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Extra EA300 - tips appreciated

Hello all,

First-time poster and looking forward to learning as much as I can. In fact, the learning process has already started. In October 2019, I purchased a 1992 Extra 300 as a new flying challenge. I’m an FAA CFI/MEI/AGI with a decent amount of experience (feniksflights.com) and although I love instructing, I though it time for a new challenge. After a month or so in which I flew only a few hours, the plane needed some care. This turned into a 6-month renovation period, extended due to Covid-19. As an inexperienced owner, I learned a lot along the way. F.A.S.T. Aero at EBBT was my guide and extremely helpful along the way. They did an amazing job at turning an older model EA300 into a virtually new plane (also helped by JC systems who updated the exterior) that flies like a dream. Yes, it’s magenta but we named it ‘the pink panther’ and the plane is adorned with a few pictures:).

So far, I’ve managed to land it safely (repeatedly:)) and under supervision of an experienced instructor, we’ve started flying basic aerobatics. I’ve already gotten to know people in the tail wheel/aerobatics community in Belgium but would like to extend that circle to as many people as possible since there’s always something to learn from someone else’s experiences. So, I’m looking to hear tips from people that fly high-powered tail wheel planes and/or aerobatics on topics such as: narrow field landings (forward view is zero), air sickness:), and also nice destinations for food or like-minded pilots, airports that appreciate something different, maybe even with an aerobatic box, fly-ins, and other events that are worth visiting (lived in the USA for a long time so not yet familiar with Euro-events).

Looking forward to meeting or hearing from you!

Take care…

Last Edited by Itsdescendnotgodown at 11 Jul 07:46
Life is not a dress rehearsal, it is ...
EBGB KGAI, Belgium

@Itsdescendnotgodown congratulations on the Extra – very comfortable and can also work as a high speed VFR tourer.

I would recommend getting Alan Cassidy’s Better Aerobatics – it rightfully remains the standard on aerobatics up to Advanced.

The roll rate on the Extra takes getting used to, and normal tailwheel technique in crosswinds where you learn to use all your controls obviously does not apply! I don’t have experience on narrow runways but working your way to a narrower runway in steps would be sensible. The landing technique will still need you to position so you have the runway edge as a reference. The Extra does not have the squirelly short coupled Pitts characteristic so maintaining a straight line on landing is more straightforward. The Pitts has the Piper Vagabond/Pacer style bungee gear, so in certain respects is more tolerant of a ham fisted landing. The Extra needs a more careful hold off. The landing gear being more delicate, although strong, not as strong as the Pitts. I have never seen an Extra land except using three point, but not sure whether this is the natural technique or there is a preference either way. An experienced Pitts pilot will land it in quite Super Cub like farm strips (firm not soft field), while the Extra probably needs more civilised and longer airports.

On motion sickness you need to build up tolerance. Keep sorties to only 15-20 minutes, have a sensible breakfast, and reacquire the horizon and do some straight and level if feeling queasy. The main problem is grey out when going from low to negative G back to 4-5 G. This requires grunting as positive G comes in. Going from a reverse Cuban to a 45 degree up line into a 1 1/2 turn upright spin (quite a typical part of a Sports sequence), usually provokes grey out and eventually nausea if you haven’t built tolerance. G tolerance fades so you need to practice.

Aerobatics is unusually a sport where age is not a factor – I always enjoyed seeing the soviet veterans in their fifties and sixties beat the young French air force competitors in their twenties. I think Alan Cassidy was competing at world level in his fifties.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

Thanks for the tips! Very helpful. I have tail wheel experience – mostly Cub but a long time ago – also including some Pitts, but the Extra is quite the fast beast to put down gently (90kts final – 85kts over the numbers). 2000ft is not a problem as long as the runway is wide enough to see the edges (which is not the case at some airports). After I bought the Extra, it turned out that the landing gear needed some work (among a lot of other things) so it went back to the factory, also to adjust the plane to a new canopy. Guess the gear had been abused a bit…

So far, we stuck to positive-G work since I tolerate that OK for 15-20 minutes. Upside-down flying is also on the menu but little negative-G maneuvering. Any tips for a suitable breakfast/snack before aerobatics?

Love the age remark:). No substitute for the experience and wisdom that comes with age:).

Life is not a dress rehearsal, it is ...
EBGB KGAI, Belgium

Wow, that’s amazing. When I was a kid we built an R/C Model of the mid-wing Extra 300 from the Goldberg kit. I has remained clear in my memory, and someday I would love to own one. I have been for a flight in the 300 and the 200, they are both awesome. I have seen them operate in some serious winds, and into some tight runways. They are certainly an aeroplane with a lot of scope.

My only tip is to mind the canopy. One here in Ireland, the canopy came off and took off half the vertical stab and rudder. Pilot stuck his head down, got a pair of sunglasses and slipped back in to land. Like the total boss that he is!

Enjoy!

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

Any tips for a suitable breakfast/snack before aerobatics?

Porridge and bananas!

Peanut butter and toast :)

I can’t confirm from personal experience but apparently bananas taste the same when you spill your cookies-apologies for too much information.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

I’ll try some bananas next time:). Good thing I found vomit bags that you can hold with one hand so that I don’t have to clean the whole plane and keep flying…

My buddy who did the stickers is an R/C freak and he’s building a mid-wing in the same colors to try and fly a demo together:). We’ll see how that goes.

About the canopy, the previous (old and worn) one came off during take-off roll, after only 50ft. Luckily nothing else was damaged. So the canopy is brand new. Apparently, the first generation was completely built by hand and every single one is different. Hence the transport back to the factory to adjust the plane (no joke) to accommodate the canopy.

Life is not a dress rehearsal, it is ...
EBGB KGAI, Belgium

WilliamF wrote:

My only tip is to mind the canopy. One here in Ireland, the canopy came off and took off half the vertical stab and rudder. Pilot stuck his head down, got a pair of sunglasses and slipped back in to land. Like the total boss that he is!

I would like to add that it is good practice to always keep the canopy closed when on the ground. A gust can detach it and it may damage the wing. Happened in my Aeroclub. If there’s someone around, they can hold it in place while you strap in.

I fly an Extra too. It’s been very reliable, but that depends a bit on the kind of flying that you do. I’d advise agains renting it out to famous/unlimited level /aggressive flying types. There’s been a new SC here in Poland that got a hole in the rudder from the elevator when the owner let another experienced pilot fly it. Then there’s gyroscopic maneuvers like Lomcovak or flat spins. You don’t want to do many of these.

LPFR, Poland

I fear a new canopy is around €20k

You become as paranoid as an amphibian pilot checking gear before landing, checking canopy is well locked before takeoff

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

It’s not that much for the part, but it is a lot. I forget the figure. $6K? Maybe that was to have a US supplier make one for field approved installation.

A few years ago, friends bought an Extra from an insurance company, totaled and sold for a fraction of its prior value due to a ground accident that broke the canopy and damaged the wing. They repaired the wing beautifully in a month or so while making jokes about Extra composites quality, then got into a year long hassle while Extra tried to prevent them from getting FAA approval for the repair, regardless of it being a very simple repair in comparison with their capability, and regardless of it being completely legal under FAA regulations. This made it hard to get other parts because Extra decided the plane was permanently totalled and not eligible for new parts unless of course a new wing were purchased from them – the necessity for which is probably why a plane with repairable damage was totaled and sold by the insurance company. This situation and gamesmanship was not well received by the owners, and they dug in as they have done before and probably will again.

In the end, the FAA did the right thing, even offering to make the owners an FAA repair station for Extra wings and Extra ate crow. In the meantime we called it the extra Extra because it couldn’t be sold in standard category. Once it could be, it was sold at a handsome profit and the point was made to the FAA – which after a while became the main point of the owners refusing to put the plane in Experimental Exhibition. Sometimes it’s incumbent on those with the resources to do so, to make a point when (as in this case) the typical dentist, surgeon, whatever Extra owner will instead suck up high insurance premiums and vainly enjoy spending more money than others without knowing the facts.

I would not be surprised If hull coverage for an Extra is expensive and if a lot of US based examples eventually end up in Experimental Exhibition.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 11 Jul 20:10

That’s an astonishing story. Does Extra need the airframe S/N before they will sell parts?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
28 Posts
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