Aircraft model
EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH EA-300
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The original Extra 300 of 1988: Walter Extra's two-seat unlimited aerobatic monoplane, with a 300 hp Lycoming AEIO-540, a carbon-fibre spar and a 26 ft 3 in wing. It was the aeroplane that ended the era of the biplane in unlimited competition and it is still the shape most people picture when they picture an aerobatic aircraft.
An Extra is a competition machine that happens to be certificated, and everything about owning one follows from that. The airframe has a life defined in hours and in aerobatic cycles rather than in years, the engine is worked far harder than the same Lycoming in a cross-country aeroplane, and an aircraft with an unknown competition history is a risk rather than a bargain. Against that, the type is supported by the factory, the community is small and expert, and nothing else flies like one. It is not a travelling aeroplane: two seats, forty-seven gallons and no baggage to speak of.
Compare with…
Put EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH EA-300 side by side with up to two other models.
- EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH EA-300
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming AEIO-540-L1B5 |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1988 |
| Production end | 1995 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 185 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 550 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 3,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 54 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 640 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 358 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,095 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,455 lb |
| Usable fuel | 47 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $170,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $250,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $46,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $66,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 37 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 22 |
| Median year built | 1992.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 45.45 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 45.45 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 5 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 22.73 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 8 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 22 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 22 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 22 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 4.6 of 103 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.1 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.