3D Hobby Shop Extra SC

The big 55" SHP by 3D Hobby Shop has always been a special plane for me. 55" is right in the middle of what used to be the 40 or 60 sized nitro planes I grew up flying, what I considered to be a "real airplane." Sure, the smaller planes are great fun, and convenient too, but a big plane has it's own kind of special aura and presence.  55" is about as big of a plane as would fit my lifestyle and budget, and that made the big SHP perfect.

The 55" SHP took me back to my old nitro days, only cleaner, quieter and much more conveniently. I would have been happy flying the big SHP forever, so initially I wasn't sure how to feel about it being replaced by the 57" Extra SC.

FLYING

First, it's worth noting that all the good things about how the SHP flies have carried over into the SC. The SC is very honest, stable, forgiving, and absolutely confidence inspiring. Sounds just like an SHP, doesn't it?

In fact, the SC flies very much like an SHP, only lighter. While they are very similar, without a doubt the biggest difference between the SHP and the lightweight SC is the performance gain losing that weight afforded. The SC is much floatier, and also more agile at slower speeds. The SC is almost like a smaller plane in this respect because you can toss it around pretty carelessly, but it still flies very big, and very, very smooth.

Obviously harrier, hover and other alpha flight is going to be improved because of the lighter wing loading. Overall, the SC just feels lighter, can fly slower and be much more responsive at those speeds. The SC just 3Ds better.

On the other end, high speed precision is very good. In fact, my SC seems to KE better than my 55" SHPs. This translates into beautiful slow and point rolls, which were already really nice with the SHP.  The SC seems to be a little more reassuring in KE flight and I really can't find a reason for that. It might just be an illusion, or it might be the lighter weight comes into play during all aspects of flight.

Outside of handling much more lightly on the sticks, the SC flies so much like the SHP that my comments on the 55" SHP apply to the 57" SC as well:

http://docaustinsfreakshow.blogspot.com/2009/02/25-flights-3d-hobby-shop-55-extra-shp.html

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AIRFRAME OVERVIEW

The most important improvement on the Extra SC is it's new, much lighter weight. On a plane this size an ouch or two isn't all that crucial, but when you add in more wing to drop the wing loading, and then go with a lighter power system,  now you've got a completely different animal.

The 57" Extra SC is essentially a slightly larger, lighter SHP, but it's also better flying plane. The wingspan grows from 55" to 57". When you compare it to an SHP wing you'de think this wasn't worth the effort, but combined with the SC's lower weight, the wing loading drops considerably and the SC is a noticably floatier flying plane.

3DHS saved the weight in a few areas that are obvious. First, the SC can be built with either single or dual elevator servos. Single works best for me because I prefer to keep things simple and reliable. The loss of one servo and pushrod in the tail saves weight, and also moves the mass of the airplane closer to the center, which improves the plane's agility.

It now takes less weight in the nose to balance the plane properly, and the preferred power set up drops from the SHP's heavier 5 cell arrangement to 4 cells. Lately I'm preferring the lower power of the 4s setup anyway, because it makes the power delivery much easier to control. For me, the SHP was a little difficult to keep in a harrier or hover on 5s because one or two notches of power was all it took for the plane to blast off. Now with the SC on 4s, managing the power is much easier.

While we are on the business end of the airplane, the SC's motorbox has been stiffened up and strenghtened quite a bit. The sides, top and bottom pieces are cut so the inside edges at the corners are pre-gusseted. This is hard to explain in writing, so please check out the motorbox photos.

Another place 3DHS saved weight was moving from opaque covering to translucent on the bottom of the wings and stab. This saved an estimated one ounce, but another big gain here is that the translucent covering seems to stay tighter and stick to the wood better. It just seems to stay nicer.  The whole covering job is probably the best one I've gotten yet, and along with superb build quality this is probably the nicest plane overall I've ever owned.

The most important part of the asthetics for me is the SC's new tinted canopy. It is lightly smoked, but dark enough to much more easilly discern the canopy outline, and makes orientation better. It's still light enough that you could put a pilot in there and he would still be visible. I was tinting my own canopies and it was a colossal pain, so I hope this feature will make it's way into all future 3DHS releases. A righteous upgrade.

All the SHP's hardware was carried forward to the SC. That whole package is top drawer quality, and it's nice to use equipment you are already familar with. The sideforce generators appear to be the same ones used on the last generation SHP, and those worked so well it's not surprising they were retained.

The SHP's optional carbon fiber landing gear is now standard equipment for the Extra SC. I much prefer this to the previous aluminum gear which bent up so easilly. The carbon gear is stiffer, yet will still take a pretty good shot. It also looks teriffic.

One last upgrade is that the SC comes with 3DHS's custom fitted wing bags. These are complete with an internal pouchs for the carbon wing tube and also the SFGs. A very nice, quality touch that protects you quality investment.

EQUIPMENT

Power System
We weren't going to stray from what we know works. The obvious choice for our power system was always going to be Extreme Flight, with the motor being the Torque Revolution 4014, and the Airboss 80 speed controller (ESC). If the motor in the photo looks a little ragged out, that's with good reason. This motor has been around and around the block in all my 55" SHPs, and it still runs smoothly and powerfully.

Again, the simplicity of the Airboss 80 ESC makes it a no-brainer choice. Plug it in and go fly it. You don't need a seperate BEC, and you don't need to program anything. Just put the deans plug on it, stick it in the plane and forget about it. This is one less thing to maintain and worry about. It makes it easier to push the plane hard when you have equipment like this that just works.

Power and reliability is what the Torque and Airboss are all about. As much money as you will be spending on a large plane like the Extra SC, it's hard to imagine settling for anything less.

Later down the road I'm planning on going ultra lightweight and trying a Torque 2812 motor. This was originally designed especially for the 51" AJ Slick, but the Extra SC is so light that this could be a very viable power package for it. On 4s it's just a bit too much motor for the Slick, so it ought to be pretty close on the SC.

Batteries
On previous 55" SHPs (and Edge 55" 540s) I used Thunder Power Extreme Series 5S 3850 batteries. These served me really well and after hundreds of flights still perform beautifully. However, lately I've been flying my 55" Edge 540 on 4s, and I like the less explosive power delivery much better. 5S was just too stupid much power, but 4s seems just right.

For the SC I ordered some  Thunder Power 4s 3850 Pro Power packs. I tried these first in my 55" Edge and they have much more punch than the 4s Extremes I was running. They also run considerably cooler, so this is a win/win combination all the way around. The Pro Power packs have so much more grunt that I will probably turn my end point control back a bit on my throttle. That will make the power more manageable, and it will also take a lot of stress off the power system.

Funny how we drop down a cell to get rid of power and Thunder Power just gives it right back to us with better batteries!  It's a bit petty to complain that the batteries are too good, but that's the case here. I think next time I'll go for the lower discharge and slightly lower weight Pro Power packs. Those have been utterly awesome in my 47" planes, and I can save about another ounce or so by using them on the SC, as if it's not already light enough.

Servos
From the beginning, I've always flown my 55" planes on Hi Tech HS225MG servos. I recently converted my 55” Edge from dual elevator to single, and even in full speed walls and terminal velocity parachutes, a single HS225MG servo still has enough torque to get the job done. I used these same servos in my three previous SHPs, and they still work smoothly and center perfectly. Even though they have hundreds of flights on them, I had no reservation using them in a brand new plane.

SET UP

Funny thing is, I took the servos out of my 55" SHP and put them in the SC using the same holes in the same servo arms. I didn't even change my 55" Extra SHP transmitter program other than to center the trims and rename it "Extra SC." Well, that and I turned off the dual elevator mixing feature because the SC only uses one.

Once you've had an SHP, you'll find nothing here you haven't seen before.  Very straight forward and simple.

Elevator set up is very basic.  I used the longest arm from the Dubro pack and set my endpoints at 130% (with 140% available on Futaba radios). I may dial in the last 10% later, but for now the plane is quite agile enough.

I used the aileron servos and arms exactly the way they came out of my 55" SHP. I may move the pushrod out one more hole on the arm because I'de like a little more travel to counteract torque when hovering, but for now I think my bad form is more of a problem than setup. The thing rolls like a banshee the way it is.

The rudder setup was more of the same....right out of the SHP with no changes.  About the only thing I can do differently here is post a more fun view of the cables.

As you can see, I use wire ties to snug the servo wires up so the won't get into the rudder servo arm. I had a throttle linkage snag an aileron extension once, and it unplugged it, so I've been pretty careful since. I've seen other installations with the wires going everywhere, and fouling everything, and it just makes me crazy. I am probably a bit obsessive about getting the installation just so, but it gives me a lot of confidence to know the plane is as right as I know how to make it.

Something really nice about the SC is that the bevels on the control surfaces have more angle, so you can run a really tight gap and still get massive control surface travel. This is such a simple solution that works so well you have to wonder why no other manufacturer has thought of doing it before.

I can get about 70 degrees on my elevator, and that's with such a tight gap you would have a hard time squeezing a business card through it. With a tight gap the plane is going to fly better, smoother, and with more control. This shows up especially well at slower speeds where the tighter gap will help by considerably aiding control authority.

Personally I always seal my hinge lines with clear monokote, but it's a pain. With the SC's tighter gap, that's not at all necessary. The SC's gap is really, really close, and allows a bunch of throw.

THE NAIL

In a way, the SC is nothing more than an SHP with a few tweeks, but this is a very simplistic view. Digging a bit deeper, by losing a bit of weight and adding a bit of wing, the SC comes in with a lighter wing loading. Weight and wing loading is always the enemy in 3D, and any attempt to shed some is a righteous upgrade.

3DHS didn't stop at merely shaving weight off the plane itself, though. They went after even more by dropping down to a much lighter power system. At the lighter overall weight, the 4S power system is still more than good enough to blast out of a hover, or blast out of trouble. It's not as stupid wasteful as 5s power was, but it's much more than good enough, and still maybe just a little too much for those who need to work on their throttle management.

With the lighter power system and the weight of one less servo and linkage in the tail,  the weight of the plane becomes much more centralized, and this makes the plane even more agile.

So, you give up next to nothing in the power department, or at the worst you give up power you didn't need and can't use anyway, and in return you get a lighter and floatier flying plane that is more responsive and more agile.

So, while the SC retains all the sweet flying characteristics that made the SHP such a solid favorite, it also breaks into new ground....almost to the point it flies like a completely different plane.

Here's a little bonus for all of you who made it this far..................

40" Edge 540 Huckamania

The little Edge has sure been getting a real workout lately.

40" Edge 540 Hardcore

Just a few videos from last week. I've been flying the Edge and the 42" Slick a lot lately. It's impossible to pick a favorite, so it's a good thing I have them both.

How To Do The Inverted Snap Roll Take Off

We've had a few requests to discuss our inverted snap roll take off. It looks scarey as hell, but it's really not once you know a few of the secrets to pull it off safely. If you do it right, it's not even a high risk maneuver, but it does get a lot of attention.

It's nothing more than take off, roll to inverted, and 1.5 outside snap roll to level, and fly off. You're combining three simple, basic maneuvers, but the difficulty is stringing them together and getting the timing right. You can see already that you're going to be busy, but I've probably made it sound harder than it really is.

The first thing you're going to need is be comfortable rolling inverted low to the ground. Most 3D pilots don't have much trouble with that, though.

Then you need to work your outside 1.5 snaps.This involves flying in inverted, and then pitching the nose up with full down elevator, full ailerons, and full oposite rudder. I use right ailerons and left rudder, simply because I have always done it that way. You can just as easilly use left aileron/right rudder.

I like to do my inverted snaps at medium speed with the throttle cut, and then apply about half throttle or so as I go into the snap. This lets the power pull the plane through, and it also gives you a blast of vectored thrust. On the take off snap, though, you'll be using full throttle the whole time.

Of course, in the beginning practise these with a bit of altitude until you are comfortable with the stick sequence. You'll also want to play with the power some and get the timing right.

Speaking of timing, that's the biggest thing to get right in almost any of these maneuvers. Get the timing right and these maneuvers come off beautifully. Get it wrong and it can be disaster.

That's why I suggest trying them up high until you have the timing perfect and can stop the plane where you want it. It's no good not knowing when the snap is going to stop if you are low to the ground. You need to stop it right where you want it stopped so you can fly the plane out. I've got a little trick that makes this much more forgiving. We'll go over that a bit later because but I don't want to get ahead of ourselves.

You want to work on flying inverted and doing a 1.5 outside snap with the wings stopping at level. Once you can consistantly hit this cleanly, then you're almost ready.

Here's the big secret to the inverted snap roll takeoff: You take off, roll to inverted and begin the maneuver with the nose up pointing just a little. The first few times we are going to point the nose way up, and then we're going to work our way down. By pitching up a bit, the plane is going to continue climbing just a bit. With this in mind, any maneuver that goes upward is going away from the ground, and is really pretty safe. The longer the maneuver goes, the larger your margin of error. At least if you screw up you aren't out of control with the plane heading down!

So, if your timing is off, or you stop the plane at an odd angle, the plane is climbing. You just level the wings and fly out.

So, first you take off and roll the plane to inverted as low to the ground as you dare (don't try it low the first few times). The first few tries, pause for about a half second just to stabilize yourself. Then pitch the nose just that little bit so the plane is now climbing, and dump it into that perfect 1.5 outside snap you've developed. You want the plane to come out of the snap with the wings level, and then you just fly away.

I suggest the first few times you pitch up on about a 45 degree angle. This way the plane will have a little altitude if you stop the snap with the plane in a bad position. After you are comfortable doing these, you can lower the angle and the altitude. You simply have to make the maneuver work, and get the timing right before you can try it on the deck. After that, detirmine how close you cut it by how confident you feel doing the maneuver.

Now, even when I do these as low as I dare, I still pitch that nose up a few degrees. I try to hit where the angle is so little it is hard for onlookers to notice it. It's a slight of stick kind of thing.

Once you get comfortable, work on reducing the time between pitching the nose up and snapping the plane. I'm working on making it a smooth transition from half roll to snap, but if you hit it wrong with the wings not level, it's going to go off to the side. You'll see in the first takoff on the video I try to snap too soon, before the wings are quite level, and the plane wallows off to the left side. Still, it wasn't a disaster because I pitched the nose up enough that the plane climbed through the whole thing.

So, that's it. Mostly it's just stringing the three moves together, making sure you are pitched up a little before the snap, and then making sure the wings are level when you initiate the snap. Oh, it's also nice if you stop the snap with the wings level because the plane just flies away.

Pimp Slappin' And Such

You may have noticed I debuted a lot of new planes lately.  With everything I've got to choose from, all I want to fly is that  little AJ Slick!

Oh, the rest aren't bad planes at all. In fact, I love every plane I have, but the Slick is just so easy to throw in the back seat and just take flying. I never take the wing off it and rarely do any maintainence at all on it (it never needs anything). It's much like my 40 Edge 540, only it's much more like the Laser 200, which I think it the prettiest plane ever.

In previous articles I've talked about how the 42" Slick flies better with it's more reasonable 130-170 watts-per-pound ratio, and I'm finding that more and more true every time I fly it. At first I thought the power system was completely inadequate, but the more I flew it, the more I became used to this and was able to use the smoother power delivery to my advantage. You can read more about this in my previous Slick blog entry.

http://docaustinsfreakshow.blogspot.com/2009/08/3dhs-42-aj-slickterror-in-parks.html

Bottom line is I've become almost too confident with the plane. Here are two videos from this week.

The next two are highlights from those videos, only in half speed. I use these for studying technique and looking for ways to improve my game,  but when you stick music in there they also become a bit more entertaining. I hope you enjoy them.