The biggest dilemma I faced with Extreme Flight's new 48" Extra EXP V2 was never whether or not to get one (or even two). That was never in question. The hard part was always going to be giving up my much beloved Extra V1s.
I built my first 48" Extra EXP V1 in the fall of 2010, and have since been through a string of them. Some of this was due to poor flying, and there were a couple I just flat wore out. This quickly became my go-to plane for a myriad of reasons, ranging from affordable costs, to sheer, utter convenience, and familiarity.
In the beginning, all the EXPs were brand new beasts to me. It was nice that the build and set up was extremely similar to the 3DHS planes I had been flying, right down to the numbers in the manual. As such, I set them up like the manual called for and got down to business. From there I learned to trust the plane pretty quickly, instantly almost, and after that it was just a matter of learning every little nuance of the plane's character, and then tying to fly it better. Still working on that last part, but the plane itself has never held me back.
As always, the most important aspect was always going to be the flying, and the V2 is even better than what has always been my best flying plane. The Extra EXP is sort of a second skin that fits like an old slipper. Mostly though, it just flies damm good. I've got a lot of nice planes, but when I go to load up the car, sometimes I have to fight the instinct to grab the Extra instead of my of the other planes that need some love. If there is any problem with this plane at all, it's that you'll want to fly it all the time.
Enter The V2
The Extra EXP was entering it's second decade. Construction technique and materials have progressed a long way in that time so it was ready for an update. Aerobatic airplane color schemes have progressed a lot too from the old ways and people always want the latest and greatest. The Extra V1 was becoming a little dated when compared to some of the wild new schemes and people were ready for something new.
The new white/orange/two tone blue scheme is a scale representation of Jim Bourke's full size Extra. It is visually striking, both top and bottom. I see white really well, especially when coupled with bright oranges and lighter blues.
The yellow is also extremely visible and just as attractive. We'll have pictures and video later in the article.
Click To Enlarge On All Pictures
While it was painful to let my V1s go, the V2 has been so superb that I really haven't missed them. Almost everything I loved about the V1 is still there, with a lot things greatly improved. The V2 construction yields a lighter, stiffer, stronger airframe that flies better and can sustain more abuse without damage. I'm sure you can destroy one, but in this respect it's probably a lot like the 52" V2s ...... you really have to pound it in to do much damage.
I was skeptical the V1 could be improved very much, but as soon as I opened the box I was sold. The most obvious improvement is, of course, all that beautiful composite. Taking the fuselage out of the bag I could already feel the lightness, so this was a great way to start off.
The build was greatly simplified with Extreme Flight's exclusive self jigging stabilizer. You simply slide the horizontal stabilizer all the way forward and it automatically self aligns. I've built a bunch of planes with this system, and they have all been perfect. I still measure them to be sure, but now I don't have to fiddle with it any at all, Just measure a couple of times and then glue it. This cuts about an hour out of the build time simply because I don't have to go all OCD on the alignment.
Also worthy of note is how the factory has stepped up the quality of finish on these planes. The 60s have always been just that one step nicer than the 48s because they came later as the factory got better and better. The 52s were the first to reach that level, and now the 48s are just as good. I've built just about everything in Extreme Flight's 48-50" range and this Extra is as nice as any of them. They go together straight and easy, and the finished build is very satisfying to show off at the field.
Unchanged is the 48" convenience, affordability and pragmatism. For a lot of reasons, these plane make the most sense to me. First, they are extremely reasonably priced, especially if you buy the plane and power system as a combo. That alone saves you $75.
Servos are always a hot topic, but you can still use the Hitec HS65MG, which works well for sport 3DXA. However, for outer limits hard core flying, you're better off with an 8 volt mega servo. More speed, more torque and better centering are all great things to have and worth the investment. There are several choices here, and the servo I prefer can be had for $45, which isn't much more.
You can buy 4s 2700 70C packs for these planes for as little as $40, and maybe even less if you want to shop around.
In my view, this is the most affordable high quality, high performance plane you can get. Go with the premium servos and a good stability system, and you'll have an intergalactic starship. Bigger planes are the rage, but with premium equipment the 48" can easily challenge a 60" for performance, stability, and most importantly, fun.
Add to all of this that in most cars you can either stand the plane up assembled in the back seat, or drop the seats and slide her into the trunk, and this is the most practical high performance 3DXA plane we have ever seen. It's cheap enough and easy enough to fly every day with a minimum of fuss, big enough to be a little badass, and small enough to fly in parks and parking lots.
Flying
The flying is where the big surprise came from. I tried to cover this extensively in Extra V2__Flight Report, though now with some more time on the planes I can expand on this a little.
This was the first plane that I have owned both V1 and V2 versions of, so I could compare them directly. I think everyone understands how the lighter weigh helps, but the big improvement comes from the stiffness of the G10 and Carbon mixed composite construction. The V2 is much stiffer, and this pays off with the plane flexing less, if any, under load. No matter how hard you push the plane, everything stays in alignment better, which makes the plane fly straighter instead of being steered by the flexing. It's just much more precise entering and exiting high violence snaps and tumbles, plus precision moves like slow and point rolls. Cuban 8s and other big sky stuff is easier because the plane tracks much more precisely.
While the V1 was extremely good about this, it was still a mostly wood plane with mixed composites in critical high stress areas. The V2 though is loaded with composite laminate formers, and motor box top, sides and bottom. The fuselage is much more resistant to twisting under loads and everything stays straighter and flies straighter.
Something we learned in pylon racing was how much your RPMs would increase when you stiffening the front of the plane. The stiffer the plane is, the less power is wasted from torque flexing the motor box. Now all of the power goes straight to the propeller, and the V2 is noticeably faster with more vertical punch out than the V1.
Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but knife Edge performance went off the scale with this plane. I've been working on my KE death slides lately and I have to admit it's been pretty terrifying. I've almost got a grip on it though, some because I am so familiar with the Extra EXP, and some because the V2s improved precision makes it a lot easier.
A KE death slide is like an elevator maneuver, sinking in a post stall slide toward the ground, only with the plane on it's side. Here you not only have to manage a post stall KE slide with the ground coming up fast, but you have to keep it in a straight line, all while not stalling it, or it looks horrible or ends badly. You can see in the videos where several times I confidently ride that KE death slide all the way down, right into a landing.
At first, this was kind of horrific, but with the plane tracking straight that was one less thing I had to deal with, and all I had to manage was the power and rudder, and then roll the wing out of the way before touchdown. Since death slides are a new thing for me, a plane I knew so well was the one to use to work on them. Obviously you could never learn this sort of thing with a plane you couldn't trust, but with the V2 I came to grips with it in a few tries.
At first, this was kind of horrific, but with the plane tracking straight that was one less thing I had to deal with, and all I had to manage was the power and rudder, and then roll the wing out of the way before touchdown. Since death slides are a new thing for me, a plane I knew so well was the one to use to work on them. Obviously you could never learn this sort of thing with a plane you couldn't trust, but with the V2 I came to grips with it in a few tries.
Maybe the important lesson here is that this plane is so good it inspired confidence right out of the box. Since so much is invested in coin and work, this is always a hard thing to come by, but in this and the V1, there was never any doubt.
No So Nail
Here is usually where I like to drive a final nail in things and make final observations, a summary of sorts. However we are only two months into this V2 adventure so there's going to be plenty more to come and much, much more to learn from this plane. As we saw in the V1, there were lots of pleasant surprises as I learned the character and nuisances of it's behavior, and I am sure the V2 will be the same kind of plane, only starting from a place of utter familiarity.
Unchanged is this plane's position in the market. Not only is it the perfect plane for the new 3D pilots, but even experienced pilots can fly this plane and have a blast with it. It's inexpensive, practical and bad to the bone, kind of like the V1, only better.
The V2 is so much like the V1 that for fun factor, it pretty much stands alone, and if I were forced to drive that final nail, this would be it.
Last observation is that these became available at the end of May, right at about two months before this writing. We are right now on the third load of these. The Extra V2s hardly have time to even see the shelf in the warehouse because they are flying out of there so fast.
These came back in stock just this morning so now is a bad time to wait. Almost overnight, this became the most exclusive plane in the industry, so don't get caught out and suffer while your flying buddies are enjoying theirs.
EQUIPMENT
There's always a lot of talk about equipment and what power system and servos to use, but after a decade experience with this plane I have kind of stumbled upon what I like best, and what I feel allows me to get the best out of myself and the plane. I've covered this extensively over the years, but for those who missed it, the following is a reprint from our last V2 article:
Power System
Once again, it's going to be the Torque 2814/Airboss 45 ESC power system. Not only do I believe this is the best power system for the job, but again, you can save $75 when you buy it with the plane as a combo.
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.
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.
Another thing you have to do when you run a separate BEC is disable the Airboss' on board BEC. Most people pull the red wire from the ESC that goes to the receiver, but I do it a little differently. The on board BEC is activated by the switch by completing the circuit, so you can disable this by cutting the switch off and separating the two wired from each other. I've been doing this for about three or four years and it's been fine.
If you are running 6 volt servos, the standard Airboss will feed those just fine.
