The Nine Eagles Xtra 300 has been modified in all sorts of ways, first it was lightened, then a custom 11 gram camera was mounted on-board and finally a Jolly Logic AlitimeterOne was added to view altitude on the recorded video.

Well the plane is being retired and I had an idea for the electronics from the plane. After I ripped out all the electronics and weighed them they came in at just 45 grams including battery. I love 3D but it's been raining for a long time and I wanted to build a super small/light plane capable of 3D.

The Xtra 300 model weight with mods was 115 grams and still flew fine, the stock weight is 95 grams. I personally wanted to build a model about 15-20 grams lighter than stock so approximately 75-80 grams for a better power to weight ratio.

As you can see the final build weight is 65 grams which is much better than I was aiming for, that's a whole 30 grams or 1/3rd the original build weight gone! The intended power to weight ratio for 3D should be there.


Today is the next day and of course I had my first maiden although suspected some issues and I wasn't wrong. I aligned the engine too straight which give the plane a heavy left tilt and not enough space to try correct. I've remounted the engine with a very slight 3-5 degree right angle and will try again. However what is worth mentioning is the plane had enough power to stay in harrier /3D at 80% throttle which isn't too shabby at all!

After these test flights I adjusted the ailerons to fixed full right roll and only used rudder and elevator and it still didn't stop the left torque roll you see. The planes weight is just too light to stop serious torque roll but at least I can say I tried. I might still test this outside too see its normal flight behaviour if the wind ever drops low enough so don't hold your breathe on that one!