Extra Extra, read all about it!

Tad and I took our 50cc Extras to the field today.  Albeit a bit breezy, we flew the planes and had fun.  I think we flew in under 10mph.  My DL-50 acted like it had a problem at first.  It took something like nearly 100 flips to get the first cough out of it, and that was only after I tilted the plane nose down on the ground, and pumped the prop back and forth to encourage fuel to go to the carb.  I think it was just too dry in there due to not running for probably half a year!  After that first cough though, the engine started right up and ran fine.  With more expo dialed in the, the Extra 330L sure flew smooth, like my smaller planes, and I did not have any twitchiness like I remember from previous flights.  Today was the first time flying with the dual 1100mAh LiFe batteries and dual switches, which gave me more confidence that I would not run out of servo and receiver power.

Tad's Extra flew well.  It died on the first landing, after pretty much coming to a stop on the runway.  Subsequent ground tuning showed the DLE-55 dying after some seconds of full throttle.  He opened the high needle just 1/8 turn, and the engine ran steady and strong after that.

We both flew the Showtime in the high winds at the end of our stay.  I dorked the last landing and stripped the gears in the HS-55 servo.  Actually, the battery power was too low on the landing, and I tried to get more power, but the battery would not respond, so I had to try to stay level and set her down.  The rudder must have hit too hard and thar she blew!  I found a Cirrus 21 servo in my parts box that looks like it will fit and be adequate!  :)