Bettering the Best

Established in 1980 by German aerobatic pilot Walter Extra as a means by which to design and develop his own airplanes, EXTRA Aircraft—EXTRA Flugzeugbau in its founder’s native tongue—has evolved into one of the world’s premier makers of aerobatic aircraft.

On 26 July 2023, Extra Aircraft executive Marcus Extra announced his company had received the first order for its new 330SX aerobatic airplane.

Mr. Extra stated: “Our company and family are very pleased that the first production 330SX will go to Mr. Bob Freeman and Freeman Airshows in Denver, Colorado,”

Mr. Extra added: “Bob has been a long-time owner and operator of Extra aircraft. He has had an accomplished career as an Advanced and Unlimited Team member for the U.S.A. competing in Slovenia, Poland, and South Africa. He is also the founder of Freeman Airshows. Our new 330SX will be in capable hands of a pilot who knows how to push the limits of flying.”

Freeman Airshows has performed at some of the U.S.’s largest and most prestigious air-shows—such as those held at Phoenix’s Luke Air Force base and Ogden, Utah’s Hill Air Force Base. Bob has forty-eight years and six-thousand hours of flight time and holds ATP, CFI, and CFII ratings.

Bob Freeman commented, “As soon as I learned about the new 330SX, I knew I would buy it. I didn’t even need to fly it because I have such faith in the team at Extra. I have enjoyed all of my Extra’s but look forward to even more impressive performance from the 330SX. Airshow flying allows some of the most creative flying in the world. The 330SX has a twenty-percent reduction in the tumbling axis inertia and the roll rate will be even more impressive than the 330SC thanks to the sixty-percent increase in aileron horns. We need to get to the airshows as well so having the Garmin G3 seven-inch touch screen as standard equipment is icing on the cake. I can’t wait to fly it.”

EXTRA’s 330SX retains the DNA of its world-championship-winning 330SC ancestor, but embellishes upon such with improvements the likes of high-performance ailerons, which deliver higher roll-rates and crisper stops about the aircraft’s longitudinal axis; reduced fuselage length, which centralizes mass and enhances agility about all aircraft control axes; a widened cockpit; increased control-stick clearance; greater headroom; a standard Garmin G3X Touch 7” primary flight display; optimized leading-edge cuffs by which wing sealing gasket efficacy is improved; and a redesigned cowling offering improved engine cooling.

EXTRA’s high-performance aileron package facilitates superior roll authority, thereby ensuring crisper maneuverability at all airspeeds and improved predictability and consistency of gyroscopic maneuvers. Moreover, EXTRA engineers—by dint of an updated fuselage design that centralizes and concentrates mass—have succeeded in reducing the 330SX’s weight while retaining its forebear’s flight envelope speeds—including a 220-knot Vne.

In addition to the new 330SX, EXTRA’s aircraft line-up comprises the EXTRA 330SC, a single seat, low-wing, aerobatic monoplane possessed of the sort of aerobatic performance that won world championships in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022; the EXTRA 330LX, a two-seat, tandem arrangement, low-wing, aerobatic monoplane eminently suited to both aerobatic competition and dual instruction; the EXTRA 330, a slick, two-seat, glass-panel machine that EXTRA rightfully touts as the Aerobatic Tourer; the EXTRA 330LP, a two-seat, tandem arrangement, low-wing aerobatic monoplane that’s slightly less aggressive than the LX; and finally, the EXTRA NG, the company’s next-generation aerobatic aircraft.

The 330SX first flew on 06 June 2023 and remains in flight-testing. Extra is currently accepting 330-SX orders for deliveries in mid-2024—subject to the vicissitudes of flight-testing and EASA certification.

FMI: www.extraaircraft.com