manual with many photos to guide the
builder through assembly of the model.
I started on the Extra by using my heating
iron and Hot Sock with the heat turned on
the highest setting. I slowly guided the
iron over the entire surface of the model,
and my patience paid off. All but a few
stubborn wrinkles disappeared. It looks
good to me!
I mounted the servo in the center of the
MY FIRST TIME seeing Almost Readyto-
Fly (ARF) Radio Control airplanes
flying was at a local contest in the late
1950s or early 1960s. I’m almost certain it
was one of the LanierRC ARFs. Those
early models’ fuselages were built with a
basic plywood frame covered with a stiff
plastic material. Wings and tails were
foam core, also covered with the stiff
plastic.
Lanier still manufactures ARFs with
this type of construction; however, the
company also manufactures full kits and
all-wood ARFs (AWARFs). The subject of
this review is one of these newer ARFs:
the Extra 300L for .45-.61 cubic-inchdisplacement
engines.
Upon initial examination of the kit, I
found it to be well
constructed and
fairly light. The
covering had a
substantial amount
of wrinkles (which
seems to be the
norm for ARFs). I was impressed by the
prepainted fiberglass cowl, wheel pants,
and aluminum landing gear. Not only were
they painted, but the paint matched the
covering perfectly, unlike many other
ARFs with which I’ve had experience.
A large preformed canopy, vinyl
decals, and hardware sets including
pushrods, clevises, hinges, and various
screws, nuts, and washers completed the
kit. Also included was an instruction
Dick Wetzel
P r o d u c t R e v i e w
514 E. Main St., Bath PA 18014
LanierRC Extra 300L
Pros:
• Painted fiberglass parts
• Overall color matching
• Light weight
Cons:
• Wrinkled covering (not a big problem)
• Vinyl canopy trim (color didn’t match)
The assembled LanierRC Extra 300L is surprisingly light, and it has obvious good looks. It flies well too!
Here’s what you get. Overall quality is extraordinary, with only a
few minor covering wrinkles to remove before assembly.
34 MODEL AVIATION
03sig2.QXD 12.19.02 2:53 pm Page 34
one-piece wing and attached the two pushrods and clevises to the
aileron horn fitting. I temporarily mounted the wing onto the
fuselage using the #8 wing bolts, washers, and blind nuts, and I
used the mounted wing as a guide to properly align the stabilizer
and fin onto the fuselage. I epoxied the supplied pin hinges into
the appropriate locations, then I mounted the servos for the
rudder, elevator, and throttle control. I used Futaba 9202 servos.
The elevator and rudder pushrods consist of a 5⁄16-inchdiameter
wood dowel to which threaded rods are attached. The
two elevator wire pushrods form a “Y” with the dowel and exit
both sides of the fuselage to two elevator control horns—one on
the left and one on the right elevator. The rudder pushrod
consists of a dowel and a single wire. I followed the photos in
the instruction manual, and everything worked fine.
The instructions specify a side-mounted engine. I was
supplied with a Tower Hobbies .61. The preassembled wood
engine-mount beam spacing was wide enough to accommodate
the engine without using the two aluminum spacers provided to
mount the narrower .46-cubic-inch engine. However, the
supplied spacers will probably be needed if a smallerdisplacement
engine is used.
An opening is built into the lower front of the fuselage behind
the firewall to handily accommodate the muffler of a .46 engine,
but the 61-size muffler was too large to fit into this cavity. I
decided to use a Slimline Pitts muffler rather than cut away more
of the fuselage.
Actually, since I used this muffler I did not have to cut a large
opening in the cowl to clear the front end of it, which would
have been necessary using even the .46 engine and the stock
muffler. I did have to cut a hole in the side of the cowl to clear
the cylinder head of the larger .61 engine.
For the carburetor to clear the front of the fiberglass cowl, I
had to cut away one of the cooling intake areas. Some of the
paint chipped away as I was cutting these openings, but I
touched up those places using Cheveron Flame Red and Insignia
Blue paints.
The throttle pushrod consists of a wire running through a
nylon sheath, which was guided through two predrilled holes in
the firewall and second plywood former. The formed aluminum
landing gear was mounted using the supplied hardware.
I removed the engine and coated the entire firewall and
engine-mount area with finishing resin to fuel-proof and
strengthen it. I installed the fuel tank, fastened the cowl with four
screws provided, and mounted the propeller and spinner. Then I
painted the pilot, secured the canopy with RC/56 canopy cement,
and applied the decals. Lanier provided a red stick-on canopy
trim; however, that color didn’t match the red covering, so I used
the Cheveron Flame Red to paint the trim.
After reading the instructions and warnings for the Tower
The Futaba 9202 aileron servo mounts in the standard manner.
All hardware was good to excellent and fit well.
The Tower Hobbies .61 engine mounts as shown with blind nuts
to the wooden mount beams. Notice the tilt.
A Slimline Pitts muffler was fitted but required a 1⁄4-inch spacer to
clear the mount assembly. It’s a simple modification.
With the Extra’s cowl fitted, the nose takes on a sleek look.
There’s plenty of cooling air inlet.
Photos courtesy the author
March 2003 35
03sig2.QXD 12.19.02 2:53 pm Page 35
Hobbies .61 engine, I mounted it on a test
stand with the standard muffler provided
and adjusted the fuel mixture needle valve
41⁄2 turns out, as instructed. The engine
started after four or five flips of the
propeller and seemed to be running
smoothly. I backed off the needle valve to
get a slightly rich run, to ensure that the
engine was not running too lean.
On the second run I leaned out the
engine slightly again, and it ran smoothly
and idled down nicely at this setting. I ran
two tanks of fuel through the engine,
running alternately high and low speeds,
and I was ready to mount it into the Extra
300L.
Initially, mounting the Slimline Pitts
muffler in the Extra presented a problem
because of the width of the preassembled
wooden engine mount interfering with the
muffler. I needed a 1⁄4-inch spacer
between the engine exhaust and the
muffler for the muffler to swing under the
mount.
The two aluminum adapters—which
were meant to be used to mount the .46
engine to the wider wooden engine
mounts, but were not needed for the .61
engine—came in handy for use as spacers
for the muffler. I drilled openings in both
aluminum pieces to correspond to the
Tower Hobbies .61 engine exhaust
openings, and I mounted the two pieces
between the exhaust and muffler. Perfect!
But would the Tower Hobbies engine
run and idle properly mounted in the Extra
using the Slimline Pitts muffler instead of
the stock muffler? It ran and idled very
well, indeed.
After a few more photographs, I was
ready to fly the Extra 300.
It was a nice November day when I
decided to test-fly the model. The grass at
the field was freshly mowed—maybe for
the last time in 2002.
This would be the first time I fired up
the Tower Hobbies engine fully cowled.
Since I could not choke the engine
because of the close fit of the cowl to the
carburetor, I removed the glow plug and
shot a small amount of fuel into the
cylinder head. The engine started after
three flips of the propeller. I had to open
the needle valve approximately a half turn
from the previous setting when the engine
was running without the cowl.
Takeoff was uneventful. I put in a little
up-elevator at first, combined with a slight
bit of right rudder, and away it went. I
immediately cut back on the power to get
a feel for the airplane before putting it
through its maneuvers. No trim was
required between high and low speeds,
and the airplane handled nicely at all
speeds.
After some photo passes I put the
model through Loops, Rolls, and Cuban
Eights, all of which could be performed at
two-thirds power. At full power, some
wild maneuvers—some even unnamed—
could be performed. I noticed some
tendency to tip-stall at lower speeds, but I
think that’s the nature of the beast. I
landed the Extra a little hot, and it held
steady as a rock.
The LanierRC Extra 300L is an exciting
airplane to fly and is not very difficult to
assemble. I am certain that it would fly
equally well with a .46 engine. If you are
into fast-paced aerobatics, this is one
model to try. MA
36 MODEL AVIATION
PERFORMANCE SPECIALTIES
PO Box 3146 • Gardnerville, NV 89410
Phone: 775-265-7523 • Fax: 775-265-7522
Performance Specialties makes your 4 stroke installations
easier with a great variety of new mufflers
and elbows for YS and OS engines.
Our unique new "Twister" allows the
user to rotate the muffler
through 150 degrees then
lock it down in the desired
position. The elbows are
available in 30, 45,
75 and 90 degree
versions to fit
virtually any installation.
The muffler/elbow
combinations and
the "Twister" are
available for OS 70/91/120,
YS 53/63/91/120/140, and
Saito 65/80/91/100/120/150/
180 engines.
VISIT US AT WWW.PSPEC.COM.
DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME!
Take a look at the chart below. An UltraThrust
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Don’t limit your performance or your fun . . .
Fly with an UltraThrust Muffler.
Stock Ultra Thrust
Muffler Muffler
K&B 48 14,800 16,300
OS32 FX 15,500 16,500
OS40 FX 13,700 15,000
OS46 FX 14,400 15,800
OS46 SF 14,000 15,700
OS61 FX 11,700 13,000
OS91 FX 10,500 12,000
ST GS 40 13,600 15,000
ST GS 45 ABC 14,600 16,300
TT Pro 46 14,000 15,100
TT Pro 61 11,400 12,300
Webra 40 GT 13,800 15,200
Webra 50 GT 14,600 15,900
OS 32 FX tested on APC 9/6 prop. All 40-50’s tested on APC 10/6 prop. All 61’s on APC 11/7
prop. OS 91 FX on APC 13/8 prop. 15% Nitro Fuel. Your results may vary with local conditions.
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03sig2.QXD 12.19.02 2:53 pm Page 36
