Alfster

H E L P !!!!!!

All you profile fliers jump in here and give up some advice please.

I love the way the new Ex-Treme 330 flies. It will do anything I ask of it, but landing is not so smooth...

I've been at this for over 20 years, and feel like an idiot for not being able to figure this out, but it has me stumped. EVERY TIME I land this little bird, it teeters over on one, or the other wingtip, and scrapes the covering, and the aileron/wingtip wood. I think it is a combination of oversteer on the tailwheel, and narrow/tall gear........We are talking about 10-15 landings so far.

Is anyone else experiencing this, or am I just a bad pilot ? LOL

It will even tip over on a wingtip and scrape while I taxi it around on the runway. I don't remember the Fazer flopping around like that during ground handling. That plane was smooth as snot on a doorknob, just not as aerobatic while flying ;o)

I have tried landing it at all speeds from just a crawl, to carrying a bit more speed.......Always the same result. I also noticed that the front of the plane was sitting kind of high, so maybe I mounted the gear a bit too low ? Not sure if that would affect it like that or not, but maybe it has something to do with the wing incedence to the airflow ?

The fact that it does it at taxi speeds even before takeoff makes me believe it is a combination of WAY to much tailwheel steering, and gear that is too narrow though.

I know it is hard to diagnose without seeing it, but hopefully one of you PRO's will be able to shed some light on this little problem. I will be buying a new set of wider gear for it on Monday to try and alleviate some of the tipping, and while I'm at it, I will pick up a nice tailwheel with springs instead of the standard "wire in rudder" that I am using now.

Hopefully they will help it a bit.

Any ideas you guys can think of please speak up, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Alfster

Alfster

Wondering if the fact that the wheels are angled forward from where it bolts to the fuse instead of backwards have any effect on the problem ????

Most gear, if not straight down, is a little towards the rear, NOT towards the front ? Just a thought.

bentgear

I would guess that you are flying off pavement? Windy? You might want to try spreading the landing gear some to lower the nose to reduce the angle of the wing plus it gives some side to side stability. You might even try using a little aileron on the grond when the wind is blowing to help hold the wing down plus full up elevator.
Ed M.

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Alster, where are you getting the wider gear from ? Thx

Alfster

Yes the runway is paved, and I suppose at least a little bit windy most of the time.

At least I'm headed in the right direction with my thinking hopefully....hehe I do believe it is related to the gear geometry as I can tip it over on the wingtip even at semi-slow taxi speeds also. Just a cat hair too much rudder, and over she goes.......

Probably doesn't help that I fly her on 3D rates at all times either. May try flipping it to low for landings, or even program a nice landing mode into the 8103, although something in my stubborn head makes me think that I should be able to land it smooth at ANY rate.

I'll just pick up a replacement gear set at the local HobbyTown USA store....this one has quite a bit of airplane stuff, maybe I'll get lucky

Any other thoughts from you Profile Masters ??

George E.

My Feedback: (16)

The plane is a little tippy especially in wind. I constantly use the ailerons in a crosswind, even when taxiing, but it hasn't been a big problem. You could always bend the gear wider but you'll lose some angle of attack and could have trouble taking off.

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

Must be the plane or something. My Sudokhoi never scrapes a wing...... except when I do those full power donuts on the field

LancelowDowell

Wow, I'm suprised... mine never has any problems. I have more problems with bending up the landing gear then tipping over. I don't think I've ever tipped it. Of course, my landing gear is quite wide from being bent so much, and I also run it on low rates for landing. Just out of coursity, I know the manual says to angle it 15 degrees forward with the top 1" from the leading edge. Did you change it at all or did you change it?

Texas 3D

My Feedback: (16)

had the same problem with my 330. I also fly of a paved runway. My Gee Whiz Bee however is the worst. I have taken her off dragging one wingtip on the ground. Looks very funky.
I did not messed with the landing gear on my CG 330, and just added goldberg scuff tape to the wing tips, as well as some of those Great Planes plastic wing skids. That at least prevented the wing tips from getting scraped every time. Mount them right in front of the aileron.
Good luck

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Do we have a winner here ?

Alfster

Thanks Ulf !!

At least I know someone else is seeing this, and I'm not losing my mind

I have a few ideas about some things I want to try. I'll keep you posted in case they work out, and maybe you can try them.

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Has anyone tried the carbon landing gear from jeff williams on therir extreme 330 ? I understand that it has a longer wheel base width which could solve the wing tipping issue .........

flyboone

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah the gear from Jeff is awesome and works great on this plane. I've never had the tipping problem. Also the profile gear form Dubro works great as well and even has a wider stance.

Jason

jmayle

Alfster,

I had the same problem with a Su-DO-Khoi. What I found to be the problem was the tail wheel. I had never trimmed the tail wheel. I take off holding on to the rudder so I did not see the need to trim the tail wheel. The way I figured this out was by trying to drag my tail wheel down the runway. As soon as the tail wheel touch the ground, it kicked to the left and landed. The fix was easy enough and it lost all of it's bad tendencies.

Hope this helps your plane?

Bob Mayle

Alfster

Good info jmayle,

I noticed that the el cheapo, lightweight foam tailwheel was worn pretty bad to one side, which would indicate that it had been dragged sideways quite a bit. I have tweaked my tailwheel wire a bit, in an effort to get it exactly straight. Hopefully this will help it a great deal.

I also grabbed a new set of gear for it, but could only find the DuBro version. I will be ordering a set of Krazy Legs, or equivalent, at the soonest possibility.

I thought about tilting the gear legs to the rear, and therefore more under the wing, and more in line under the biggest part of the weight to see if that would make any difference, but am not sure if that will introduce any negative tendencies.

tetherite

Be glad to help in the gear dept.

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

So now there are three factors causing the funky chicken syndrome - running on pavement, narrow main gear, and untrimmed tail gear. I will be running on dirt, so I'm not sure of the impact. On the main gear, Jeff Williams will give me his wheel base length as soon as he's back on Wed. Told him that some have found 13" to be better. On the tail gear, I guess the Sullivans should be easy to trim out. Thanks for all the great info guys !

Alfster

Oh No !! I've started a syndrome now ! LOL

Guess the phrase "Funky Chicken Syndrome" is catching.....hehe I was just trying to find words to describe what the little beastie was doing, and it looked mighty funky to me. Hopefully with all we have read here, and adjusted, we can put this chicken in a big pot of dumplings....where it belongs

Not sure if I'm going to get to test my fixes out this week.....weather is looking like rain for the next week or so

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

I can't comment on the funky chicken problem, but I have tried both Carbon Fiber gear and the Krazy Legs gear on my Extreme 330. The CF gear broke on a hard touch and go ... probably my fault but they don't flex very much. The CF gear did look better. However, the Krazy legs gear have been holding up very well. They do squat more during landing and provide some shock absorbing action.

TX

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Texan, where can you get these krazy legs ? Any website ? Thx...

Alfster

Ray Randolph
Tetherite Plastic Products
PO Box 57764
Webster, TX 77598
E-mail/PayPal<[email protected]>


For Krazy Legs gear, Ray has you covered

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

Alfster

You got it. I don't want to sound like an advertisement for the Krazy Legs gear but they sure work for my flying site. We fly off of a very rough field.

TX

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Sent a PM to tetherite for more info. seems like no website ? Are krazy legs fiberglass or carbon based ?

Texan

My Feedback: (10)

They seem to be molded fiberglass composite.

tetherite

They are glass-filled nylon and are injection molded a pair at a time. You are right about the looks, but they paint well with auto enamal or "Rustoleum", and that does improve the looks.
Thanks!