Get Real

Thank You cje0114. i to see planes getting bashed in other posts as well and cant see why since i dont seem to expierence all the problems others have. originally i had adversity with edge.. wasnt much i could do about it with out completely taking plane apart.. it was a fluke thing in my case and E-flite replaced my original edge and i thanked them for it/i know with as many planes that are put out unfortunately some will have defects. much of the adversity with flight habits ive seen in this post have been do to set up. or being unfamilar with this type of plane. i only post to help others through my expierence with the edge and similar planes and provide honest unbiased feedback based on my expierence with the product. something to remember.. RCU is a great resource for feedback and overall knowledge of the rc hobby. everyone has there own flying style and set up preferances/what works for some may not work for others based on this and the type of aircraft your use to flying.

Hotshot Charlie

My Edge lands like it's on rails..... very slow and stable..... I haven't had a calm day yet, to get it set up for 3D'ing, but I think the plane will be great...... we will see.

Sean McDonnell

My Feedback: (4)

GR

No I cannot post a link to the reviews. I didn't read them online. If you wan't to read them so bad, get yourself a copy of either Backyard Flyer, 3D flyer, or Fly RC. They all have reviews on the ME. However as far as the Backyard Flyer review which you referred to as a thumbs up review, I will post a quote from Gerry Yarrish: "At low rates with 30% expo, the model feels very comfortable without feeling at all snappy. This is, of course, while carrying some power. If you allow airspeed to drop too low, you can drop a wing and get into a relatively steep descent rate before you know it." I don't know about you GR, but if I was the manufacturer of this plane, I would be pretty pissed off specialy considering the fact that I send them a pretty big buck in advertising on a regular basis. Not to mention, this is pretty consistant with what I have been saying all along regarding the ME's unstable flight charachteristics. It sounds to me like the author is describing a pretty violent stall when he bleeds off the throttle.

With regard to your taking my previous quotes out of context; I can only imagine the amount of time you must have spent innacurately posting incomplete quotes from the last few months and rewriting them in a completely different context. As far as the Park 450 I did say it had gobbs of power. That was a statement I made after maybe 2 flights with the ME. Perhaps it was a bit premature. While it did hover at or below 1/2 throttle, by the time I balanced the plane and got it to fly somewhat acceptably, I did have to add a couple oz. of weight to the firewall. I did make it clear that after adding the nose weight the 450 didn't seem to be enouph. Unfortunately, you decided not to post that quote in it's entirety. However with all the weight I added, the planes' RTF weight is still under the manufacturer's advertised weight of 25.8 oz. You see GR, the 450 is an outrunner so the weight I've added is no more that the weight of your gear box. Oh, and as far as the prop... The 12 x 6 you referred to is an electric prop. Not a slow flyer. The 11 x 3.8 I use is a Slow Flyer. They are both comparable and the 11 x 3.8 that I use is the recommended prop for 3D with the Park 450. So your wrong with regard to the prop as well. As far as the expo, it would be irrelevant for me to post wether I'm using positive or negative expo because I never mentioned the type of transmitter I fly. With a plane as unstable as the ME, I certainly wouldn't want to intensify the effects of the inputs around nuetral. But since you asked, I'm using positive expo, which should emmediately lead you to the fact that I fly JR. As far as foamies vs. built-up models... I fly planes 35 - 40 lbs. that are stable at slow speeds so theres no reason why the ME should be so unstable. Great Planes came out with a glow .40 size Extra 300 about 7 or 8 yrs. ago that was as stable as could be and highly aerobatic. In the last 5 yrs. Hangar 9 has come out with a dozen or so planes that were extrely stable. All of them much heavier than your ME. The difference wouldn't be measured in oz., but rather in pounds.

GR, you mentioned you've only been flying for about 3-4 months. I applaud you for your interest and your conviction to this hobby. But trust me, after you've flown a couple hundred different planes, it will be alot easier to tell which ones are keepers and which ones are duds. Unfortunately, the ME is a severly unstable aerobatic plane. I assure you the people bashing the ME have them setup properly and gave them more than just a few flights.

Get Real

Thank you for replying to my question on where you found all the the reviews on the mini edge. my post to you didnt take long at all. all text is full sentances taken from your posts and are accurate you can check them again if you like. you have different opinions based on your own reasons of the edge and its flight performance. opinions will vary depending on a pilots ability and flying style. its been demonstraited the edge is fully capable of great 3D flying in the hands of an expierenced pilot by the link i posted on the previous page. many of the manuvers were performed high alpha as well as at various speeds which could of induced stalls. the sentances i posted from your posts are fact and are what lead me to believe your difficulty with edge is in set up and not the plane itself. let me know how much youd like to sell it for and post some pics of its set up.. id be interested in buying it if price is rite. please dont take my posts so personally.

plantain

Hello Guys,
This my first post here, I like to add my tw0 cents to the ME topic. The ME is my first electric plane I've been flying rc on and off for
the last 15 years,I recently returned to the hobby after taking a 4 year break. I can't belive all the new stuff outhere including 3D's
we used to called it hot dogging.
I have around 18 to 20 flight on my ME now only 2 or 3 flights where with 0 wind and the others the wind was pretty strong about
15 to 20 mph. I'll give this plane 8 out of 10 and that's only becuase I can not get this plane to flare out in a ladding. Once it losses
air speed it drops like a rock. My solution to this problem was to remove the lading gear, Now I just land it on it's belly.
I just placed an order for Katana mini made by Precision Aerobatics i was going to order an e flght Katana but decided not to
since the edge and the katana have the same wing span.
this is what's pulling my ME rights now :
lipo 3 cell 2100/
brushless 3700 with the original gear and prop.
In the near future I'm going to install a HIMAX 2816890 for 3d's.

Later

Plantain

JUST ONE MORE FLIGHT !!!!!

cobra525

My Feedback: (5)

Hey dont sell you mini edge man, There is nothing to be scared of. Ive flown high wing trainers that are not as stable. The plane has been a real friend from day one. I can slowly put put it around the park and it doesnt fall out of the sky. If I want I can go straight vertical, loop, roll whatever. Just set low rates on the huge ailerons and it will be your favorite bird. Not to mention the coolest looking. This is a high performance yet stable and predictable airplane at low to mid speeds.

Pale_aileron

Are you using the low rates as recommended in the manual? What exponentials are you using?

phantom_najd

My Feedback: (2)

Hi folks,

I hope I have read this thread prior to placing the order! I don't know, but, I think I would have placed it anyways because of the videos that are everywhere on the net . My setup would be:

- PJS900 Outrunner Brushless motor for 24oz 3D planes that provides over 32oz of thrust (pulls 21amp with fully charged battery and 11x4.7 prop which makes it provides 230Watts)
- 30Amp ESC from Balsa Products
- 3S1P 1600mah with 15C Average
- 3 HS-55 two for Ailerons and one for Elevator
- 1 Futaba S3110 Micro High Torq Servo 7.7g for Rudder I'll go for Pull-Pull

I'll be able to have this baby in the air within hopefully two weeks from today and I hope it'll take me away from the flying wings I am into nowadays not back to nitro cars wish me luck guys

phantom_najd

My Feedback: (2)

Sorry for the late reply, but I just saw this. I think this is either a faulty motor or an over current pull. Attach a watt meter between the Battery and the ESC hit the thruttly to full and check the how many ampers are surged when the motor quits if it is in the range of the motor rated amp it most likely is a faulty motor. I had the same problem in the past and it was a faulty motor. Don't take my words for grant check another motor and battery with the same ESC to trouble shoot the ESC and again with the same procedure to trouble shoot the battery. I wish you luck and hope that the problem had already been resolved.

JasonInAugusta

First the mags always give good reviews because of advertising dollars...now they're telling the truth?

What nerve these mag guys have!

Relax, Sean. It's the internet.

Hotshot Charlie

Ok guys,

I just got back from flying my ME 540. It flys ok, but I am having a huge problem with it snapping out of a tight loop and snapping when I try to get it in a hover.

I am not a novice pilot, but could use some suggestions on where to look to fix this "snapping" problem.

Basically, when I get her slowed down, pull up elevator, to start a hover, it has a real tendency to snap. I can't remember which way it's snapping now.... argh..... also, if I pull into a tight loop, it will snap out of the loop.

I think I have the CG set ok, it flys pretty well hands off inverted and right side up.

Basically, when I jerk elevator in it, she snaps. Also, doesn't like slow, nose high flight very much. Harrier's are hairy !!! Snappy, snappy, snappy.

Not a happy ME owner at this point. Other than this snappy problem, it flys pretty well. Not the 3D plane I wanted, with the snap problem. If I can fix the snappiness, It might do ok 3D'ing.

What's the verdict.... any ideas where to start looking for the problem?

Sean McDonnell

My Feedback: (4)

Rob,

This is basically the problem I have with my ME. I did do away with the problem of snapping out of loops by lowering the elevator throw considerably. As far as the harriers you need full deflection and this is where the ME gets unstable. I fly the plane with about 1/4" - 3/8" on low rates and full deflection on high rates. On low rates the plane is rather stable for normal flight. The problem is I can't do any aerobatics with the elevator on low rates so I'm constantly switching back and forth from low and high rates. I found this to be risky business because in high alpha low to the ground you have to be real fast with your dual rates switch. And the plane is very harry in high alpha. It is by no means stable. I don't care what anyone says. Just watch the video from Horizon Hobby and you will see how unstable the plane is. I don't mean to be rude to anyone but alot of the novices might not pick up on how unstable the plane is in the video. They're too busy being impressed by the good flying. Don't get me wrong... You can do all that stuff in the video (harriers, waterfalls, flat spins, and hovering) but you have to transition from one thing to another real fast and you have to keep the plane moving fast and you WILL be constantly wrestling to keep the plane from stalling. It's just not a good overall 3D plane. I find it to be more of a hot dogg'n fast fly'n plane.

P.S. are you flying with expo?

Hotshot Charlie

Yep, I think..... I will have to look, but I ususally use a little expo, 10% or so.

I like the way it flys fast other than the snap out of the loops, but it's so unstable at high alpha stuff, it's very hairy.

Definitely not a 3D plane in my hands. If I can just tune on it a little, maybe it will get better, but I sort of doubt it.

Thanks for your input.

Get Real

Hotshot Charlie. how large are the gaps between hinges? this may help http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...?ProdID=DUB916 i use it on my mini edge and it has many other uses. this is just my opinion.. the edge is a really nice plane/ofcourse it does require more imput than some other planes i own to do some manuvers. the edge has a higher weight to wing area ratio so it doesnt float and do slow manuvers as easily. i learned on standard radios without expo and just use finess to fly smooth. once you get a little more familar with it youll have more fun. i'll have video in the spring of my flights. well its time to take the heli for a flight around the house .

Hotshot Charlie

Hey GetReal,

I have no hinge gap. Thanks for the suggestion. Don't think that would cause the snap problem I am having.

This is one fast bird, it flys like it's on rails, until you do High Alpha moves, then it's "snap-city".

Get Real

the hinge tape suggestion is just for overall stability and consistantcy/id move on to check lateral balance if its snaps in the same direction at both slow and higher speeds. a previous poster had same problem and lateral fixed it.. hope its lateral and not warpage. id also check the alighnment of tail and stab. unfortunatley my first edge was pretty warped out of the box and i perservered but learned that certain imperfections can have a drastic effect on certain planes/horizon is great and replaced it.. it was difficult at times but was totally do to the warpage of airframe and im sure that warpage transfered to wings a little causing it to drop the left wing at any speed without a lot of aileron trim to the right to maintain level flight which compounded to other areas of flight. i had refused to give up and got the first one to fly somewhat decent considering the warpage and did perform mild 3D succesfully with it.. ie harriers/hovers and slow high alpha flight. it was usually pretty windy most of the time ive flown i tend not to do much 3D at all in higher winds. it would be really nice to see videos/post um if ya got um. PS. heres something of intrest http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...ProdID=PKZ4175 if you ever get a chance to fly one try it. cant beat it for the price and it flys really well... and as far as stability at slow speeds/ i think its very stable.. but thats just me and opinions will very.

Get Real

BTW my mini edge weighs 23.8 ounces ready to fly with a TP 2100.

cje0114

My Feedback: (27)

I was the person that had the latteral balance problem. I had the same deal with it snapping out of loops, and a hard time keeping hovers stable,ect. Once I balanced it latteraly, it was a totally different airplane. Much more stable in the 3D moves. I also fly it with TP 1320's. I get 10-12 minutes of flying with them. I haven't weighed it, but I say it's a keeper.

Chris

Hotshot Charlie

Hey Chris,

Yep, I "semi-checked" lateral balance and it is close, not sure if I can help it with doing anything, but will try. I think you said you used only a "dime" on a wingtip? Amazing that made that much difference! Just goes to show you how little things work on small planes.

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Sean McDonnell

My Feedback: (4)

Rob,

Next time you fly your ME try it with very little elevator throw. I'm pretty confident it will take care of the snapping out of loops. Basically, as you know, snaps are induced by adding full elevator along with rudder and aileron. Snapping out of the top of a loop is almost always caused by adding too much elevator. Good luck!

Hotshot Charlie

Hey Sean,

Yep, I can fly a smooth loop, but when I add that extra "umph", it snaps out. I really have never had a plane that was as violent as this when it snaps out of a loop. I want it to 3D..... doesn't look like it gonna be a good 3D'er. Still not giving up.

Sean McDonnell

My Feedback: (4)

Rob,

I totally agree as far as the ME not being an overall good 3D plane, however, it does sound like there's something wrong in your case. I'm not having that problem. It's possible that you just have alot more elevator throw than I do. When I'm flying on the wing, I'm always on low rates. I never switch to high rates until I start flying on the prop. Maybe thats why I'm not experiencing that problem(violent snaps out of the top of a loop). However I have experienced that problem with other planes (mainly mustangs and other warbirds) Not an aerobatic plane like the edge. Anyways... 1 idea I had was your mixes. Do you run any mixes where elevator is the master. If so, I'd try inhibiting the mixes. A mix with master elevator and aileron as a slave could be undectable until you reach full elevator. That could definately cause your problem. Just an idea. Good Luck!

Hotshot Charlie

Hey Sean,

Nope, not running any mixes. There is something that isn't right with this bird. I will keep playing with it until I find it. Someone mentioned a warped wing.... I don't see it, but it could be a problem there and my eyes just don't see it. All else looks straight.

I am going to play with it some more. Not giving up on it..... but sort of disappointed in it..... although it flys great except for the snappiness. That's another thing.... I can pull into a hard knife edge type bank and it doesn't snap..... Hmmmmmm...... Only snaps when I get vertical....... upside of a loop, or pull up into a hover...... snap..... Does this ring a bell ???

Ernie Misner

>>> ..... Hmmmmmm...... Only snaps when I get vertical....... upside of a loop, or pull up into a hover...... snap..... Does this ring a bell ??? >>>

Yes, it does ring a bell, and it makes me want to say that inadvertantly you have gotten something slightly off with the motor mount thrust angle!

Ernie

Sean McDonnell

My Feedback: (4)

Rob,

It really sounds to me like too much elevator throw. Are you running dual rates? How much throw on the elevator? On my 40% Carden Edge I had to roll way back on elevator throw from what I was used to on my bigger extras. Same thing with my ME. Very little elevator throw or else its like you say "snap city".

To check your thrust angle, fly your plane on a 45 degree down line while carrying about 1/2 throttle. While continuing on the 45 degree down line, drop your throttle to idle and see if there is a sudden change. If so, check your cg 1st. If your cg is in range, your thrust line is off. Slight chance of that with the stick mount, but ya never know. Aerobatic planes like the edge usually have about 2 degrees of right thrust and you can see it by looking at the stick mount on the ME.

Getting back to elevator throw. As an experiment, I would go into your ATV and reduce up elevator. If your running more than 3/8ths to 1/2" of up elevator that's your problem. Reduce your ATV and try a couple of loops.