JimRoss

SORRIEST PLANE I EVER BUILT.
I have flown this plane about ten times and have never gotten a decent flight out of it. I can't pput my finger on exactly what's wrong with it as it went together just fine. Like all the other planes I've built, I took my time and made sure everything was straight and square. I have knocked the landing gear off it twice. Not from hard landings either, just sorry wood. Balance is right where it's supposed to be, surface throws are correct, everything checks out fine. Finally got it back together and flew it today, BLAHHHHHH! This plane just does not handle well and is more trouble to fly than anything I have ever had in my hands. My Stinger 120 flies like a dream, and my Extra300 XS is second to none. So, do I take all the equipment out of it and have a bon fire or can someone suggest something to try to make this sled fly better? Oh, yeah, it ain't overweight either.

Jim

FormerCA.

My Feedback: (8)

I had that plane and HATED it too. Had it balanced right on the money-everything checked out prior to flying. Turned out to be drastically tail heavy.


gave the remnants a viking funeral in my ditch

Ronbo

My Feedback: (12)

dunno what could be wrong with it. mine flew very nice at 12.5 lbs with YS 140. only has a left wing tip stall problem. i believe the left and right wings are about 2 degrees off on mine. as i moved the CG back, it became less pronounced. my gear came out too, but i ditched it in first flight, got off lucky. glued together fine and flew good for 20 flights so far.

dunno, what is it doing in flight??[]

Jemo

My Feedback: (5)

Jim,
I had one and loved it, sorry to hear you had bad luck with your's.

I do know that some of the wings have a different incidence at the tips, so you have to mismatch the center joint to enable the tips to match. A friend just went through this with his.
Mine never had any bad tendencies. It would slow down for landing and never drop a wing, I have had it so slow it has been scary.

Brian Smith

My Feedback: (117)

What motor were you using JEMO..?? I just got one..I'm trying to decide if I want to send it back or try it...Brian

Jemo

My Feedback: (5)

I had the RCS 140 gas engine on it. The plane weighed 12-1/2 lbs (If I remember correctly). It flew very well, I liked it a lot, but could have used a bit more power for all out extreme 3D.

I guess the best engine is the one they recommend Saito 180 and with 30% heli fuel it is awesome.

JimRoss

I just think that it's a shame that we spend that much cash on a plane that is a &%$#. Had to use symbols cause I can't say turd on here. I'm thinking that I'm gonna take all the gear out of it and use it on another plane and put this one in moth balls for about 100000000000 years, If I can find that many moths.

The recommended Saito 180 is a fine engine that will pull the paint off the wings if you can afford the $450.00 + or - that they cost. Personally, I had rather put my money in something that will fly well that I can enjoy. I'm not a 3D flier but I do like to do aerobatics and just bomb around doing silly stuff. The OS 160 that I have in it is plenty powerful enough if I can ever get it running reliably.

Somebody make me an offer for this &%$# Edge 540.

bn120

My Feedback: (1)

OK I will take it for 100.00 shipped to Oregon.[sm=greedy.gif]at least let us know what you are thinking $$

Darin

jbflier

Man, I enjoyed mine with a Saito 180 in it. You have to fly it fairly fast, but other than that it was great. I finally sold it to get a Sig Sukoi w/G-45. A friend of mine has the H-9 Edge with a BME 50 in it. Oh my God!!!!!!!..........

H. Wayne S

My Feedback: (18)

Jim, I had one for a day some time back. Take off was scary, flight was terrifying for the 2 to 3 minuets it flew. Slow flight it wanted to fall out of the sky, fast flight the plane went where it wanted ,when it wanted and it finally made up its' mind, (after clearing the pits and causing pilots to duck and run), to land in the trees. I really think mine was way tail heavy-BUT like you I balanced it according to the manuel. Made up my mind about 30 seconds into the flight if I ever got it on the ground, I would sell it, park it or hang it in the shop. Set up was dead on, as per the manuel, Saito 180 power. I purchased the plane because I had read good things about it. I reckon you and I are the only ones with bad luck with this plane.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Try to add some weight in the nose and fly again.
I have never owned this plane but flew it and it is OK.

JimRoss

Thank you, I was searching for the words to accurately describe the situation and you provided them. Right now it's in the shop to be gutted and put into mothballs? Not enough moths around south texas.
Mine took off ok and flew rather calmly when it decided to cooperate. It's just that at times it would go where it wanted to and the fight was on. This plane has never been fun to fly. My Extra 300 flies like a dream. My Stinger couldn't be better, I love it.
Wonder if I could use the wing on a BIG STICK or something similar??????????

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

Hello JIMROSS,
If your going to make a Hanger Queen out of your Edge 540, you might as well part it out the best you can.
I resently bought one ARB (all ready built)with a OS 1.60 and put my radio gear in it and it flys great. Try talking to Hangar to find out the problem or let this thread go long enough and you might get an answer to your problem.
I flew mine on low dual rates w/o an incident. The OS 1.60 had more then enough power.
NEDYOB

JimRoss

I have an OS 160 in mine also. Has enough power for the plane but that is not really the problem. It acts like it has a mind of its' own at times. It's really difficult to make it fly smoothly. Sometimes it just does wierd stuff. Hard to explain. Let's just say that it's not user friendly like my Extra or the Stinger.

Tom Wesley

The Edge 540 is a great plane for those beginning to get in to 3D and for those want a little more aggressive flying airplane. This plane is capable of making the novice look good a low rates, and the expert look great at high rates. Most mistakes come from either controls set erratically, too much elevator will cause tip stalls at the end of the flair, and also causes very erratic operations at high speed. Full deflection is for extreme 3d maneuvers then you reduce your rates for normal approaches and take offs. I've flown the 540 and couldn't ask for a better ARF. Found that this plane has better performance with the plane being slightly nose heavy. Until you become completely familiar with the planes capability using the entire envelope that controls surfaces have to offer, tame it down and enjoy flying. Again this is my opinion and I could be wrong. Have a great day.

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

JIMROSS,
How did it fly on Low Rates? also did you have Expo dialed in? I have it at about 70 % on mine.
NEDYOB

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

JIMROSS,
How did it fly on Low Rates? also did you have Expo dialed in? I have it at about 70 % on mine.
Also is there any body you know that minght have the same plane that you could compare yours to thers?
NEDYOB

Cajuncharley

My Feedback: (2)

Tom:
Where was the CG that gave you the best performance?
Cajuncharley

JimRoss

I had everything on low rates to start with and pretty much kept it there. I'm not much into 3D so I don't do max control throws. I balanced the plane where the plans said to and since have changed it several times trying to find the sweet spot. No Joy!
The problem wasn't the amount of control throw. The plane pretty much did what I wanted it to until the gremlins woke up and took over. Then it became a handful. This is not my first aerobatic plane and I have been flying for lots of years so I am not really a novice. I ain't nobodys' expert either but I can fly pretty much anything from a Cub to a Pattern plane. Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot I can learn but just basic flying, doing stunts and aerobatics and landing is not a problem for me. I was very careful to make sure everything was straight and square when I built this thing and it came out fine. It looked good, balanced where it was supposed to and the engine ran good after break in.
I don't really know what is wrong but it just does not want to fly good. So right now it's in the hangar waiting to be stripped of engine and radio and relegated to the rafters. I got two other planes to build and can use the engine elsewhere. Or I might just sell it and stay with gas engines.
Someone make me an offer on a relatively new OS 160 with Pitts style muffler.

JimRoss

Tom,
I don't think you are wrong. I think I just got the proverbial bad apple. My other Hangar 9 airplanes are good fliers. Got a Stinger 120 that is fantastic. Lands like it is on rails. Not really responsive to roll rates because the wing is about the size of a barn door and it doesn't like to snap very easily but it's a hoot to fly. I can make it go slow enough to pull it down out of the air by hand. I won't but it will slow down like that. My Sig Extra 300 XS is the real agile one of the bunch. It will almost bite its' own tail.

KidVermin

My Feedback: (3)

Jim:

Was your 540 one of the first that was having the warped wing recall ? Seems that in the last two years, the complaints have died down.
How's that 120 cartwheel practice coming ?

JimRoss

Old age and senility have overtaken me. I had forgotten completely about it. Got to go back and read that post to find out how to do it.

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

Did you have the expo set as recomended? I've built 2 of these and they are rather wild without expo. Very sensitive neutral I've found. The best one had digital equipment that was very precise, and yes they do go where they are pointed. If you have servos that don't center very well(IE inexpensive servos) they will wander, and with no expo on top of that, I can see where results can be disastrous. They are an extremely precise flying plane, that nearly demands that kind of equipment, although they can be worked on with less then the best equipment too.

What equipment do(did) you have in it as far as servos, receiver, and what mods have you done as far as servo placement and such? I have found there is alot to the high-end equipment. It really is a nice plane, maybe just not for everyone I guess. Sorry about your experience... and yes, I've knocked the gear off of mine also, some of the workmanship does leave a bit to be desired, like the rear stab mountings(hor. and vert. match to fusalage and eachother),,,maybe do a bit of research, and give it another go later.. good luck with future projects though.

JimRoss

I had expo set in at about 60% for a while and it didn't seem to help much so I took it out. Flown for a lot of years without it so that was no great loss. I am flying with a 6 channel futaba T6XA that is sorta programmable and using 77 oz BB futaba servos on each aileron, one 100 oz futaba BB servo on the rudder with pull pull setup, and two Hitec 70 something oz servos on the two elevator halves. The elevator servos are in the rear, receiver and battery are in the fuselage under the wing along with rudder servo. Balance is per specs.

ilikeplanes

You may have psychologically given up already. This is unfortunate but not uncommon. I have never had an airplane that flew on rails right out of the box (Kaos excepted). Every one needs to be dialed-in to get that "in the groove" feeling. My DP Extra was almost a total loss on it's first AND second flight. I didn't give up on it because I knew it had a great reputation. In my case, I was tail heavy, had too much elevator throw, had too much negative stab incidence, had a balky motor, had cold fingers, was flying in too much wind, and had a bad attitude. Once I calmed down and looked at each detail one-by-one, it all started coming together. It's an iterative process.

Don't moth ball it just yet. Collect your thoughts and try again. Try with the focus of sorting-out the airplane and improving its performance instead of dwelling on it's current poor performance. It might prove to be rewarding.