Aerial Sports Car

If the Extra 300L were a horse, its name would be Secretariat.

Rip around the pattern a few times in a 300-horsepower Extra 300L and you'll never want to fly anything else. That's the downside of flying one — facing your cross-country flivver afterward. But the upside is spectacular: go 200 knots in a very slight descent, pull vertical, and climb 2,500 feet straight up before running out of energy. Or lift off, pull into a 3-G chandelle as the airspeed reaches 120 knots, and roll out on downwind at 1,000 feet in less than 20 seconds. Just another expensive airplane you'll never get to fly? Not necessarily. You may find a similar model at your aerobatic flight school before long.

Tell your friends about the 300L and many may ask, "What's an Extra?" It's a line of contest-winning aerobatic aircraft designed by Walter Extra of Germany. More exactly, this latest model is a tandem, two-seat, composite-and-fabric sportster that can be flown safely by any experienced tailwheel pilot with average skills.

The Extra gets its zip from low power loading — 6.39 pounds per horsepower — that enables it to take off in 305 feet and climb at 3,200 feet per minute. And it gets its famous control harmony from stability and center-of-gravity calculations that have made Extra famous. Extra power and fine-tuned controllability combine to make the aircraft jet-like in performance.

Until the new 300L was certified this spring, the Extra market was thought to be mostly aerobatic and airshow pilots. But all that has changed. The 300L (300 horsepower, low wing) has been Americanized with the help of suggestions from Extra distributor Jim Moser, president of Aero Sport in St. Augustine, Florida. He has considerable experience of his own from which to draw, having performed in airshows all his life, starting with those put on by his father. Currently, he flies in a formation aerobatic act with fellow pilot Carl Pascarell.

As a result of those suggestions to Extra, and Extra's own innovations, the new market for the 300L has expanded to any pilot who wants to fly a hot rod. The performance is comparable to that of the tandem-seat Extra 300 and single-seat 300S designs that routinely eat their aerobatic competitors for lunch. While the 300 has a mid-fuselage-mounted wing, and the wing of the 300S (used by current national aerobatic champion Phil Knight) is somewhat lower, the 300L is mounted lowest of all the models.

Extra is betting the lower wing location is the key to its future sales success, a major improvement over previous models. Pilots of the 300 rarely see the runway just before touchdown. "If you can see the runway, you aren't over it," one owner joked. The low-fuselage location of the 300L wing, however, provides excellent visibility for landing, takeoff, and taxiing. And the contoured, adjustable seat and electrically adjustable rudder pedals offer improved creature comforts for the 300L's American audience. But the aircraft's best feature remains the famous Extra performance.

"The 300L is the first two-seater I've seen that can really be competitive at the world level," says Knight. He won last year's title by defeating three-time champion Patty Wagstaff, whose Extra 260 resides in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum. (Her aircraft has completed a period of temporary display and is now in a warehouse, waiting to go on permanent display in the next year.) High-G aerobatic competition is not for everyone, of course. After all, a lot of people who own Ferraris have no interest in professional auto racing.

The 300L is expected to appeal to pilots who loop and roll occasionally but are primarily interested in just owning a performance machine. Reflecting this new market are some of the options 300 and 300L custom-ers recently ordered: moving maps, IFR avionics, five-disc CD players, stereo/noise canceling headsets, and stereo intercoms. Should such owners ever want to compete in advanced aerobatics, though, at least they won't have to trade up.

While not inexpensive, the base price of $225,000 (the Lycoming AEIO-540 alone costs more than $50,000) seems quite reasonable, compared with other aircraft. To put it in perspective, a new Waco by Classic Aircraft costs $215,000. (In fact, Waco and Extra compete for some of the same customers.) And in a Cessna Citation, the avionics alone can cost $225,000. An IFR Aerospatiale Trinidad goes for more than $300,000, one dealer said.

But if an outright purchase is out of reach, that doesn't mean you'll never get to have the Extra experience. A less expensive 200-hp model to be based on the 300L — the Extra 200 — could be certified and available for rental at your local aerobatic flight school in a year. The 200 should be flying at the factory as you read this. Plans are to offer the tandem-seat Extra 200 trainer (powered by a Lycoming AEIO-360 rated at 200 hp) for $140,000 by eliminating some of the features that are standard on the 300L and using less expensive materials. While it is essentially the same aircraft as the 300L but with less power, Extra promises it will still be able to perform in Advanced-category competition. "The 200 slows maneuvers down so the student can absorb them, while providing a more economical operation for the aerobatic school," Extra said during a telephone interview from Germany. The 300/200, as it is more formally known, will have a maximum takeoff weight of 1,918 pounds, same as the Extra 300L.

In addition to the 200, a high-wing competitor to the Piper Malibu Mirage is also emerging from the prolific Extra-Flugzeugbau factory in H?nxe, Germany. It is a six-place, pressurized corporate/personal aircraft to be known as the Extra 400, which will be powered by a turbocharged, liquid-cooled Continental TSIOL-550-A engine. Moser said the 400 will carry six passengers 1,000 nautical miles at 240 KTAS. As this was written, the fuselage halves had just been joined and the airplane was scheduled to fly in October.

No, the 400 won't roll and loop like the 300 series — but Moser promises that it will benefit from Extra's knowledge of composite construction and control harmony. The selling price is estimated to be $900,000 to $1 million. Like the 300L, the 400 will be an all-composite design. An addition to the Extra factory has been readied for its production.

"Walter wanted to stretch," Moser said. "He has gone as far as he can in the aerobatics world and was looking for new challenges." As Extra himself puts it, "I wanted to do something else besides thinking in terms of loops all the time."

As Extra turns his attention to the on-demand transportation market, the 300L is attracting not only attention, but also sales. During the three days Pilot was in St. Augustine, Moser sold a 300L every day, thanks in part to the aircraft's display at the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In days earlier.

Why? Primarily, thrust. Instant acceleration, thanks to a light composite propeller — one without all that metal mass to overpower — and a light composite fuselage skin. (The lower rear portion of the fuselage is fabric covered.) When on the ground, advance to takeoff power, and the aircraft is traveling fast enough by the time the throttle reaches the stop to raise the tail. Accelerate, and G forces press you back into the seat. Scream onto downwind at 160 KIAS if you want. Reduce the throttle opposite the point of intended touchdown and feel light G forces nudge you forward; it's like hitting the brakes in a car.

But it is also control harmony that has brought Extra his well-deserved fame. "I always thought that the attention the pilot must give to performing his aerobatic sequence should not be eaten up by piloting," Extra said. He most certainly has achieved that goal.

The 300L is certified to plus or minus 10 Gs, but the wing can take 20 — a lot more than the pilot can take. The roll rate is officially listed at a phenomenal 420 degrees per second, about the same as for a Northrop T-38 jet trainer used in astronaut training, according to former Skylab astronaut Ed Gibson.

The Extra's control forces are extremely responsive and require a light touch. Pilots new to the Extra, whether it be a 300, 300S, or 300L, tend to overcontrol shortly after that first liftoff. Moser tells them to hold the stick with three fingers, like a pencil or, more appropriately, an artist's brush: Paint whatever path you want on the sky. Even steep turns require only a small flick of the wrist. Through tinkering with the stability ratios, Extra said, the 300L offers greater agility and controllability than the 300. The aircraft has just enough positive stability to meet certification requirements. In other words, when you put the aircraft in a new attitude, it stays put.

As with any aircraft new out of the box (this one arrived from Germany literally a week prior to Pilot's flight), minor tweaking is sometimes necessary. The 300L seemed to need constant right rudder pressure during four test flights. However, the spades — shovel-like scoops mounted to the bottom of the ailerons to lighten control forces — have fins angled at 45 degrees. When adjusted manually at the attach points of the spades, the fins act like rudder and yaw trim.

The toe brakes were too easily activated during taxi, even with the pilot's heels well back, but Moser has since adjusted them. Rudder pedals in the rear cockpit, the solo position, are adjustable to suit the pilot by toggling spring-loaded electric motor switches, one for each pedal, on the rear instrument panel.

The distortion-free canopy was a little finicky to open and close but is said to seat itself after several flights. The canopy had cooled during shipping, then expanded in the Florida sun once it was mounted on the aircraft. A pilot returning from a demonstration flight had to radio Aero Sport from the ramp to have someone in the office come out to open the canopy. However, the potential customer aboard at the time walked into the office and ordered a 300L. (The canopy has since been adjusted and can now be opened and closed by fingertip.)

The composite skin of the airplane is designed for quick removal. Should there ever be concern that the airframe has been overstressed, the 300L can be stripped to its steel tube airframe for inspection in 15 minutes.

The nation's aerobatic community will be introduced to the 300L during competition in Texas this September as former U.S. Aerobatic Team member Ellen Dean makes her bid to return to world competition. With extra Extras yet to come, the new airplane market is in for an exciting year.

Riding the Rocket Solo

300 easy-to-fly horses

Intimidating as it may seem to climb aboard an aircraft design holding the current national aerobatic championship, it isn't that difficult to fly. To my surprise, I was able to solo the 300L after three flights. It helped to have flown half of my previous 70 tailwheel hours in a Super Decathlon, but both the Decathlon and the 300L require very little help with the landing. (This is not the type of aircraft to approach with almost no tailwheel experience, however. Three hundred horses produce a lot of torque.)

The best method for landing the Extra 300L, as taught by Aero Sport's Craig Fordem, is to come over the fence at 90 KIAS, get close to the runway, raise the nose to the landing attitude, and wait. Do nothing aside from maintaining that attitude. The less the pilot does, the better it seems to work.

The Extra 300L takes off as though it hates the ground. From the first application of power, the pilot knows this is a hot rod, as advertised. Push the throttle ahead smoothly; it's on the left cabin wall — a lever reminiscent of heavy machinery.

Climb at 90 knots only if you want an extremely steep deck angle that inhibits forward visibility; 120 KIAS works much better. You're in the rear tandem seat, after all, seeing roughly the same sight ahead as a P-51 Mustang pilot. The Extra 300L climbs at a sedate (for this airplane) 1,300 feet per minute at 120 KIAS. As the specification table shows, it is capable of much more.

The amount of control movement needed for turns is nearly imperceptible. It's better to think about where you want to go, rather than to push the controls in that direction. By the time the pilot thinks "turn," the aircraft is turning.

Aerobatics are ever so much easier in a thoroughbred like the 300L, compared to the Decathlon trainer. Again, over-controlling was a problem on the first flight. Fordem watches Decathlon-trained pilots carefully and guards the stick to prevent pulling high Gs during those first maneuvers.

I had no desire to crank the Extra's roll rate to its maximum while doing basic-level solo aerobatics on only my fourth flight (counting dual instruction) and settled for pushing the stick to the left about an inch and a half; that gave a roll rate of about 180 degrees per second. Until I got used to it, the roll rate actually seemed to accelerate from the inverted position back to upright.

Better to let the experts wring out the 300L, like Ellen Dean, who placed second in world competition in 1988. Dean, sponsored by Aero Sport, flew aerobatics in the aircraft for the first time during Pilot's visit to St. Augustine, and seemed delighted with its quick response. It flew as though it were a much lighter aircraft, she said.

The bottom line for this aircraft: It's as responsive as you want it to be; world-class responsive, in fact. While it won't make up for a lack of aerobatic talent, it makes a great showcase for whatever skills the pilot may possess. — AKM