Power Line Edge 540 3D
10-06-2004, 11:51 PM
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Power Line Edge 540 3D
I just maidened it last weekend. I haven’t seen much here about it, so I thought that I would post my impressions.
Building:
First the Bad:
The instructions are horrible. This shouldn't be our first plane anyway, so you should have lots a building experience before you get something like this. But, there are a lot of little screws and I like to make sure I am putting them in the right place. There is no help from the instructions. I think this is a really new plane though and the manual should probably get better.
The box that you mount the motor on is too low. You will need to shave the top lip on the box in order to mount the motor. Maybe your supposed to mount it inverted, but you there are basically no instructions so I wasn't sure. Even if you did mount the motor inverted, I think you would still need to shave the lip. The way the cowl is and the position of the fuel tank led me to believe that a 90 degree motor mount was the way to go. Its not that much work, but I am lazy.
My tail didn't line up correctly. The fuse wasn't bent, it was just the cuts. I was may have been just unlucky. My buddy got the same plane and his lined up perfectly. This is kind of a nit pick, but again I am lazy and the 10 minutes it took to sand it straight was hard work.
The Good:
You can tell from the cuts that the wood was laser cut. There are no gaps anywhere, and I would have to double check, but I cant remember seeing any hot glue film anywhere. I don't know what they used, but I don't think it was a hot glue gun.
The wood. I only have a couple other ARF's in this price range ($180), but the wood used is excellent. There are lots of hole cut in to lighten the plane as much as possible. And there is probably as little support as needed. Most impressive to me, is that you can pick up the whole plane by one of the supports in the fuse and it doesn't feel like your are going to snap it. Very good quality here. Even with all the holes and the minimum support possible, the plane still feels very solid. (I havn't got it on the scale yet, so I don't have the AUW)
To put by good and bad into perspective, my last two ARF's have been from World Models. Its hard to come up with a lot of Good after that. And, easy to have a lot of bad. Oh, this Edge didn't come with any pre-cut foam for the battery and RX (did I mention that I am lazy yet).
Flying:
Well Ill start off by saying that I am still a newbie at the 3D stuff. As far as regular sport flying, no problem. Just keep the rates low. This thing has huge control surfaces. I mean HUGE. The ailerons are about 1/3 of the chord. The rudder would easly go on the 60 size plane. The wing is a little thick if you are looking for high speed stuff, but it does have 3D in the name.
Slow is no problem. I couldn't really do it well, but my buddy could get his to harrier real easy. I didn't see any wing rock.
I can't really go to far into how it flies 3D with my lack of experience, but from the control surface size, I don't think anyone with experience would have a problem.
Motor:
Right now I am running a Magnum 52XLS 2S with an APC 12x5. I don't think its quite enough prop. I measured 12,500 RPM. I am thinking of going to a 13x4. It would Hover at about 1/2 throttle with the 12x5, but it was really sensitive. At 1/2 it would slowly drop, but anything above 1/2 it would climb like crazy.
Maiden:
I was a little nervous, like all my maiden flights. It was a piece of cake. One or two clicks on the ailerons and a couple on the elevator and it was tracking great. Even with all the hard work with sanding the tail straight, it did hard loops without snaping out. Inverted only took a smidgen of elevator to keep level. If you are used to sport flying and give this plane full deflection in any axis, you better have your Depends on, because its scary. Especially ailerons, its just a blur.
Anyone else flying this bird? What motor are you using?
Building:
First the Bad:
The instructions are horrible. This shouldn't be our first plane anyway, so you should have lots a building experience before you get something like this. But, there are a lot of little screws and I like to make sure I am putting them in the right place. There is no help from the instructions. I think this is a really new plane though and the manual should probably get better.
The box that you mount the motor on is too low. You will need to shave the top lip on the box in order to mount the motor. Maybe your supposed to mount it inverted, but you there are basically no instructions so I wasn't sure. Even if you did mount the motor inverted, I think you would still need to shave the lip. The way the cowl is and the position of the fuel tank led me to believe that a 90 degree motor mount was the way to go. Its not that much work, but I am lazy.
My tail didn't line up correctly. The fuse wasn't bent, it was just the cuts. I was may have been just unlucky. My buddy got the same plane and his lined up perfectly. This is kind of a nit pick, but again I am lazy and the 10 minutes it took to sand it straight was hard work.
The Good:
You can tell from the cuts that the wood was laser cut. There are no gaps anywhere, and I would have to double check, but I cant remember seeing any hot glue film anywhere. I don't know what they used, but I don't think it was a hot glue gun.
The wood. I only have a couple other ARF's in this price range ($180), but the wood used is excellent. There are lots of hole cut in to lighten the plane as much as possible. And there is probably as little support as needed. Most impressive to me, is that you can pick up the whole plane by one of the supports in the fuse and it doesn't feel like your are going to snap it. Very good quality here. Even with all the holes and the minimum support possible, the plane still feels very solid. (I havn't got it on the scale yet, so I don't have the AUW)
To put by good and bad into perspective, my last two ARF's have been from World Models. Its hard to come up with a lot of Good after that. And, easy to have a lot of bad. Oh, this Edge didn't come with any pre-cut foam for the battery and RX (did I mention that I am lazy yet).
Flying:
Well Ill start off by saying that I am still a newbie at the 3D stuff. As far as regular sport flying, no problem. Just keep the rates low. This thing has huge control surfaces. I mean HUGE. The ailerons are about 1/3 of the chord. The rudder would easly go on the 60 size plane. The wing is a little thick if you are looking for high speed stuff, but it does have 3D in the name.
Slow is no problem. I couldn't really do it well, but my buddy could get his to harrier real easy. I didn't see any wing rock.
I can't really go to far into how it flies 3D with my lack of experience, but from the control surface size, I don't think anyone with experience would have a problem.
Motor:
Right now I am running a Magnum 52XLS 2S with an APC 12x5. I don't think its quite enough prop. I measured 12,500 RPM. I am thinking of going to a 13x4. It would Hover at about 1/2 throttle with the 12x5, but it was really sensitive. At 1/2 it would slowly drop, but anything above 1/2 it would climb like crazy.
Maiden:
I was a little nervous, like all my maiden flights. It was a piece of cake. One or two clicks on the ailerons and a couple on the elevator and it was tracking great. Even with all the hard work with sanding the tail straight, it did hard loops without snaping out. Inverted only took a smidgen of elevator to keep level. If you are used to sport flying and give this plane full deflection in any axis, you better have your Depends on, because its scary. Especially ailerons, its just a blur.
Anyone else flying this bird? What motor are you using?
10-07-2004, 05:19 PM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
Where did you buy yours? I stumbled across Power Line Hobbies in Joplin, Mo just today. Never heard of them before, and they're practically in my back yard!
10-10-2004, 10:58 AM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
Your LHS can get them, and there is an online site that sells them. www.his-hershobbies.com My buddy is the one that talks to our LHS all the time and he found this plane. If you want I can try to get the info he has.
10-21-2004, 12:19 AM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
I had a complete build thread on here telling all of the details of getting this sweet little plane from the box to the air, but it got deleted as it was believed to be comercial in nature.... I am the owner of www.his-hershobbies.com mentioned above.
I did appeal and have permission to rebuild the thread, as it got permanently deleted, but simply have not had the time nor inclination to re-do what I have already done.
At any rate, the plane is a very nice flying plane!! I have sold several of them and other than the manual that is continually mentioned, you won't find much to complain about. I did also run in to the same issue regarding the motor mount, but I changed mine over to a Dave Brown 6070 mount, installed my Saito 72 and it all fit perfectly on the center lines.....
Anyone that needs/wants more info on this plane or other Power Line Hobbies planes can email me directly at [email protected] or just PM me here on RCU.
Bill
I did appeal and have permission to rebuild the thread, as it got permanently deleted, but simply have not had the time nor inclination to re-do what I have already done.
At any rate, the plane is a very nice flying plane!! I have sold several of them and other than the manual that is continually mentioned, you won't find much to complain about. I did also run in to the same issue regarding the motor mount, but I changed mine over to a Dave Brown 6070 mount, installed my Saito 72 and it all fit perfectly on the center lines.....
Anyone that needs/wants more info on this plane or other Power Line Hobbies planes can email me directly at [email protected] or just PM me here on RCU.
Bill
10-21-2004, 12:54 AM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
I have a few more flights on the plane and I can say that I like it more each time I fly it. I put a 13x4W APC prop on my 52 and it really smothed the motor out at mid throttle. It still turns it at about 11,000 RPM. I put a few hovers on it, and I think Ill be a 3D pro soon (mabye 2 or 3 more years).
I also remembered another building tip for this plane. If you look through the bottom of the wing, which is semi tranparent, you can see the little blocks of wood for the CA hinges. Make sure to line them up. That way the hinges are glued to more than just the TE.
I also remembered another building tip for this plane. If you look through the bottom of the wing, which is semi tranparent, you can see the little blocks of wood for the CA hinges. Make sure to line them up. That way the hinges are glued to more than just the TE.
10-21-2004, 01:07 AM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
oh, I might add to anyone that read vanman's original thread, that is why I got this plane. If anyone wants more info, I can take some pictures.
I just thought of another tip too. When you go to drill the holes for the cockpit, use the markings that are burned into the INSIDE of the fuse. DO NOT use the holes that are put in the balsa on the outside.
I just thought of another tip too. When you go to drill the holes for the cockpit, use the markings that are burned into the INSIDE of the fuse. DO NOT use the holes that are put in the balsa on the outside.
10-21-2004, 02:15 AM
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RE: Power Line Edge 540 3D
loading,
Glad you got the chance to see my original thread....
Also glad that after purchasing it that you like it.
It simply tells me that I am not alone out here wanting real, truthful and accurate information about the planes that are being offered up by so many different companies.
I am getting ready to embark on an electrical conversion of one of these, so anyone that may be interested in that please let me know!! You can email me directly at [email protected], PM here on RCU or just keep your eyes peeled for the thread....I will probably call it something like 3D Edge Electrical Conversion.....
Thanks
Bill
Glad you got the chance to see my original thread....
Also glad that after purchasing it that you like it.
It simply tells me that I am not alone out here wanting real, truthful and accurate information about the planes that are being offered up by so many different companies.
I am getting ready to embark on an electrical conversion of one of these, so anyone that may be interested in that please let me know!! You can email me directly at [email protected], PM here on RCU or just keep your eyes peeled for the thread....I will probably call it something like 3D Edge Electrical Conversion.....
Thanks
Bill
