Archive/OldMag/Xtreme 3D Follow Up

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=156 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00e9cc00egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B> <STYLE>  </STYLE>  </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="97" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 313 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home Page"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive"><U><B>Archive</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id5.php" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact"><U><B>Contact</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Downloads"><U><B>Downloads</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U><B>Events</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For Sale"><U><B>For Sale</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Galleries"><U><B>Galleries</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Games"><U><B>Games</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Magazine"><U><B>Magazine</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletter"><U><B>Newsletter</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reference"><U><B>Reference</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Video"><U><B>Video</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Weather"><U><B>Weather</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f00640egerdp.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>Archive </B></I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=380 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > <STYLE>  </STYLE>  </FONT><A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive/Old Mag/Xtreme 3D Part 1"><U><B><<</B></U></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive/Old Mag/Mini Limbo"><U><B> >></B></U></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="10" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="602" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1502 WIDTH="580"><div> <I><B>Xtreme 3D Follow Up </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="3993acc0.jpg" border=0 width="314" height="204" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">Xtreme was never flown a lot after construction due to the lack of hoverability. (<A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive/Old Mag/Xtreme 3D Part 1"><U>Click here for Part 1</U></A>) Even after much experimentation with propellers it would still only just hang with virtually no pull out. Obviously, sooner or later, this would lead to disaster so I flew it less and less until it finally completed the journey and wound up in the graveyard (loft!). Once, I tried to sell it at the annual club Bring & Buy, but the guy who opens up our venue didn't show and we were all left sitting in the car park! When the event was rescheduled I couldn't be bothered to drag it all out of the loft again, so it stayed there!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="39a3aeb0.jpg" border=0 width="314" height="235" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">During its time in the loft I began flying a Funtana 40. This started life with a Thunder Tiger 61 Pro two stroke but wasn't a success so I fitted a ASP 90 four stroke, which was a huge improvement (why can't the lighter Saito's be cheaper, blast it!).  It was also a lot more relaxing to fly (if 3D can ever be called relaxing!) because of the beautifully subtle exhaust note. Anyway, long story short - the Funtana had been flying for about two years until I blew it up doing low harrier rolls. At the time I thought I'd gotten out of sync' with elevator and rudder and pulled into the deck, but later I was to find (after two more wrecked models!) that I had an intermittent transmitter problem. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="39b3aec0.jpg" border=0 width="314" height="236" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">So now I had a good 90 four stroke doing nothing and I needed something 3D'able. Enter Xtreme again!  Now the ASP 90 FS was 7 ounces heavier than the SC 53 originally fitted so somehow weight would need to added at the tail to maintain balance. So I took the opportunity to mount the rudder and elevator servo's in the tail. This balanced things up nicely and allowed even more control surface movement because I could now fit bigger servo arms, something which was impossible with the servo's in the fuselage under the wing, because of the fuselage width. Another advantage is that controls are far more positive than with the original snakes.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="39c3aeb0.jpg" border=0 width="314" height="235" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">The engine wouldn't fit in my lovely “Spitfireish” nose, so I just cut it off flush with the firewall and let it all hang out in the breeze. This, of course, saved a little weight too. This was working out quite well! Now we'd definitely have plenty of hover power, we'd gotten more control surface movement, and it'd sound nice too! There had to be a downside, and there was; weight! Because I'd nicked its lovely light carbon undercarriage while it was in the loft, I had to fit the only suitable replacement I had, which was off a Funtana 90, which itself had  been replaced with a carbon job. This was fairly heavy too so I found the combination of 90 four stroke and F90 u/c had added 12 ounces which got us to 6 pounds even. I didn't know what effect all this weight might have on flying performance as Xtreme is a weird bird - very light and with a hugely thick wing section.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="3a03a120.jpg" border=0 width="314" height="274" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">When I finally flew I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, she didn't float like she once did, but she was still a floater and pleasant to fly. Hovering was now a snap and really enjoyable knowing you could blast out at any time. Oddly harrier rolls were much improved - I've heard before that real lightweights don't harrier roll well and this is certainly true of Xtreme. All in all it's an improvement on its previous incarnation, the extra power and control surface movement expanding its flight envelope and allowing its pilot to learn, whereas before it was a bit of a dead end. It's a nice safe model too and can be flown in any weather - a good all rounder in fact. I'll be flying her on the first rusty flight of the new season so I must trust her, eh? I guess it's best to never give up on a model just because it doesn't quite fit the bill. <I>G:-)</I></div> <div> <I>FF-24-3-06</I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive/Old Mag/Xtreme 3D Part 1"><U><B><<</B></U></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Archive/Old Mag/Mini Limbo"><U><B> >></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>