Extra Aircraft Secures FAA Certification on Extra NG

Unveiled at Oshkosh 2019, the new Extra NG has now been approved by the FAA, adding to the EASA certification it saw in the fall of 2019. The news signals the beginning of deliveries into the US and other customers, and a new step forward for Extra.

We talked with Walter Extra about the process behind bringing a mostly-composite airframe to life and shared that in a recent article in the December 2020 issue of Flying. While the design retains the underlying premise Extra has built into his aerobatic series of aircraft—”I don’t want to spend my life working on airplanes—I want to fly,” said Extra—it opens up possibilities in strength and form enabled by the nature of carbon fiber. “We have defined our own [safety factors] in the company that adds a little bit of weight, but you never have fatigue, you never have play in joints, so far, touch wood, no structural failures in the history of the company,” said Extra. “We came to a pretty much turnkey quality of product, and that is the way it’s supposed to be.”

The NG is powered by the 315-hp Lycoming AEIO-580-B1A, with two fuel pumps (one engine-driven, one electric) and a 3-blade, constant-speed MTV-9 (MT) propeller. In the cockpit, the Garmin G3X Touch is standard, with analog airspeed indicator and altimeter—and Aresti card holder—as backup instruments. Standard empty weight is 1,400 lbs, with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,808 lbs in the aerobatic category, and 2,094 lbs in the normal category—enough to throw in a bag or two for a cross-country flight in between gigs. Maximum cruise speed is 202 kts, with a maneuvering speed of 158 kts and stall speed (clean) of 56 kts for a wide performance envelope. The NG is rated to plus/minus 10gs.