Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
12-12-2009, 04:17 PM
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Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
Wild Hare Baby Edge assembly with DLE 30
I recently wanted to try a dle 30, I have never bought a completely Chinese engine before so I figured now is the time and this plane would be just perfect for it. Not only that, but I can give it to my son for Christmas and fly it as much as I like too.
Sounds like a good excuse to me
The plane arrived at work in good condition despite ups doing their best to bang it around as much as possible. I will be building the edge at work in my spare time, what little there is, with nothing more than razor blades, screw drivers, glue, and a dremel. With the pre-fabrication already done on this plane it should take very little time to finish it.
Let's start with the DLE 30. Since I have read so many things about the stalling on landing and/or dieing when tipped, I decided to mount it on my work mate and run it in the back room for a while and see for myself.
The engine started fairly easy, idled at about 1800 on the first tank. I leaned the low so when cold it would not take any throttle but when warm would. Then I tried the tilt test. It would idle for any period of time I wanted and could be tilted any direction without dieing. This may be due to the fact that it was mounted level and not in the tail dragging configuration as in the plane, time will tell.
The Edge came with CA hinges that are already glued into one side of the surfaces. I was not quite sure how they would hold up, but decided to use them anyway. It would be very easy to cut and replace them with robart hinges if they fail.
All needed hardware for the surfaces came included in the kit. You will need to slide and glue some CF over the control rods for added rigidity, although they might hold up, I feel it is better to do it any way. The clevises on the ends of the rods are not like any I have seen before, made of a similar material to dubro with a small screw that goes through them. They should be adequate.
The surfaces use fiberglass horns which are glued into pockets similar to that of the composite arf planes. The control rods have Z bends to attach there. Again, I think this will work just fine and this set up saves a little weight also. The only problem is that the holes are a little large and loose when the rods are installed, in the future I will fill and re-drill them.
Next I tackled the canopy. A little trimming was needed to make it match, no more or less than any others I have done. I used four screws for the sides and some nice black tape around the front for an added trim look.
On to the control surfaces. As mentioned before, these have already been attached to one side and all slots have been cut. There is nothing easier than installing CA hinges. Enough said about that.
Mounting the dle was very easy and you can use Tom's instructions or as I always do, use a ladder. I tape my plane to the back side of a ladder, set the engine on the firewall, install the cowl and center it all up. Be careful when removing the cowl as not to disturb the engine before marking the holes.
To connect the throttle, I drilled a hole in the firewall and ran as steel threaded rod straight back from the carb to the servo.
This plane will use two A123's for juice. Although rcxell does not recommend over 6v for its ignitions, I have run these in the past with no trouble to date. The batteries need to be mounted right in front of the fuel tank and throttle servo. I used a 2"x5" piece of ply glued side ways to mount both of these on, that way the CG is right on the wing tube.
I mounted the two switches just below the canopy in the supplied and cut slots. Just remove the covering, drill and you are done.
For the fuel tank, tires, and a couple of other extras I bought Tom's hardware kit for about 40 dollars.
All in all the quality of this kit is very good. I really like the way the cowl mounts, there are no exposed screws and it looks very professional. You won't have that extra fiberglass rattling or rubbing on your covering!
One draw back is if you have fat fumbly fingers when you try to install the wing thumb screws, it's a little tight.
I recently wanted to try a dle 30, I have never bought a completely Chinese engine before so I figured now is the time and this plane would be just perfect for it. Not only that, but I can give it to my son for Christmas and fly it as much as I like too.
Sounds like a good excuse to me
The plane arrived at work in good condition despite ups doing their best to bang it around as much as possible. I will be building the edge at work in my spare time, what little there is, with nothing more than razor blades, screw drivers, glue, and a dremel. With the pre-fabrication already done on this plane it should take very little time to finish it.
Let's start with the DLE 30. Since I have read so many things about the stalling on landing and/or dieing when tipped, I decided to mount it on my work mate and run it in the back room for a while and see for myself.
The engine started fairly easy, idled at about 1800 on the first tank. I leaned the low so when cold it would not take any throttle but when warm would. Then I tried the tilt test. It would idle for any period of time I wanted and could be tilted any direction without dieing. This may be due to the fact that it was mounted level and not in the tail dragging configuration as in the plane, time will tell.
The Edge came with CA hinges that are already glued into one side of the surfaces. I was not quite sure how they would hold up, but decided to use them anyway. It would be very easy to cut and replace them with robart hinges if they fail.
All needed hardware for the surfaces came included in the kit. You will need to slide and glue some CF over the control rods for added rigidity, although they might hold up, I feel it is better to do it any way. The clevises on the ends of the rods are not like any I have seen before, made of a similar material to dubro with a small screw that goes through them. They should be adequate.
The surfaces use fiberglass horns which are glued into pockets similar to that of the composite arf planes. The control rods have Z bends to attach there. Again, I think this will work just fine and this set up saves a little weight also. The only problem is that the holes are a little large and loose when the rods are installed, in the future I will fill and re-drill them.
Next I tackled the canopy. A little trimming was needed to make it match, no more or less than any others I have done. I used four screws for the sides and some nice black tape around the front for an added trim look.
On to the control surfaces. As mentioned before, these have already been attached to one side and all slots have been cut. There is nothing easier than installing CA hinges. Enough said about that.
Mounting the dle was very easy and you can use Tom's instructions or as I always do, use a ladder. I tape my plane to the back side of a ladder, set the engine on the firewall, install the cowl and center it all up. Be careful when removing the cowl as not to disturb the engine before marking the holes.
To connect the throttle, I drilled a hole in the firewall and ran as steel threaded rod straight back from the carb to the servo.
This plane will use two A123's for juice. Although rcxell does not recommend over 6v for its ignitions, I have run these in the past with no trouble to date. The batteries need to be mounted right in front of the fuel tank and throttle servo. I used a 2"x5" piece of ply glued side ways to mount both of these on, that way the CG is right on the wing tube.
I mounted the two switches just below the canopy in the supplied and cut slots. Just remove the covering, drill and you are done.
For the fuel tank, tires, and a couple of other extras I bought Tom's hardware kit for about 40 dollars.
All in all the quality of this kit is very good. I really like the way the cowl mounts, there are no exposed screws and it looks very professional. You won't have that extra fiberglass rattling or rubbing on your covering!
One draw back is if you have fat fumbly fingers when you try to install the wing thumb screws, it's a little tight.
12-12-2009, 04:41 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
I'm glad that you're doing a thread on this plane/engine combo. I'm a big fan of Wildhare planes and this Edge with the DLE should be fun!!
Wonder how long before we see a pipe on this engine?
Wonder how long before we see a pipe on this engine?
12-12-2009, 05:05 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
As soon as I can find a header it will have a pipe, nothing like a little extra power
I will have some pictures to follow. I think this is going to be a good little flier, small compact and easy to transport. I hear tell that it flies just like the 50cc edge Wild Hare makes.
One thing I forgot to mention for the newbies is to loctite all screws, nuts, and bolts. Also, Do Not use the supplied throttle and choke rods that have the plastic clevises. Since I fly 50cc and up, I use 4-40 dubro ball links (just what I have on hand) for both ends on the throttle, but 2-56 would work too.
I will have some pictures to follow. I think this is going to be a good little flier, small compact and easy to transport. I hear tell that it flies just like the 50cc edge Wild Hare makes.
One thing I forgot to mention for the newbies is to loctite all screws, nuts, and bolts. Also, Do Not use the supplied throttle and choke rods that have the plastic clevises. Since I fly 50cc and up, I use 4-40 dubro ball links (just what I have on hand) for both ends on the throttle, but 2-56 would work too.
12-12-2009, 07:39 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
Weight- 10lbs 3oz's, and that is with two batteries. Running the dle 30 I should have close to 2:1 thrust to weight.
12-12-2009, 09:25 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
I heard that he has been sick lately
....... another RCU'er in the pattern section told me
12-12-2009, 10:02 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
PICS
You can see in the pics that I cut off some of the exhaust stack to make it fit better so as too not have to cut out to much of the cowl. The front of the cowl also had to be cut for the muffler.
I have not cleaned up the wires yet, but you can see where everything is mounted.
You can see in the pics that I cut off some of the exhaust stack to make it fit better so as too not have to cut out to much of the cowl. The front of the cowl also had to be cut for the muffler.
I have not cleaned up the wires yet, but you can see where everything is mounted.
12-18-2009, 06:50 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
Took the little baby out for a spin today.
I thought I had the dle 30 running well but I guess I was a tad rich on the high end. On the second flight I had a flame out during a harrier. It sounded as though it was loading up, should have stopped and not pushed it. The field has a T runway and I chose to land on the other leg not the one I was standing on. The roll out was not so good, I clipped a landing light and crunched up one of the wings. It is repairable, but I think I will just buy a new one.
On to the flight report.
The rudder and elevators have very good authority. I was going to put longer arms on than the ones supplied with the stock Hitecs, but this does not seem necessary on the elevator. The ailerons seem about right but could use just a tad more I think.
Knife edge had very little coupling and could be slowed and held very nicely. I only tried one KE spin on medium rates and it seemed good. Tumbles were really fun to do on high rates. You could make it go ***** over tea kettle really easy.
The CG is right on the wing tube and is a good place to start. I will probably add a tad of up thrust before changing it.
All in all it is a nice flying little package, from what little time I flew it. It sure does float a long ways on landing, I have been flying a Yak lately so this might account for me not being used to a sleeker designed plane.
More to come after some fixing
I thought I had the dle 30 running well but I guess I was a tad rich on the high end. On the second flight I had a flame out during a harrier. It sounded as though it was loading up, should have stopped and not pushed it. The field has a T runway and I chose to land on the other leg not the one I was standing on. The roll out was not so good, I clipped a landing light and crunched up one of the wings. It is repairable, but I think I will just buy a new one.
On to the flight report.
The rudder and elevators have very good authority. I was going to put longer arms on than the ones supplied with the stock Hitecs, but this does not seem necessary on the elevator. The ailerons seem about right but could use just a tad more I think.
Knife edge had very little coupling and could be slowed and held very nicely. I only tried one KE spin on medium rates and it seemed good. Tumbles were really fun to do on high rates. You could make it go ***** over tea kettle really easy.
The CG is right on the wing tube and is a good place to start. I will probably add a tad of up thrust before changing it.
All in all it is a nice flying little package, from what little time I flew it. It sure does float a long ways on landing, I have been flying a Yak lately so this might account for me not being used to a sleeker designed plane.
More to come after some fixing
12-18-2009, 07:34 PM
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RE: Wild Hare Edge assembly with DLE30
Oh well, things happen. It is really not that much damage and was my own fault for not landing on the runway I had a good view of. I was just starting to ring it out and have fun too!
