Extreme Flight Extra 300 EXP Servo Review

Hey Everyone! I recieved some more of the Savox SH-0255mg servos for use in my new Extreme Flight Extra 300 EXP 48". They work great! Let me give you a little background on why I chose these servos over other brand servos for this plane.

The Recommened servos for this plane are the Hitec HS-65MG servos. They provide 31oz-in of torque when powered by six volts. This is okay, however people are experiencing blow-back because the HS-65MG lacks the torque to push and hold the big elevator reliably. Blow-back is also known as the phenomena when the servo stalls because the torque rating is being exceeded. To fix this problem, people are replacing the HS-65MG with the bigger, more powerful HS-85MG. Seems like a quick and easy fix right? Well, not so fast! The HS-85MG is bigger in physical size and modifications to the servo hole need to be made to fit the bigger servo in the airframe.

Luckily, Savox makes a servo that is perfect for this airplane, at an affordable price. The Savox SH-0255mg servo provides 54oz-in of torque on six volts. That is 23 more ounces than the HS-65MG and 5 more ounces than the HS-85MG, all in a compact size that requires no modification to the airframe. The SH-0255mg also has several ground breaking features to improve perfomance, such as the aluminum case, and Digital reliablity. Neither the HS-65MG nor the HS-85MG is Digital, or features an aluminum case for efficient cooling.

Some other brands such as Airtronics creates similar Digital servos that some people are using in the Extra. However, the Savox SH-0255mg is still cheaper, and features more torque than the Airtronics 94809 servo. Here is a quick side-by-side comparison between these four servos:

Airtronics 94809    Hitec HS-65MG   Hitec HS-85MG   Savox SH-0255mg
Price: $49.99               $29.49                  $30.99                    $32.99
Torque: 39oz-in.           30.55oz-in            48.6oz-in               54oz-in
Speed: 0.1 sec.             0.11 sec.               0.14 sec.               0.13 sec
Digital?: Yes                  No                             No                     Yes

As you can see, each brand has its advantage and disadvantage. But, the Savox SH-0255mg servo has the most torque, for the most practical price.

I personally used to use Hitec HS-65MG's in all my 48" planes, and was planning on using the HS-85MG for the elevator servo, and HS-65MG's the rest of the way around in my Extreme Flight Extra EXP. But after doing my research and comparing different brands of servos, I came to the conclusion that the Savox SH-0255mg is the best servo to fit my aircraft and budget.

Below is a video of my Extreme Flight Extra 300 EXP 48" in action with the Savox SH-0255mg.



--Tom K.

Sources:

http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php/radios-servos/servos/servos/digital-servos/airtronics-94809-micro-digital-hi-perf-bb-mg-servo.html

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLGJ5&P=ML

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=HS-85MG

http://www.savoxusa.com/Savox_SH0255MG_Micro_Digital_Servo_p/savsh0255mg.htm

Extreme Flight Extra 300 EXP 48"

Hey Guys! Here's the video I shot from yesterday. I'm running Savox SH-0255mg servos all the way around. Plenty of torque for every control surface, awesome centering, and wicked fast.



--Tom K.

Extreme Flight RC Extra 300 EXP 48" Unboxing Review

Hey Guys!

I finally got off my rump and edited the video of the un-boxing review I did on the EF Extra 300 EXP 48". Came out pretty good if I do say so myself :). Anyway, Enjoy!



--Tom K.

20th Annual MCRC Dick Coles Memorial IMAA Fly-In

The 20th Annual MCRC Dick Coles Memorial IMAA Fly-In is a three day event held every year at the Manatee County Radio Controllers flying field on the second weekend in March. It is held on the Friday before the weekend, and then the two days to follow. This year we were especially lucky with ideal conditions on the weekend, however gail force winds restricted flying on Friday to only two and a half flights...

Since I attend school, I missed the event on Friday, but I heard that due to the weather I didn't miss much. However I did make it to the event both days on the weekend and had a blast! Saturday morning I was up bright and early and was out at the field by 8:30 A.M.  There were many campers and cars, and even though we showed up before the flying event officially started on Saturday, we still had trouble finding a parking spot! 

When my dad and I arrived we were warmly greated by the smells of morning dew on the grass and the airplanes. We were also greeted by the MCRC President Bill Cryer, by Jim Holloman who was our CD for the event, and also by the high quality sound system and twelve speakers lining the pits playing soft background music.  I knew that I would only be flying the noon time demo with my 48" Velox that day since I do not own an IMAA airplane, but I registered, paid my $10 landing fee, and received my pilot meal ticket and raffle ticket for pilot prizes. The $10 landing fee is worth it even if you don't fly, and pays for itself if you stay more than one day. I then took my plane out of the car and had the safety inspector do his walk around check on my airplane. He gave it the okay and I set it in the shade until noon.

As a volunteer worker for this event, I was assigned to parking duty for the several hours until I needed to get ready for my demo. It started out rather slow but as soon as ten o'clock rolled around, cars were coming in by the dozen and I had to call in back-up. Once my friend Liam got out to the parking area, things got a lot smoother. We parked over one hundred and twenty some odd cars before noon alone!

Back at the concession stand the multiple cooks and servers were busy keeping the crowd full and happy. All went well and we managed to sell out of our food for that day.

Before we knew it, it was noon and time for the demos. As Tony Ianucelli flew his scale model of an MD-500 helicopter with camo colors, scale missle pods, and a .90 size glow helicopter motor, I readied my Velox for my freestlye demo. When Tony finished his impressive flight, I took to the air with Aerosmith's "Devil's Got a New Disguise" playing in the background. After I landed everybody was safe to get out of their "take cover" positions and stare in awe at Troy Hawthorne's giant scale model of the legendary B-17G Flying Fortress.

Troy is an excellent modeler with a lot of building hours under his belt. After he finished assembling his scale ARF, he took it above and beyond what the manufacturer ever dreamed for this airplane. He custom made a bombay with working bombay doors, and a loading hatch on the top of the fuselage so he doesn't have to flip the plane over to load the bombs. Not only that, but he also custom designed twelve replicas of 500 pound bombs to drop from the bombay.

As far as Troy's modifications, we haven't even scraped the surface. He also equiped the bomber with scale retractable landing gear, moving and firing machine guns, and cockpit details using very simple yet impressive ideas. Visit http://www.rcwebclub.com/ to see videos, pictures, and more of his B-17G.

Back to the event; Troy flew his noon time demo and dropped candy for all the kids in the crowd. One lucky winner won a gift card to go White Water Rafting in the Carolinas.

After the noon time demos I went to have lunch, and enjoyed a top of the line cheeseburger combo with a choice of drink at bag of chips. It was all delicious!

As the event wound down the runway was opened to aircraft of all sizes. Later that day we enjoyed a delicious steak dinner that our President, Bill Cryer, whipped up for us along with baked potatoes and several scrumptious sides provided by some of our guests. For only about $10-$12 a person, it was well worth it.

After dinner we all went out in the dark for some night flying. Boy is it cool to see a plethora of lights floating around the sky against the pitch black sky. There were many pilots that flew that night, and I think there may have been a few reports of UFO's in the area...

The next day I was a bit behind because of the time change, but the event went on as usual and everyone got their last dose of fun for the weekend before we all packed up, took out the trash, and headed home. Another great event is added to the MCRC record book. Come on out next year! You won't regret it!

Below is a video I created of the event. Enjoy!



--Tom K.

Dick Cole's Memorial Big Bird Fly-In

Hey Everybody! It's the second week in March and you know what that means! The 20th Annual Dick Coles Memorial Big Bird Fly-In is this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! This is an IMAA only event for Bi-Planes 60" or quarter scale and bigger, and monoplanes 80" or quarter scale and bigger. If you live in the United States this is a great Event and since we've been doing it for 20 years, we have it down to a science. There is even a group from the North Eastern part of the US that comes down every year to attend. This is definately one event not to miss!

For more information visit: http://www.rcwebclub.com/. There is a spectator flyer up on the home page. Contact Jim (event CD) or Bill (MCRC President) for more information. Their number is at the bottom of the flyer.

This is a three day event but come on out for whatever day(s) you can make!

--Tom K.

Playin' in the Wind

Today I flew my Velox in the gale force winds... pretty fun actually. Check it out:



--Tom K.