The Extra 330 components as they came out of the box (above left). A very complete package that included every nut, bolt and fastener that was needed. The supplied electronics package (above right) all by E-flite, included a Park
Upon opening the box I found all the parts well secured, without a hint of damage. The covering did have some wrinkles; however, a few minutes with my covering iron pretty much took care of that. The amount of pre- assembly is worth noting as all major com- ponents were essentially complete. The assembly is a bit different as the man- ual suggests starting with the installation of the servos in the fuselage before assembling the airframe. The wing was installed next followed by the tail feathers. Be sure to re- member to remove the covering along the joints between the wing and fuselage and the stab and fuselage. This is important to provide a strong joint.
For a neat job, trim the covering about 1⁄16 inch inside the line. To help with the align- ment, I always premeasure and mark the center of the wing and stab so I can be sure I’m in the ballpark when I first put the com- ponents in place. Also, don’t forget to install the elevator joining wire before gluing the horizontal stabilizer in place. Be sure to test fit the elevator joining wire to make sure both elevator halves are parallel when the joining wire is in place. After gluing the wing and stab in place, the
450 motor, 30-Amp Pro ESC, Spektrum receiver, four DS76 servos, 3S 1350mAh battery and required servo extensions. Together they work great with the Extra’s airframe.
next step was installing the movable control surfaces. All the surfaces are hinged with small CA hinges that come in a single sheet. I have to say that cutting the individual hinges from the sheet was the most tedious part of the build. It is funny how spoiled we get with these ARFs. A pair of small sharp scissors worked best for this. I found it ad- vantageous to mark the location of each hinge slot and also open the slots with a hob- by knife before installing the hinges. Assembling the landing gear was the next step, and the manual nicely explains the process. My only recommendation would be to use a tap to cut the threads in the wheel pant bushing. The manual recommends threading the axle bolt through the bushing to cut the threads; however, I found that a lot of force was needed and was afraid I might damage the wheel pants. You will probably notice as I did that the aluminum landing gear strut is made from much softer aluminum than what is typical- ly used. At first I thought this might be a problem; however, I found it very beneficial when I bounced a landing much harder than I intended. The result was only a bent land- ing gear strut with no damage to the air-
frame. Ten seconds to bend it back and I was flying again.
Installation of the aileron servos and all the control linkage was next. In this regard, the manual is very detailed and easy to fol- low. As mentioned earlier, all the hardware was provided and worked great. Although not mentioned in the manual, I removed the covering under the control horns to provide for a stronger glue joint between the horn and the control surface.
The motor uses a plastic “stick” type mount rather than the more typical rear “X” mount. It is very simple and I’m sure saves a few grams of weight. Lightly securing the motor shaft in my machinist vice made at- taching the plastic mount to the motor a snap. The motor is attached to the fuselage by sliding the socket of the plastic motor mount onto the stick and securing it in place with two small wood screws. This is easy and quite secure.
When I examined the motor mount stick, I noticed that it appeared to have a bit of up thrust. This is correct as proven by the flight testing. As with most planes, some right thrust is required. This is accomplished by gluing the provided wooden wedges to the
The elevator and rudder servos are secured in cutouts (at left) in the rear of the fuselage using small screws. The film needs to be cut (above) along the center of the stab and the wing to provide a solid glue joint.
FLYING MODELS 47
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