, and again, am delighted with the reliability and durability.
 

Here you can see I solder mine up a little differently. Instead of soldering both the ESC battery leads and BEC to the deans plug, I cut back the heat shrink on the wire about halfway between and solder there. It makes putting the deans plug on much easier because you don't have to hold and solder two leads to one place.

If you are running 6 volt servos, the standard Airboss will feed those just fine.

 

Set Up

 

More excellence here as nothing has changed. The V2 uses the same linkages and ball link that have served us so well s the V1, and using the same control horns means the set up doesn't change. I'm using the same size servo arms as before, with the ball links in the same holes as before. Switching to ProModeler didn't take any guesswork because the arms are identical in size to the Hitec we previously used.

Ailerons

Using the outer hole on the arm that comes with the ProModeler servo, I get the same amount of throw as before. Nothing has changed here in my set up, which is fine because it was already perfect.

 

Rudder

Nothing different here either, using the standard ProModeler arm I am on the outer hole. One thing I have changed as of late is putting the ball link on the inner side of the servo arm. This yields a straighter alignment of the pushrod.

 

Elevator

Here we are going a little different from previous Extras in that I have started to get away from the 88 degrees of travel and going more for about 70. For this I again used the standard arm, and attached the G10 extension that comes with the kit. This is a nice, neat solution.  I used this set up on my last V1 when we were first testing the DS105 servos and I didn't miss the extra throw. In fact, the plane still has great elevator authority and is smoother on the pitch axis. The 88 degrees of throw was great fun, but I don't think we really needed it.

 

I've turned my end points up to achieve this, and now I have room to turn those back and experiment with even less throw. The whole idea is to make the plane smoother without giving up pitch authority, and my best guess is we will end up somewhere around 50 or 60 degrees, and we'll cover this in subsequent articles.