Extra EA-300 / EA-330

Updated: October 2026 – A small, stocky low-wing aircraft pulls straight up, hangs briefly in the air, tips over the wing and then rolls so fast that you can hardly count the revolutions: most likely you have just seen an Extra. The aerobatic aircraft from Hünxe on the Lower Rhine have set the standard at championships and airshows for decades. This page shows you where the Extra 300 comes from, how the 300L, 330LX, 330SC and NG differ and where you can get them in front of your camera.

What is the Extra EA-300?

The Extra 300 is an aerobatic aircraft for competition in the highest class, the so-called Unlimited category. It was designed by Walter Extra, who himself had been flying aerobatic competitions since the late 1970s. Before designing his own aircraft, according to his company, he built himself a Pitts S-1, the typical aerobatic biplane of the day. Around 1980 he founded his own company, and a year later the first Extra 230 was ready: a single-seat mid-wing aircraft with a wooden wing that competed in European championships from 1983 and world championships from 1984.

From 1987 Extra worked on a successor. In parallel, the single-seat Extra 260 and the prototype of the two-seat Extra 300 were created. The 300 first flew on May 6, 1988 and received type certification from the German Federal Aviation Office (LBA) on May 16, 1990. Key improvements over the 230 were a wing made of composite material instead of wood and the more powerful, fuel-injected Lycoming AEIO-540 with about 300 hp. The wing has a symmetrical airfoil: the aircraft flies practically the same upright and inverted – exactly what competition pilots want.

All Extras are built at Schwarze Heide airfield in Hünxe, right on the city limits of Dinslaken in the Wesel district. By its own account, the company has delivered more than 850 aircraft in over forty years; the 800th rolled off the line in December 2021. According to the company history, new American owners and new management took over the company in 2003.

From the 300 to the NG: the family at a glance

The first two-seater has grown into an entire type family. The designations look confusing at first but follow a simple pattern: S stands for single, that is, single-seat, L for the variants with the lower-mounted wing (low wing), and the number 330 for the more powerful engine.

Variant	Seats	Features	Milestone
Extra 300	2	Original two-seater, mid-wing, AEIO-540	First flight May 6, 1988
Extra 300S	1	Single-seater with shorter wingspan	First flight 1992
Extra 300L	2	Low wing, widely used two-seater	LBA certification January 31, 1995
Extra 300LP	2	Weight-reduced 300L for competition and airshow	Popular with display teams
Extra 330SC	1	Unlimited competition aircraft, AEIO-580 with 315 hp	EASA certification July 17, 2008
Extra 330LT	2	Two-seater with AEIO-580	Unveiled in April 2010 at AERO
Extra 330LX	2	High-performance two-seater for competition and instruction	Certification announced for late 2010, EASA data sheet: April 2011
Extra 330LE	1	Electric test bed with Siemens motor	First flight July 4, 2016
Extra NG	2	Clean-sheet design with carbon fiber fuselage	First flight 2018, EASA certification October 2019
Extra 330SX	1	Development of the 330SC	First flight 2023, EASA certification early 2024

There are also special versions such as the 300SR, a single-seater with a specially designed wing for the Red Bull Air Race. In the type data sheet, by the way, all these variants run as subtypes of the EA 300 – the 330LX, for example, is called EA 300/LC there. With the smaller Extra 200 as a cheaper trainer and the touring aircraft EA-400 and EA-500, the factory has also taken entirely different paths – but they share only the name with the aerobatic family.

Technology: steel tube, carbon fiber and flat-engine power

The classic Extra combines two construction methods. The fuselage of the 300L, 330LX and 330SC is a welded steel tube framework – robust, easy to repair and proven. Wings and tail are made of carbon fiber, and the wing carries an integrated tank. Added to that are a titanium firewall and a spring-type composite main landing gear. The NG goes a step further: its fuselage is a carbon fiber monocoque, and the entire basic structure is made of composite material.

The current models are powered by the Lycoming AEIO-580-B1A, an air-cooled six-cylinder flat engine with 315 hp. The “AE” stands for the aerobatic version: the oil and fuel systems also work when inverted. The power goes to a three-blade variable-pitch propeller from the Bavarian manufacturer MT-Propeller. The never-exceed speed is 220 knots, about 407 km/h.

The figures from the manufacturer’s data show how light these aircraft are:

Parameter	330LX	330SC	NG
Seats	2	1	2
Wingspan	8.0 m	7.5 m	8.30 m
Length	6.9 m	6.7 m	7.11 m
Empty weight (typical)	660 kg	585 kg	635 kg
Max. takeoff weight, aerobatics	820 kg (single-seat)	780 kg	820 kg
Load factors, aerobatics	±10 g single-seat, ±8 g with two	±10 g	±10 g
Total fuel	189 l	224 l	196 l

For aerobatics, pilots use only a smaller tank so that the aircraft stays light and the center of gravity stable. According to the manufacturer, that is about 101 liters on the 330SC and 67 liters on the 330LX.

The three features that are enough to identify it

At first glance aerobatic aircraft look alike: small, short, tailwheel, big canopy. With three observations you can still reliably narrow it down to the Extra.

In the end, the registration shows you the exact variant. The 300L and 330LX, or the 330SC and 330SX, in particular are hard to tell apart from the outside – databases and registers provide clarity here. How to read landing gear configurations in general is explained in the guide Landing gear configurations as an identification feature.

Extra, Yak-52 or Grob? The quick ID

At airfield festivals Extras often stand next to other small aircraft capable of aerobatics. The finder helps with the most common candidates.

It gets harder with other modern single-seaters with a flat engine and tailwheel, as are common in the Unlimited class and among airshow pilots. The basic shape of these aircraft is very similar. Pay attention to canopy shape, tail and landing gear leg – and if in doubt, check the registration.

Competition: the world champions’ aircraft

Extra earned its reputation on the competition fields. As early as 1989, seven pilots flew an Extra at the European Championships, and two years later eleven. With the 330SC, the brand became the definitive standard in the Unlimited class: according to the manufacturer, pilots on this type won the world championship titles in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023, among others. According to Extra, a large part of the field at the most recent world championships flew an aircraft from Hünxe.

Competition takes more than just power. Pilots fly compulsory and free programs in a defined box, and judges rate precision, lines and positioning. The Extra scores with a high roll rate, symmetrical flight behavior and load factors of up to ±10 g. The two-seat 330LX brings these qualities into training: instructor and student experience the maneuvers together, and the student can later move to a single-seater without a big transition.

The Extra is also in demand outside competitions. In the US, training providers use the 300L for upset recovery training, that is, recovering from unusual attitudes – a topic that also concerns airline pilots.

Airshows and aerobatic teams

At airshows Extras are regular guests, as solo displays or in formation. Several teams use the type:

• Royal Jordanian Falcons – the Jordanian display team flies the Extra 300.
• Halcones – the aerobatic squadron of the Chilean Air Force has used the Extra 300L since 2003.
• Hawks of Romania – the Romanian aeroclub’s team flies the Extra 300L and 330SC according to common overviews.
• The Blades (historical) – the British team with former pilots of the Red Arrows flew Extra 300LPs and a 330SC out of Sywell; by its own announcement, 2022 was the last full season.

When and where which team appears changes every year. You can get an overview of teams and events under Aerobatic teams of Europe at a glance and Airshows in Europe for plane spotters. The restrictions that have applied to air shows in Germany since the 1988 disaster are explained in the article on the Ramstein air show disaster.

Where to find the Extra

Unlike airliners, Extras follow no flight schedule. Your best chances are where aerobatics take place:

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
Airfield festivals and airshows	high	Solo displays and teams, often with Extras in the program
Aerobatic championships	very high	In the Unlimited class, a large part of the field flies Extra
Smaller airfields with aerobatic schools	medium	Two-seaters such as the 300L or 330LX in training operations
Area around Hünxe / Schwarze Heide	medium	Factory airfield with test and ferry flights
Commercial airports	low	At most ferry flights or arrivals for airshows

Around the Lower Rhine lie Düsseldorf Airport and Weeze Airport; there, though, Extras are more of a chance encounter. How to find small airfields and gliding sites in the first place is shown in the guide Finding airfields on maps. Dates for air shows are collected in the article Airfield festivals in Germany, and general tips for light aviation are under Spotting general aviation.

Photo tips especially for aerobatics

An Extra in a display is fast, small and constantly changes attitude. That makes it demanding – and exactly for that reason rewarding.

How to find the right shutter speed for propeller aircraft is explained in Photographing propellers. Everything else for the day at the airfield is in Photographing airshows.

Common lookalikes and how to rule them out

For a broader overview of light aircraft, the guide Identifying light aircraft is worthwhile. And if you want to fly along yourself sometime: ideas for that are under Giving a sightseeing flight as a gift.

Conclusion

The Extra 300 and its successors are one of the great success stories of German aviation, even though it plays out away from the big airports. What began in 1988 as the two-seater of an aerobatic pilot on the Lower Rhine is now a family ranging from the 330LX trainer through the world-champion single-seater 330SC to the carbon fiber NG. For spotters the Extra is a must-have type at every airfield festival – and a nice challenge, because the variants can often only be reliably separated through the registration.