AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022 - 69

A new Extra pilot's biggest challenge is to
not overcontrol the airplane. Control surfaces
are exceptionally light and responsive, and rudder,
elevator, and ailerons all seem to have power
steering. Slight movements produce dramatic
and immediate results.
Inside, the airplane is loud and surprisingly
Watch the three-part
AOPA Air Safety Institute
Beyond Proficient series
on flying the Extra 300L.
airsafetyinstitute.org/
beyondproficient/extra300
drafty, especially in the front cockpit. There's no heater in the AOPA
Extra, so dress warm.
Aerobatic maneuvers can be as mild or wild as the pilot desires.
The roll rate is about 360 degrees per second, and that's quick enough
to be a blur at first to pilots using full aileron deflection.
Over-the-top looping maneuvers typically start at about 160
KIAS and cover about 1,500 feet from bottom to top using full engine
power. The stick pull gradient is linear but light, and a heavy-handed
pilot can easily pull more than 4 Gs and bleed off energy.
Spins are graceful and predictable, both upright and inverted, but
the pilot must hold full pro-spin inputs throughout each spin, or the
airplane will recover on its own. Tumbling gyroscopic maneuvers
can impose sharp spikes of negative Gs, so it's a good idea to enter
them at less than 100 KIAS to make them less punishing to the occupants.
(The airplane is rated for plus or minus 8 Gs with two people
on board, so it's nowhere near its limits.)
Landing the Extra is different than other aircraft because a curving
approach is far simpler than a long, straight-in one in which the
runway disappears under the nose. A curving approach keeps the
runway in view.
There are no flaps, so the airplane flies at a nose-high attitude
at slow speed, and the three-blade MT Propeller provides lots of
aerodynamic braking. Slowing to the 80-knot final approach speed
happens quickly at idle power.
The landing flare requires some patience as you work the stick
aft for a three-point landing. The tailwheel tends to touch down first
during a full-stall landing at idle power, and the Extra tracks straight
ahead during rollout with little or no pilot input. Even in crosswinds,
the Extra is exceptionally well behaved on the runway.
MORE OF EVERYTHING
Introducing new pilots to the AOPA Extra 300L is like providing
driver training in a Ferrari. A race car has a steering wheel, gas pedal,
and brake just like a Honda Civic, yet it's most certainly not a Civic.
" Everything about being in the Extra seems exaggerated, " said
AOPA videographer Josh Cochran, a private pilot with 200 flight
hours who made his first aerobatic flight in the AOPA Extra with
Richard McSpadden, senior vice president of the AOPA Air Safety
Institute. " From the acceleration on takeoff to the way it handles,
there's just more of everything. "
AOPA staff pilots have been invited to get upset recovery training
in the AOPA Extra, and they've done so enthusiastically. Some
are new to aerobatics, so seeing the horizon go around is a novel
experience. It also makes once-theoretical concepts tangible and
instantly understandable.
" We did loops where we intentionally stalled in different
positions throughout the maneuver, and that really made an
impression, " Cochran said. " I knew that airplanes
can stall at any attitude or any airspeed, but actually
seeing it happen and feeling the sensations
gave me a much better understanding of what's
really going on with the wing. "
Jon Gandy, an aviation technical specialist in
the AOPA Pilot Information Center with commercial
and multiengine ratings, wanted to see advanced aerobatic
maneuvers in the Extra.
" I take flight training opportunities very seriously and wanted to
make the most of this one, " he said. " The main takeaway for me was
just how much fun this kind of flying is. I just couldn't help smiling. "
Sarah Deener, AOPA senior director of publications and an
instrument-rated pilot, brought her husband Matt and two children
to the airport with her on the morning she flew the Extra.
" The rolls were the most enjoyable part of the flight to me, " she
said. " That airplane can really make the horizon go around. "
Happily, the motion-sickness bags in the Extra have so far
remained unused, although several flights ended early because of
queasiness. The staff pilots receiving the training handle the controls
during the majority of each flight, and that helps. When driving on a
winding road, it's seldom the driver who feels sick.
McSpadden was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot before joining
AOPA, and he's had to modify his message for the association's
civilian-trained pilots. During a flight with Cayla McLeod Hunt,
AOPA social media marketer, McSpadden repeatedly directed her
to " unload " before rolling the airplane.
" She finally asked me what I meant by 'unload,' " he said.
" Evidently, it's word that's not used in general aviation, so lots of
people found it confusing. " (Unloading the wing means reducing
the angle of attack so that the wing produces little if any lift-and
that enables the wing to roll faster and avoid aerodynamic stalls at
low airspeed.)
" Lift vector " is another term common in military aviation that
perplexed AOPA staff members. When McSpadden would ask the
front-seat pilot to " put the lift vector on the horizon, " he was directing
the pilot to bank hard and pull-but the message frequently
required further explanation.
One of the more demanding coordination exercises was called
" keep the heavy end up. " In it, the instructor rolls the airplane slowly
while the student uses " top " rudder to prevent the nose from falling.
When the Extra is flying at knife-edge, for example, top rudder
is the only control surface available to keep the nose from dropping.
After hours of strenuous flight training, the consensus among
AOPA staff members began to emerge: Rolls are fun and confidenceinspiring.
Loops introduce high G-forces and show the necessity of
looking out the sides and top of the canopy for orientation. Spins and
snap rolls are jarring are disorienting. Sustained inverted flight and
outside maneuvers are cruel and punishing.
Still, some staff members can't seem to get enough.
" I want to go again, " said Erick Webb, AOPA social media marketer
and a private pilot with a tailwheel endorsement. " Whenever
there's an open seat in this airplane, call me. I want to be in it. "
dave.hirschman@aopa.org
AOPA PILOT / December 2022
69
http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/beyondproficient/extra300 http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/beyondproficient/extra300
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022

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