Overview:
Flying the AeroWorks 100cc Extra 300 in XFC this year really gave me a good insight to the quality and flight characteristics that you receive with an AeroWork’s airframe. I was someone who always thought AeroWorks built heavy airplanes, for 3D style of flying anyways. After a friend let me fly an AeroWorks for the first time (which was the 100cc Extra 300) I went home and purchased one that same day. Impulse buy, probably, but I have loved every flight with it and it served me well at XFC. Long story short, Aeroworks offers some incredibly competitive planes for 3D and freestyle flying including the 79” Freestlye Extra 260. This plane really lives up to its name as it really excels at freestyle flying (which means that is 3D’s just as well as it flies precision.)
In this thread, I am going to show some detail into converting this bird to electric. The AeroWorks manual is extremely detailed so also take a look at that when assembling this model. I am not going to show every step as I will focus on the tips and tricks I use when building an airplane.
Specs:
Wing Span 79 Inches
Wing Area 1175 Square Inches
Fuselage Length 66 Inches (Rudder to Front of Cowl)
Fuselage Length 69 Inches (Rudder to Front of Spinner)
Cowl Width 8.5 Inches
Weight 10.5 to 11 Pounds
Engine 30cc to 35cc Gas
Spinner Size 3 Inches
Radio 6 Channels Minimum
Equipment Used:
Motor: Motrolfly 4330- 200kv
ESC: Jeti Mezon 90 lite
Lipo: Two Pulse 6s 2650 mah 45C in parallel for 12s 2650mah
Prop: Falcon 19x10 Electric Wood
Servos: MKS X8 850 on elevator and rudder, MKS X8 380 on ailerons
Radio/Receiver: Jeti Ds-16 with R7 rx
Backup supply: Scorpion Backup Guard
The Build:
Step 1- Control Horn Installation.
The kit includes very light, but strong, carbon control horns. To start, I use a file to rough up the portion of the control horn that will be glued into the surface. After assembling the controls with the supplied ball link, bolt, and nylon lock nut, I cut the slots and test fit the control horns for all of the surfaces. I found that the control horns needed to be pushed towards the hinge line on each of the surfaces to be sure that the ball link was centered over the hinge line. After I had the control horn where I wanted it, I taped around the control horns. This does two things for me. It gives me a guide to cut out the covering where the control will be glued, and it also makes it easier to clean up after gluing the control horn in as you can easily pull off the tape. I personally use Loctite Hysol 9462 for control horns and for gluing in the hinges.
Step 2- Hinging the Rudder
To make it so the airplane fits in a decent size box to ship it, AeroWorks leaves the rudder off of the plane. This means we are required to used the supplied hinge point style hinges to install the rudder. The manual is very detailed in how to do this properly, so I will just provide some helpful hints that make the process even easier.
First, use blue painters along with a hole punch to put tape around each of the holes that will get a hinge glued in them. This makes clean up a ton easier since you really only need to get the big globs of glue off after sliding the rudder on. After it is done drying, you can pull the tape off and the covering will be free of any left over glue as it will be on the tape. Remember to flex the rudder in both directions to make sure no binding will occur after the glue has dried. Tape the counter balance to hold the rudder in place and let it dry.
Step 3: Seal the Hinge gaps.
One thing I always do on my plane is seal the hinge gaps. Sometimes it makes a huge difference, and other times not so much. It is hard to tell whether it will help or not, but there is no downside to doing it as it can only make the plane fly better. I use any kind of clear tape, or covering. It really doesn’t what you use, as long as its sticky and will stay in place.
Step 4: Mounting the motor and ESC.
First, I always mount the cowling and measure how far it is from the firewall to an 1/8” outside of the cowling. I measure 6 ½”, which is what the manual recommends as well. Simply measure the distance from the back plate of your motor to the prop hub and subtract that from 6 ½” to figure out how long to make the standoffs.
Next, we have to decide how to mount the motor. We can either use long standoffs to mount the motor using the mounting pattern of the motor, or we can make a second firewall which has a wider mounting pattern that will support the motor even better. I went with the second option. I made an aluminum plate that I could mount the stands off to, as well as the motor. I clamped this plate to the firewall along with a wood block behind the firewall (to keep the wood from splitting while drilling) and drilled some holes. I made some aluminum standoffs and mounted everything up.
To mount the ESC, I glued a carbon plate to the balsa that directs the air out of the bottom of the plane just behind the cowling. I had to sand a small notch in the first former so that the plate would lay flat. I used Hysol to glue this in place as well. I mounted the ESC here since most of the air exiting the plane will be forced to go over the ESC. This should ensure that the ESC stays cool.
Step 5: Tail Wheel and Landing Gear
There is not much to cover here as I followed the manual for this part. The wheel pants are very strong, so there is no need to brace them or anything. The only tip I will add here is for installing the tail wheel. I personally use gorilla glue when screwing directly into the wood to mount the tail wheel. The manual recommends super glue which works great as well, but gorilla glue expands around the screw and creates a really strong joint.
Step 6: Installing Elevator Servos.
The manual covers this step in detail so be sure to check it out. I just wanted to mention that I had to make a slight modification since the X8 servos sit a little bit deeper in the slots. The two elevator servos hit each other when installed, so I used phenolic servo washers to space both of the elevators servo out and the problem was solved. These washers can be purchased at Esprit Model. I also use these washers to install all of my servos as it holds them in place better.
Step 7: Pull-pull Setup
This seems to be one of the more difficult steps for new comers when it comes to this size of an airplane, so here are a few tips to make it a little easier.
First, build the servo arm side of it first. Install the ball links, crimps, cable, ect.. outside of the plane. Next, center the servo and install the arm. Make sure the arm is perpendicular to the servo case as this is very important for achieving a rudder that feels consistent in both directions. Now you are done with this end of the system. Doing it this way makes it so you never really have to work inside of the plane to pull the cables tight, crimp it, ect…
Next, tape the rudder to make sure it stays centered, and then pull the cable tight. To keep the cable from developing any slack while running the safety loop the crimp, use hemostats to pinch the cable. You should end up with a perfectly centered rudder, as well as tight cables.
Flying the AeroWorks 100cc Extra 300 in XFC this year really gave me a good insight to the quality and flight characteristics that you receive with an AeroWork’s airframe. I was someone who always thought AeroWorks built heavy airplanes, for 3D style of flying anyways. After a friend let me fly an AeroWorks for the first time (which was the 100cc Extra 300) I went home and purchased one that same day. Impulse buy, probably, but I have loved every flight with it and it served me well at XFC. Long story short, Aeroworks offers some incredibly competitive planes for 3D and freestyle flying including the 79” Freestlye Extra 260. This plane really lives up to its name as it really excels at freestyle flying (which means that is 3D’s just as well as it flies precision.)
In this thread, I am going to show some detail into converting this bird to electric. The AeroWorks manual is extremely detailed so also take a look at that when assembling this model. I am not going to show every step as I will focus on the tips and tricks I use when building an airplane.
Specs:
Wing Span 79 Inches
Wing Area 1175 Square Inches
Fuselage Length 66 Inches (Rudder to Front of Cowl)
Fuselage Length 69 Inches (Rudder to Front of Spinner)
Cowl Width 8.5 Inches
Weight 10.5 to 11 Pounds
Engine 30cc to 35cc Gas
Spinner Size 3 Inches
Radio 6 Channels Minimum
Equipment Used:
Motor: Motrolfly 4330- 200kv
ESC: Jeti Mezon 90 lite
Lipo: Two Pulse 6s 2650 mah 45C in parallel for 12s 2650mah
Prop: Falcon 19x10 Electric Wood
Servos: MKS X8 850 on elevator and rudder, MKS X8 380 on ailerons
Radio/Receiver: Jeti Ds-16 with R7 rx
Backup supply: Scorpion Backup Guard
The Build:
Step 1- Control Horn Installation.
The kit includes very light, but strong, carbon control horns. To start, I use a file to rough up the portion of the control horn that will be glued into the surface. After assembling the controls with the supplied ball link, bolt, and nylon lock nut, I cut the slots and test fit the control horns for all of the surfaces. I found that the control horns needed to be pushed towards the hinge line on each of the surfaces to be sure that the ball link was centered over the hinge line. After I had the control horn where I wanted it, I taped around the control horns. This does two things for me. It gives me a guide to cut out the covering where the control will be glued, and it also makes it easier to clean up after gluing the control horn in as you can easily pull off the tape. I personally use Loctite Hysol 9462 for control horns and for gluing in the hinges.
Step 2- Hinging the Rudder
To make it so the airplane fits in a decent size box to ship it, AeroWorks leaves the rudder off of the plane. This means we are required to used the supplied hinge point style hinges to install the rudder. The manual is very detailed in how to do this properly, so I will just provide some helpful hints that make the process even easier.
First, use blue painters along with a hole punch to put tape around each of the holes that will get a hinge glued in them. This makes clean up a ton easier since you really only need to get the big globs of glue off after sliding the rudder on. After it is done drying, you can pull the tape off and the covering will be free of any left over glue as it will be on the tape. Remember to flex the rudder in both directions to make sure no binding will occur after the glue has dried. Tape the counter balance to hold the rudder in place and let it dry.
Step 3: Seal the Hinge gaps.
One thing I always do on my plane is seal the hinge gaps. Sometimes it makes a huge difference, and other times not so much. It is hard to tell whether it will help or not, but there is no downside to doing it as it can only make the plane fly better. I use any kind of clear tape, or covering. It really doesn’t what you use, as long as its sticky and will stay in place.
Step 4: Mounting the motor and ESC.
First, I always mount the cowling and measure how far it is from the firewall to an 1/8” outside of the cowling. I measure 6 ½”, which is what the manual recommends as well. Simply measure the distance from the back plate of your motor to the prop hub and subtract that from 6 ½” to figure out how long to make the standoffs.
Next, we have to decide how to mount the motor. We can either use long standoffs to mount the motor using the mounting pattern of the motor, or we can make a second firewall which has a wider mounting pattern that will support the motor even better. I went with the second option. I made an aluminum plate that I could mount the stands off to, as well as the motor. I clamped this plate to the firewall along with a wood block behind the firewall (to keep the wood from splitting while drilling) and drilled some holes. I made some aluminum standoffs and mounted everything up.
To mount the ESC, I glued a carbon plate to the balsa that directs the air out of the bottom of the plane just behind the cowling. I had to sand a small notch in the first former so that the plate would lay flat. I used Hysol to glue this in place as well. I mounted the ESC here since most of the air exiting the plane will be forced to go over the ESC. This should ensure that the ESC stays cool.
Step 5: Tail Wheel and Landing Gear
There is not much to cover here as I followed the manual for this part. The wheel pants are very strong, so there is no need to brace them or anything. The only tip I will add here is for installing the tail wheel. I personally use gorilla glue when screwing directly into the wood to mount the tail wheel. The manual recommends super glue which works great as well, but gorilla glue expands around the screw and creates a really strong joint.
Step 6: Installing Elevator Servos.
The manual covers this step in detail so be sure to check it out. I just wanted to mention that I had to make a slight modification since the X8 servos sit a little bit deeper in the slots. The two elevator servos hit each other when installed, so I used phenolic servo washers to space both of the elevators servo out and the problem was solved. These washers can be purchased at Esprit Model. I also use these washers to install all of my servos as it holds them in place better.
Step 7: Pull-pull Setup
This seems to be one of the more difficult steps for new comers when it comes to this size of an airplane, so here are a few tips to make it a little easier.
First, build the servo arm side of it first. Install the ball links, crimps, cable, ect.. outside of the plane. Next, center the servo and install the arm. Make sure the arm is perpendicular to the servo case as this is very important for achieving a rudder that feels consistent in both directions. Now you are done with this end of the system. Doing it this way makes it so you never really have to work inside of the plane to pull the cables tight, crimp it, ect…
Next, tape the rudder to make sure it stays centered, and then pull the cable tight. To keep the cable from developing any slack while running the safety loop the crimp, use hemostats to pinch the cable. You should end up with a perfectly centered rudder, as well as tight cables.