PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi Guys,

I ordered the combo package with the Edge 540T V2, the 3mmTOC 53CC engine, and the full hardware package. I just spent 5 hours taking it out piece by piece and photographed EVERYTHING, top to bottom, and top & bottom, engine and airplane. I've bought about a bajillion planes in my life, and I have to say, I'm really impressed. Everything was packaged nice and safely, all of the airframe parts and hardware pieces came in plastic bags, and the wings came in WING BAGS!! Not top-of-the-line wing bags, but very decent, functional wing bags with handles for carrying them safely. The yellow, which I was wondering about because it looked a little dark-ish on the website, is a nice, bright yellow, with only the very slightest tough of orange...still very nice and bright. Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at this for now. I still have to download about a hundred photos from my digital and label them all, then I'll have some for you to look and drool over. I might as well do a building review on it, since I had the presence of mind to start it out right with full documentation. I'll just close by saying that I've read each of the (very few) issues posted over time about these, and so far even under very close scrutiny I can find NONE of the issues, and I looked for them! I even took photos right up into the fuse from inside. There is so much more plane here than I could have ever imagined. Unless I find something that totally surprises me, I'm going to love both building and flying this bird. Huge Kudos to Tom Fawcett at Wild Hare RC for an excellent design. ***SIGH*** ....Now I'm gonna have to get the Extra 300 too.

Poor Jim.

Anyway, As soon as I can get the present photos sorted out, I'll start posting them, and then I'll be documenting my building progress. (Just don't expect Speedy Gonzales here....) I wish I was faster, but I gotta do stuff like WORK (Bleah) and putting groceries on the table and stuff.[8D]

This thing is awesome, I can't wait!


Jim

rctom

At the risk of opening the door to a *****-fest, what complainers?

The Edge is our most popular plane, has been around for years with a total redesign about 2 years ago, and we have many hundreds of happy customers. I don't really know of anyone complaining about anything.

TF

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi Tom,

I'm sorry for my unfortunate choice of words. I went back and edited my post. I'd researched and researched and found very few posts where anybody had any issues, and like most of the other postings surrounding each of those folks with issues, I have found no issues at all, and I was saying so. I think through my enthusistic efforts I managed to lay out an unintentional back-handed compliment, when it was supposed to be a total thumbs-up statement.

I get too wordy occasionally and overdo it. I'll have to work on that.....

Edge540T GOOD! TOC 53CC engine GOOD! Jim like both a LOT! Jim HAPPY!

I'll probably try to strike a balance between the two extremes...

Jim

PS....I still can't wait to get started on this bird. It really is awesome.

ottrod

Can't wait to see your build and review!!!

Lot of info on this plane, but I can never seem to get enough of everyone's new experiences!! Thanks for posting,

Keith

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Thanks, Keith. I'm really looking forward to this too. I've been reading every word of the building manual, Wild Hare has included a detail Addendum which is a mini-manual (sort of) that addresses the specifics of this particular plane. In the case of the Edge 540T V2, it's building process is almost identical to the manual anyway. A lot of Edge photos were used in the manual.
I'm very impressed with the organization factor provided by the manual. Wild Hare stresses to do one thing before you do others. For example, the engine is actually mounted FIRST in the build, because (and it makes perfect sense once you think about it) if you are following the recommendations you will be standing the fuselage on its fin (before you install your rudder) and securing the plane in an upright position so that you have the firewall about level to the eye and the engine can sit there flat while you position it within the cowl so it's just right, and then you can remove the cowl and mark all of the contact points and screw holes, etc. You don't need three extra sets of hands to do it like that, although I suppose it's always more fun with more hands on deck.
By the way, I was following other reviews, and if you've already put the rudder on before you read NOT to put the rudder on first, you can still do about the same thing by hanging the landing gear on the top step of a ladder. Clever, actually. I think that would also work for those that buy their engine later in the build or who are waiting for a backordered engine, or situations like that.
I'm still reading and making notes on my head-scratcher questions so I can find the answers. Like; They show an engine with stand-offs in the photo but no stand-offs came in my combo. Having read further and seeing that the cowl face is 7 1/8" from the firewall, after I unpacked the engine I think I probably won't need standoffs to position the spinner backplate just 7 1/4" from the firewall. By the way, (and this is SO cool), the cowl face doesn't need to be MADE to be that distance, it comes with a mounting ring securely installed in the back end of it. Expect to do a little surgery for fitting the engine inside, that's all. I already said it, but I'll say it again...that is SO cool!
I'm being forced to be at work this morning so I'm stealing time at the computer here, but I'll get started on the photos later on today and I hope I can get a good number of them posted up.
Looking forward to your comments as this rolls along.

Also, I just want to mention that although I have already apologized for my unfortunate wording earlier, I probably won't be doing much apologizing as I build this. If I find something I have an issue with, I think that expressing my candid opinion is more appropriate at that time.

Jim

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

I've decided to work with the hardware package that came with the model as much as I possibly can. I've looked at this hardware and it all appears to be top-grade stuff, Much of it Brand-name Sullivan, Du-Bro, Dave Brown, etc. I've never been able to review a model (especially an ARF) using only the supplied hardware before, so this is something of a treat for me! I've only opened it, inspected it and checked the parts list, and it speaks volumes that such attention to detail has been done here.
Although the manual has the standard disclaimer stating that (basically) this is an ARF and in light of that some cosmetic flaws are to be expected, I simply can't find anything that I would take issue with at all. The manual also cautions that you should go over the airframe and follow up the factory's gluing with your own. One of the few issues other posts had raised on these were along those lines. I have to say, I would not buy an ARF now would I have a friend build me an airframe without following it up and make sure the gluing is up to my own standards. So whatever I find along those lines, I'll simply add glue and might possibly make note of it, but at the present level of building I am seeing on this airframe overall, I won't take issue with it. Everywhere I look I am seeing good work.
I felt that the piece of plywood in the wheelpants was a bit small for what I would have used for good strength, probably just a personal preference thing there, but I'm going to consider adding to that. I really hate wheelpants that don't hold together!
Okay, I'm heading home from work now, so I'm hoping to posts those photos starting this afternoon. See you then!

Jim

MetallicaJunkie

Thankyou Jim, im ordering one on the 18th I look forward to any hint before i build my edge

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi, Metallica Junkie,
Where is Donna, TX? I'll be living in SanAntonio at some point, I know that area and most of the Valley, but that town's name doesn't ring a bell. Anyway, I look forward to you looking on while I do this! Of course, if you're a fast builder at all you might be done before I'm halfway there.


Okay, well, here goes! My first photos will be of the engine and associated parts. I showed a variety of views. I was concerned at first because I found what appeared to be grindings on the backside of the case, visible in the 3rd photo best. After looking it over for a while, I realized that I had ordered the deluxe version and the choke servo adaptor had probably needed to be added on to whatever was there before, so, yes those are grindings…but no problem. The engine seems to be in fine shape, you can look at the parts that came with it here. There is a special wrench for attaching the muffler. Six bolt hub…very cool.

The only item I had ordered that did not come in was a vinyl cockpit kit, but I had changed my mind so many times before settling on the Edge that I was lucky that Tom didn't come through the phone and choke me. He probably forgot it while dealing with one of my about-faces... I really wanted the man and lady Civilian pilots you see on the website accessories page but they turned out to be 1/3rd scale...bummer!


Jim

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Of course, my first photos will be all of the photos of what came to me from Wild Hare, and then I will embark upon the build & review.

Of some note is the request in the manual to save all of your packaging in case you ned to return it to Wild Hare...for whatever reason. Also, if there is damage, the packaging as well as the affected model parts will need to be looked at by somebody, whether UPS or Wild Hare, depending upon the shipper. Good call.

It also instructs you to look the plane over for any cosmetic flaws. I found none. In fact, the workmanship on mine was nothing short of stellar. Here is the WORST corner on the entire bird, and it's always the hardest one for any of us to cover, that much I can tell you! For a complex corner on an ARF with the FIN ATTACHED from the factory, it's a nice job, I thought. I also have started to attach other photos of other parts. I'm starting here with the fuse, since the first cosmetic shot started with the fuse...

I'm just amazed how open the servo area is, it's like looking into an olympic sized swimming pool! I wanted you to see how good the structure was back inside the rear fuse too. Some good gluing there, I'm pleased. I'll follow up to some extent, no doubt, but that's just my OCD kicking in!

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Next I'll move on to the Rudder and the horizontal Stabs and elevators. Obviously, the colors are vibrant and the coating work is solid. The manual encourages you to go over all of the coating with a hot iron and a friend with a soft cloth to press down all of the covered solid areas and get the most out of your coating glue. I’m pleased to say that I can clearly see that very little of that is necessary on this particular model (although I’ll probably do it anyway! OCD-OCD-OCD)… Now, I’ve also included the photos here of the Cowling. Excellent paintwork, I’m very pleased. Look at the size of this thing! I've placed a Saito 100 right next to it here so you can get an idea just how very large this cowling really is. I’m also attaching a photo of the cowling laying on top of a Seagull Edge we’ve been building here in my shop, powered by an identical Saito 100. Just wanted you to see what a 50CC - sized plane’s cowl really looks like!! That Saito 100 powered Edge looks like a little baby next to this. Notice the SWEET feature here, the cowl has a mount ring built right into the back of it. Instant 7 1/8" measurement for cowl distance, all you have to do is match it up with the prop plate 1/8" farther out at 7 1/4".
Another nice feature that came with the model was a pair of engine templates for mounting each one of the two brands of Gas engines that Wild Hare sells, the ever-popular DA50, and Wild Hare's 3mm TOC 53 CC gasser. During this build, we will be using the 3mmTOC 53CC gas engine as shown above.

MetallicaJunkie

Donna is in the mid valley sandwiched between Weslaco and Alamo, about 10 miles from mcallen, and 20 from harlingen

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

There's a guy down that way that goes by the nick of EVO...do you know him? My friends say he's a good flyer.

Anyway, you and I will have to get together and do some flying together when I get back to San Antone...I haven't flown in the Valley for YEARS!

Next up! I'll post some photos of the wings and these nice wing bags they came in. Those were a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

Check out how well the coating has been done on the wings, really nicely sealed on the inside rib of each and down in the edges by the surfaces. Two thumbs up on that job. I've paid a LOT for a covering job before and got nothing nearly as good as this. So far I have no complaints about anything. I have not yet fit the wings and stabs to the fuse, that will come during the initial part of the build as the first of the hands-on items.

Jim

MetallicaJunkie

definitely sounds like a plan [sm=thumbup.gif] no i dont know evo, he probably flies at one of the other clubs


yes keep it coming, id like to see how those wing bags look

*edit nice wing bags....beats spending 100 more bucks, ill definitely use them

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Of course, when you start having giants, the first questions are how do you store them and how do you transport them? For transporting, the wings bags and wings that unplug are unbeatable. For storage, the same thing...I was able to simply take them over to one side of my Cellar/shop and hang them from a nail, safe and out of the way. I always considered them a luxury and never bought any. Now I don't think I could picture having the giants without the wing bags!

Jim

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Okay, next I think I'll start to address the hardware that came with the kit and the optional hardware package that came with the Combo I ordered. I'm running short on time so I may get to everything tonight. I'll pick up tomorrow where I left off. Nope, scratch that.. more still on the other parts. I have a nice photo of the Canopy, I placed a ruler by many of the items to give an idea of actual size, as I did with the Canopy. Also, here are the landing gear and the large and small tubes for the wing and the stabs. Wild Hare asks you to try out the landing gear, they say you'll find they're quite durable and you shouldn't just write them off. I've given them a good push and pull, and you can probably tell, I'm no munchkin. They took a LOT of force to get any flexing going, even more to get it to bend at all. I'm definitely going with them, they should be fine. Here are also the rear landing gear, I like the steerable wheel setup and I'm going to give it a shot, it looks like it might be sturdy enough to do the job. The wheel pants are a full foot long and the paint on them is just as smooth and pretty as you can imagine. But no need to imagine, the photos will show you! As I mentioned, I'm giving some thought to adding a larger piece of ply to the inside to make the mounts a bit sturdier, more to come on that as I sit and stare at them while I decide.

Okay, out of time for tonight, folks! I'll see you tomorrow afternoon or evening, and we'll get to all that hardware!

Jim

ottrod

Great photos and documentation! Keep it coming!

Keith

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Today let's take a look at the hardware that came in the hardware kit, it looks pretty nice. In the first photo, I'm assuming that these are the bolts for the landing gear. Next we have the 24 oz DuBro gas tank, a gasoline tank-stopper, and 3 feet of Tygon tubing. You'll notice that I stapled them together just to keep them that way so that when I reach for them I find them all at once. In the next photo you'll see that I've taped the axles in their pack to the landing gear, for the same reason. Next photo... we have the hardware for making the rudder control horn and the pull-pull hardware for that. I've got to research some metal JR servo arms for this and a metal rudder bar too, so if you have suggestions please let me know. My local hobby guy is not well equipped for giants. Next ..... we have the four bolts for attaching the stabs to the fuse, two wing bolts and the four pin hinges for the rudder/fin. I'd like to be able to say that I carefully checked the hinges to see if they said "Robart" on them, but I honestly haven't had time to get to that yet. The next TWO photos are everything you've seen already and quite a bit more, all laid out on one table and I couldn't fit them all in one shot. Lots of little parts and some I'm still deciding what they are! That Dave Brown Vortech spinner that's cut out for bigger props is sharp-looking, can't wait to see it happy at home on the nose. In the last photo I'm just showing what I did with everything to keep track of it all. I grabbed a one-gallon ziplock and all of the small stuff you see here in these photos, I popped them all inside to keep them together. Some of you I don't have to tell, but some of you will appreciate this advice: STAY ORGANIZED. Small parts end up rolling around on tables and if you don't see a small part and lay a wing or a fuselage on it while you're working on the table, you'll have visible damage. The same with small cut-offs from wood or solder or wire. Clean it all up before the next step. Every time. Screw impressions look good on antiqued tables, not so hot on your planes! They sell cheap food-storage bins with covers at Wally-World which work great for holding and storing stuff you're working with, I think they come like 4 for a buck and a half, and if you burn, melt or step on them you're not out anything. They make a real difference and help you stay organized.

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

I think we have come to the end of the photos from opening up and taking stock of the Wild Hare Edge 540T Combo. This is a VERY impressive ARF kit, complete with engine and comprehensive hardware package. The Hardware pack that comes with this combo is the optional hardware package otherwise. I find it to be extremely comprehensive and well-thought-out, ESPECIALLY for the price of $979.00. I live in Bangor, Maine, which is a LONG ways from Flower Mound Texas, and Tom Fawcett of Wild Hare went out of his way to give what I felt was wonderful customer service by taking the time to arrange for a Greyhound shipment for me up here in the Wiliwags and he made sure that my shipping costs were kept under ninety bucks for one big box and one Ginormous box, and the smaller engine box arrived at my door via UPS. I should also point out that in order to make sure nothing special was done here, I failed to mention to Tom that I was going to do a review on this. In spite of my sneaky behavior, the boxes ALL arived a few days earlier than I expected them to, safe and sound. The engine looks great, light and compact. At this point you know as much about it as I do, I'm looking forward to seeing how it bolts up and runs. I'm also considering possible muffler options such as canisters and anything that might make it run more quietly. That might come after the initial build, however.

Coming up next, ladies and germs, we'll get to the REALLY amazing part where I pry my butt loose of this chair and start to get my hands dirty and actually do some BUILDING in this building review! The camera is charged, the tripod is close by. I even know where most of my building stuff is.

We're going to do it "By the book" during this build. I will be following the Wild Hare RC General Assembly Manual (and Edge 540 Addendum) just as closely as I can. I think this is going to be some real fun!

Stay tuned!

Jim

FLYMIKE

http://www.airwildpilotshop.com/More...=product&id=90

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Thanks Mike!

Jim

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Mike,
After looking at the EFP (Epoxy Fiberglass Panel) series of bellcranks there, I decided that was what I will use. I'll be using the offset version. I was going to simply use a metal servo full arm for the rudder, which for my flying would have probably more than sufficed. I am used to using rudder bars, however. The full-bore setups AirWild has are mighty impressive, but so are the pricetags, and I'm at least TRYING to keep up the illusion that I'm building this on a budget! This is the link to the Rudder bar I ordered, along with some metal servo arms, I ordered several full arms and 4 of their 1.5" half-arms.

http://www.airwildhobbies.com/MoreIn...&level=2&id=24

I'll be using three JR8611A servos, 2 on the elevators and 1 on the rudder. Those produce 260 oz/in @ 4.8Volts and 320 oz/in @ 6 Volts, and my packs will be 6-Volt. Those are already sitting here, they came in yesterday. I'm using the JR Sport series ST126MG for the ailerons, they put out 126 oz/in @ 4.8Volts and 142 oz/in @ 6 Volts. They only have one ball bearing, not two, but I feel that with this kind of strength and metal gears that they should be fine on the ailerons. Also, the JR8611A's cost over a hundred bucks each and these ST126MG's are like 34 bucks apiece!

By the way, I'm trying to decide which Voltage regulator would work best between the RX and the servos. Horizon told me that they recommend their other voltage regulator that goes between the battery and the RX. I can't fathom that. How can a regulator BEFORE the RX regulate the voltage that the servos use (How can it keep the servos from pulling enough amps that the Spektrum RX reaches the point of the infamous 3.4-volt blink-out?)? All that I can see it might do is cause it to happen earlier. It makes no sense. To my mind and my way of thinking (which could be wrong), a regulator AFTER the RX would limit what the servos could pull, leaving the battery feed direct to the RX and in a robust condition. It might slow the servos down a bit, but I would wager not enough that I would notice it.

Additionally, I will be running a 6-Volt 4000mAh NiMH pack in the plane. I've never run parallel packs, would like to see how they attach to the Spektrum RX setup.

Back to setting up. I have only one other change planned in the hardware right now, that is to add a rudder control horn that is a straight-through with two tapering cones, kinda shiny and I've used one before and like it. I think it's the DuBro for giants. I'll be using the stock cables and hopefully the stock cable ends/fasteners as well.

Jim

rcairflr

My Feedback: (44)

A 4000mA pack is way more than needed in an airplane of this size. You could go with a 2000mA pack and easily get 5-6 ten minute flights with plenty of power to spare. Why add un-needed weight. In my 50cc airplane I don't use parallel packs either, but my battery has 2 leads to run it thru 2 switches, I feel that a switch is much more likely to fail than a battery and $15 extra switch is cheap insurance..
't

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi rcairflr,

I'll be using the battery to help adjust the CG. Also, being a NiMh this battery is actually not too heavy. It's a 6-Volt battery and I want this setup to have gobs of power to it, I'm running 3 heavy-duty servos in the tail and like Danny from JR says, having a good, solid power setup is the first and most important thing. I think the double-switch is a good idea. I've lost planes to bad switches before, usually by using a cheapie switch instead of the heavy-duty switches that JR provides. They'll have to come back together to a single RX plug-in, I don't have enough room in my AR7000 RX for any other leads to come in. The AR9000 has nine channels, I wonder if it's possible to use one of those receivers with a DX-7 radio to provide the extra power-in ports I'd like to have. I actually have no experience with adding extra batteries, I have done the extra switch setup a time or two. I've never even researched the way they are set up.

I'm hoping to start the work on my review this weekend and post some new photos.

Jim

rctom

In this case get a short heavy duty Y cable and put it intoi the channel that uses the most current, usually the rudder. Plug the rudder servo into one leg and the second battery connection into the other leg.

This does two things. It gives you a second power supply into the receiver, and it also routes power to the rudder servo from the Y cable rather than through the receiver's bus. THis takes some of th eload opff the main power connection. a $4 Y cable is a lot cheaper than a 9 channel receiver when you only have a 7 channel transmitter.

TF

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Ahhh, roger that. Thank you, Tom. Very well explained too, it makes perfect sense the way you laid it out here. That would save some big money too. I guess that would be where my second switch would be wired in as well. I'll try to make sure I show this setup during the build. I'm sure I'm not the only guy who was wondering about that. Very simple, very clean, and it solves a number of issues I was addressing as far as the Spektum and high-amperage servos pulling down the power too quickly (causing a receiver low-power blink-out). I could probably just use one of the Spektrum 2-place voltage regulators for the elevator servos in additon to this solution presented here by Tom, and I think the power supply should be robust enough that the Spektrum RX won't ever be affected by too much voltage drop.
I'm delighted by this. I didn't want to get too off-subject with the power requirements, and we moved through it in just a few posts!

Jim