General What Slick Is Best For A Da-120?

[mudbogger]

Hey y'all,

I know its been awhile since I last posted here...but I'm in another tough position. I recently was at a local fly-in event and won a certificate for a desert aircraft engine of my choice. I decided to take a leap and go with the DA-120cc. With that being said, I now cant decide between 2 airplanes ...

I'm torn equally between the AJ - Aircraft 103" Slick 540:
103

Or option 2 is the Extreme Flight 105.5" Slick 580:
105.5" Slick 580 EXP- Yellow/Blue

My questions are:
-Whats the performance difference with these 2 airframes?
-Does one have better 3D-capabilities than the other?
-How "crash-resistant" are the new carbon fiber / kevlar coated airframes?
-Is one better on flight time than the other?
-Should any modifications be done out of the box on either of these airframes to reinforce them?
-Any complaints on having to make repairs to either one of these airframes?
-Is one constructed better for building than the other (i.e. having a exhaust/muffler tunnel, more room for hand-work within the canopy / motor mount box area)?

Many thanks for any info y'all can provide. I've been flying since 2003, but this WILL BE THE BIGGEST AIRPLANE I'VE EVER HAD! So I really want to get some extra opinions and make sure I get the right airplane and proper setup going forward. As a side note, I did some research on propellers already and it appears that for the DA-120cc, a 27 X 11 2-blade is the new "go-to" propeller for pilots. Is that true, or would a 3-blade propeller perform better for 3D freestyle flying?

Again many thanks for all input y'all can provide. God bless and happy flying!

 

[RandyDSok]

I know I never had, nor will have the funds to go large scale... Since the majority of the folks here that do post about airplanes are talking foamy with only a few exceptions... I suspect none of them will either.


As far as quality of build goes... You've picked from two of the best. If there are still no bad feelings between the two ( AJ used to design for 3D Hobby Shop which is now part of Extreme )... I'd bet neither would have anything to say against the other's airframe. Before 3D Hobby Shop and Extreme Flight merged... they would recommend the others airframe just based on which one you liked the looks of better because there was so little difference in quality that it didn't matter. I strongly suspect that is still the case for the two airframes you are looking at.

I do have a 51" AJ Slick that is still one of my favorite airplanes. Even after a couple of times that I had equipment failures and had to come in very hot... I had very little damage. In fact, I only rolled the landing gear off and simply had to remount them to get back in the air. I never got an Extreme Flight for one reason... they didn't have the color scheme I was looking for... that's it, there was nothing technical in my reasons when I was getting new airframes period.

 

[mudbogger]

Rdsok- I can understand not finding the color scheme you like with certain companies. As of late, in my opinion, AJ-Aircraft is winning in that area. The 103" Slick AJ sells looks good. However another airplane thats' caught my eye is a little bit of everything put together...AJs ARS 300 in the "Fusion" color scheme.

Its got a MXS-like canopy, with a extra 300 type fuse, and edge 540 style wings. From what I've seen it appears to be a good IMAC airplane. my question is, would the ARS be easier to build / repair due to not having carbon fiber or kevlar inlay-ed with the balsa construction (like the slick 540 is full of) ?