splitess

My Feedback: (2)

Just want to know who has what to say about the Great Planes 1/3 Scale Extra 330L. I am thinking of purchasing one and I need to know if that is a good choice. I've heard that the wing may fold if some modifications are not made. How good are the instructions and plans? Does everything fit together well or is it a nightmare to build? How does it fly and what engine are you using?

Give me all you got.

Thanks!
Don

lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

Presently building the second wing,
its pretty well organized as a kit and not hard to build straight.

I put in some strips to beef up the ribs a bit and may add some more wing sheeting.

I have not flown one though so can only go by what others have said. For the price it can't be beat though.
Using ZDZ 80

VinceL

I have mine framed up and am just about to the covering stage. As far as the wing folding, I really think that this is occuring to the folks that are doing wild 3D stuff. My take is that the airframe is plenty strong for the average sport flier that is doing real world aerobatics and knows that the throttle is more than an on or off switch. There are several on this board that have been flying this airframe for years and never had a problem. You might look up Tim Mills, he is lilkely the highest stick time pilot of this airframe. His has a BME 100 and over 300 flights. He dosen't do 3D but can put more O's in smoooooooth than any one I've seen fly. He rarely uses more than 1/2 throttle and is aware of G loading in maneuvers.

If your a 3D type I would look to another bird, otherwise I think this is a fine airplane.

3Dfalcon

I learned to fly large gas planes on this model.

Mine had a 3w100 and came in at 28 lbs with a smoke system.

Mine was a solid bird in the air and never had a structural problem.

I did alot of 3D stuff and didnt even think about doing waterfalls and blenders(didnt know and better).

It has very good rudder control and taught me how to do rolling circles very well.

All in all I would recomend it as a entry level large plane at a very reasonable price.

If you want a full blown 3D monster then this isnt your bird,but if you want to start learning IMAC type stuff then start building.

Good Luck

Dave

Cody-RCU

Mine failed in a wall at 1/4 throttle. The plane was under a lot of stress, but nothing that could be called excessive. More stress would have been placed on the airframe had a newbie done a ham-fisted panic pull out of a bad sequence maneuver. It had a ZDZ 80 on it. If this airplane was not supposed to be a 3D monster, then GP shouldn't have sold it as such. Either beef up the wing or fly a proven brand like Aeroworks or Carden.

Hawk21

My Feedback: (7)

Cody; were exactly did it fail, how you think it can be reinforced.
Mine is new in box have not got the time to start building.
Thanks!

Cody-RCU

The wing failed at all the center ribs and the spars. The ribs sheared in two (thanks to those enormous lightening holes) and the hardwood spars actually split horizontally. They delaminated. Put some doublers on the ribs; I'm not sure what you'd do for the spars. Now I'll be flying an AW 31% Extra 300L.

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Here are Two Extras with the builder Al, my father, in the middle. The one on the right is his with somewhere around 50 flights on it. It has a BME 102 and Futaba non digitals throughout. Last summer I was visiting and got a chance to fly it. SMOOTH!!! I had to have one. That brought the one on the left into this world. It has a DA100 with Hitec digitals. As soon as my work sched. cooperates we plan on making the first flight.