30cc Edge 540 build
 

Hello everyone, just recived shipping conformation from FedX that my new AW 30cc Edge 540 is on its way. 11/29/10 is the delivery date. I will be posting pictures of the packaging and everything inbetween. This will be my first AW plane as well as AFR so I hope to provide an accurate review as well. I will keep you all posted!

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Cool!!!!!

What motor are you putting in it?

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

It will be powered by a DLE 30cc rear carb. From what I have heard this should be a great combination.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Sounds good!

Make sure the carb has a choke. I got one that didn't have a choke so had to spend another $50 on a new carb. =(

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Double checked and YES! It has a choke! Thanks! Just ran it today and it seems to be a strong runner. Fired up easily enough and with a few minor adjustments idles well and revs well.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Well Everyone,
I got my plane on November 26. Its much better than I expected and I will be starting my build in the next couple of days. The plane was packed awesome and everything was there. One thing, make sure you read the addendum because they have made some subtle changes. I will be using a DLE30 rear carb in this bird with a 19X8 Xoar prop. This will be my second DLE 30 and I expect some great performance with this engine.

One other item, if you plan on using the required 2.75 spinner you will need to cut it to fit the prop otherwise you will be buying the custom cut one from Aeroworks. I will attach some photos this weekend. I know one thing if it flies as good as it looks, this plane will be awesome.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Bemesen,
Mine should be in my hands Sat. or Mon, FedX says its here in Ohio so it just depends on when it hits my sort facility. Would you recommend going with the AW spinner? I also will be using the xoar 19x8 prop. What kind of servos do you plan on using?

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I think you have two options. The first may the easiest. You can order a Tru Turn spinner from AW and the cost is 49.99. It has been cut special for the larger props that we use for the DLE 30. The second option is to find a carbon fiber version, but it will be expensive. I am will probably go to AW on monday and pick up their spinner. Here is the items I plan on using on my plane:

DLE 30
19X8 Xoar prop
Either HITEC 5625 on Elevators and Ailerons and 5645 on rudder or HD Power DS90's I am not sure yet. I have seen the HD power servos and man are they fast. No sure of the durability yet.
Two LIFE 1700 Mah batteries for receiever and on regulated 1700 life on ignition. They are really light and they last a long time. Two 1700 weight the same as one 5 cell Nimh battery. I am not a fan of Lipos. I will use two life batteries for redundancy and plug them into both sides of the bus on an Aurora 9 reciever. I will have two switches for the receiver and one for the ignition.
I have not decided if I will use an opti kill on the ignition.
I am planning on using all the AW hardware due to the fact they give you great stuff. I will need to get a fuel dot from AW mostly due to the fact I like there stuff and they are local.

I do not want to hijack your thread, but if you don't mind I can post some pictures. I unpacked the plane and it does not have one wrinkle on it. The cowl almost matches the covering perfect and the painted lines match up with the covering. I plan on using most of AW graphics, but I have ordered some specific graphics from my company and I plan to place them on the side of the plane.

I can tell you one thing, this plane was put together with tender loving care and with attention to detail at the factory. This plane feels light eventhough I have not weighed the parts yet. This is why AW says they build World Class Aircraft. The carbon fiber parts are very nice quality and I expect the plane to come up between 10 and 11 AUW. We will see. I live at 6000 feet above sea level and every ounce counts cause the altitude robs these motors of HP

Good luck you will not be dissappointed.

Brian

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Feel free to post at will! I am considering using hd power servos all around but not sure on their quality. Was considering following AW rec on hitec 7985's all around but they are costly. As far as batteries go I have 2 2300mah A123's. This will be my first gas plane as well as ARF (QB)) . This will be a big step up from my Top flite contender.I have flown a friends 50cc edge and it is a great flier! Id love to see pics.! Post away!

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

you will get what you pay for I would pay more money for the Hitecs 7985 thay can go in the next areoworks you buy.Please post some pictures I need to buy a 30cc plane for my birthday thinking about a edge or Sbach. bought a 260 from AW hate the plane flys like a brick

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Bladebender,
I know I will be going for the 7985, I have plenty of time to get them! The weather here puts the flying on hold so I will have time to save up and bite the bullet on the servos. They are on the top of my xmas list! Igot the plane for my birthday which is one hell of a gift! So I really dont mind if santa passes me by on the 25th! I will post pics. as soon as it gets here just checkedthe tracking and its on the truck for delivery!

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Here is a few pictures of the the Edge as I loaded it. I have been swamped with work and have not had much time to play around in the shop.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Here is the last of them. I know they are piece meal, but I had just a few minutes to talk them. I tried to place a ruler on things that are pertinant. I am excited about building her and the it looks like the build is straight forward.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Looks like a really plane! I cant wait to get my hands on mine. Was hoping it woud show up today but its looking more like monday. Good luck with the build keep us updated and I will try to get some different angles from what you have to give others a full view of this beauty.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Need some pictures with that dle 30 clamped on the front

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I received mine yesterday and I agree, the plane looks great! I'm going electric with mine. The plan is as follows:


Hacker A60-18M
21x13 prop
Either Jeti 125A or CC 120AHV ESC
10S 30C 5000 or 5800Mah Lipos (Hobbycity)

I run that same power setup in a 30cc Pilot-RC SBach and the power is incredible. I can also easily get over 10 minutes of flight time.

My SBach came in at 13 pounds RTF with the 5800Mah packs. I'm anxious to see how much this one weighs on that same setup.

For servos, I'll probably go with Hyperions, which seem comparable to the PowerHD's. I've run them in a couple of planes now and they've held up well. I really like Hitec and would probably use 7955TG's if they weren't so expensive.

Like the previous guy said, I don't want to be hijacking this thread, but if it's okay, I might post a few pictures of the electric power setup when I get to it.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Well it appears RCUniverse was down, so I was not able to update the build. Yesterday, I went to Aeroworks to pick up the Tru-Turn spinner and the JTec muffler. The spinner was a little more than 40.00 dollars and the wrap around muffler was 79.00 dollars. I got my servos yesterday and I have decided to try the DS90 servos for right now. They appear to be very fast and the movement is nice. I may decide to change them out later.

I will attempt to post some new photos tomorrow on the progress of the build. I went over the entire plane with an iron eventhough it really did not appear to need it. I figured I should be following AW's instructions to the letter. The only area of the plane that needed any real ironing was the top of the fuse between the turtle deck and the tail.

The convering job is superb. All the lines are straight and true and I found no areas of the covering that looked bad even the corners. I hope to have all the needed pieces to continue the build by today because my order from Tower is arriving today.

To answer the guy that asked about the motor being attached. I can assure you that the motor will fit perfectly and I will only have to remove a small amount at the bottom of the cowl for the top of the head to peak out. I will also have to cut away some of the bottom to allow for venting.

I will have to add a 1/8 spacer washer to each of the standoffs to get the necessary clearance for the thrust washer. I believe I will have 1/8 clearance between the cowl and the back edge of the spinner.

By the way the True turn spinner is nice and light, thanks to them cutting a great deal of the spinner away to fit up to a 20X6 Menz prop. It will surely fit the Xoar 19X8 prop I will be using. I will try to get the weight. I am sure a carbon fiber one will be a little lighter, but I did not want to spend double the money to get one. AW said they will be getting some in here in the next few weeks.

The JTEC wrap around muffler is nice...pretty silvery color. Its much nicer than the one I got from Valley View RC.

More to follow

Brian

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

[img]C:\Users\User\Documents\DLE30cc.jpg[/img]

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RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Here is a picture of the DLE 30cc mounted up and ignition installation underway.</p>

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I would not rap up the ignition let air pass over to cool it just put some foam under it

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

lookin' good:)

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I have had a couple of days to fool around with this sweet lil plane. It was packaged well with a box in a box to keep it safe during shipping. When opened I found all was well with the contents. The covering is excellent with no major wrinkles or bubbles. I went over resealed everything but it really did not seem to need it, but after acouple days adjusting to my climate I did notice a few wrinkles appeared so I resealed and all is well.I would go on about how gorgeous this plane is but has already been covered by others! TThis is my first AW plane and I have no regrets. Thanks Airborne for the advice was not using my brain! JJust thought it looked clean but I am sure the heat would of killed the ignition module. As far as a wraparound muffler goes its a must have. The factort DLE muffler will work itwould just require more of the cowl to be trimmed for it to fit. This plane is very nice to look at so why mess with a good thing. Thanks again airborne hows this?

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I would pull it away from the firewall just a little bit. If the module is barely touching, a vibration can cause the electronics to break.

Looks good!

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Are you going with a JTech wrap around Pitts muffler like they recommend or sticking with the stock muffler that came with the DLE30? Just curious how much room in the cowl there is and how much cutting would be required if using the stock muffler... I'll be keeping an eye on your progress...




Bandit

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Got one on the way scheduled delivery for 12/3/10 cant wait I ordered it with the dle 30

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

As far as using the stock muffler goes it does fit in the cowl. It leaves about 1/4" clearance from muffler to cowl, but you have to trim nore of the underneath of the cowl off to allow muffler tip to clear and vent outside cowl. Using the jtec pitts style you pretty much just have to trim for cylinder head to clear. As far as function goes stock muffler will work fine but it will not look as clean when finished using jtec or similar pitts style wrap around muffler. I will be ordering a Jtec for it eventually no rush to get her in the air as the Cleveland weather makes flying no fun.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Pittts should lower the dbs to ,I'm not airborn .where do you live in Ohio bigjer

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Mine Showed up today :D

VERY IMPRESSIVE!!

My first AW plane. If this thing flies as good as it looks . I'm gonna have to get more. ;)

I'm very interested in this thread to see what others are doing with their builds.

Randy

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Bladebender
I live in Elyria about 30 minutes west of Cleveland.
I had a a couple hours free today so I decided to install fuel tank and lines. I just had to test it all out and make sure their were no leaks. I am impressed with the DLE30cc tons of power it will sling shot this plane through the air with ease. This is my first gas plane and love it, after I test ran everything no mess! I filled tank up about 3/4 and it ran for 23minutes while I slowly worked throttle. I also tested out a Life battery from EPbuddy.comwith the ignition system. It is light weight and well made 2300Mah 6.6v. It was fully charged before I fired the DLE up. After 23 minutes of run time it only required 503Mah to put it back to a full charge. Looks likeatleast3-4flights on one charge. Using a cell pro10 itonly takes15-20 minutes from dead to full. It was only 26.99 may get another to power the reciver.Heres a pic of what I did today, feel free to include your 2 cents if you guys see somthing you dont like or any ideas that may or may not be helpful! Thanks

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Bigjer,
You are moving right along. It looks great. I was wondering did you run a regulator from your life battery to your ignition. I did not see one and DLE ignitions usually dont like more than 6 volts.

Well I have applied my graphics to my plane, attached the landing gear, and installed the aileron servos tonight. My camera was out of juice, so I will post the pics tomorrow night if I get a few minutes. I will start with the graphics first.

It took me a bit of time to get the graphics right on the top of the wings. I attemped to place the graphics parallel to the leading edge and to move them back approximately two inches, but this did not work. When I attached the wings to the plane the graphics did not look good. I actually ended up installing the graphic approximately 3" off the leading edge near the fuse and around 2 1/8 near the wing tip. They now look pretty good. The supplied graphics from Aeroworks are a little different because you apply the clear application material on the top of the graphic and reuse the material for the other side.

The way I did it was I layed the graphic on the table face up and then applied the clear application material on the top of the graphic. I started working from the center out. I got all the air bubbles out and then removed the backing. I applied a mostly water and a little detergent mixture on the wing to aid in moving around the graphic prior to placing it down forever. The graphics layed flat and took very little work to get all the bubbles out. Remember don"t mess up the clear application material....you need to use it on the other side. The graphics appear to be good quality, but time will tell if they come off after flying them for a while.

I then moved to the fuse...I decided to use my company name on the side, so I did not use the AW graphic on the side. I got my grahics from B and E graphics. They were fast and did exactly what I asked. I tried to match the font that AW used. It is close enough for my liking. I did use some of the white lettering underneath my company name because I thought it looked good. Their graphics have the traditional wax application paper on the top of each graphic.

I did not place any graphics on the tail yet because I am not sure what I will be using. I am not that fond of the Quick Build graphic.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

ATTACHING GEAR

Next, I began working on the landing gear. Like I said, check your building addendum sheet. There is a little change in the build. The landing gear cover is allready attached to the plane when you get it, so I took it off. It appeared as though their was a slight CAD mistake when they cut the fuse out. The area where the cover attaches to the fuse was allready cut out. They then glued the circles back in and cut them in half. At first I was a little concerned, but as I went on it was no big deal. I will explain that later in the post.

Next I added a little Epoxy to sure up the little circle that had alleady been CA'd inside the fuse. I let it dry prior to attaching the gear with the supplied hardware. One thing that made me very happy is you can see the aluminum angle brackets that beef up the landing gear. The are bolted in with allens and lock nuts.

I placed the gear on and secured the allens with a little blue loctite to make sure they did not come loose. I tighted them down and then placed the cover over the gear and got everything lined up the way I wanted it. I then marked the two holes on the landing gear the coincided with the holes that secured the landing gear cover. I then removed the cover and started drilling pilot holes with a very small bit. I gradually enlarged the hole as I went along. One thing that suprised me was how damn hard the carbon fiber gear was. I have very sharp bits and it took a bit of drilling to get through the gear. I guess that is a good thing.

I then placed the cover back on an reapplied the it. It worked well, but the supplied screws were a tad soft for my liking. The heads were quite easily stripped. That is why I said start small on the hole and gradually work to enlarge it a bit. I wanted to make sure the screws did not come out. I did harden the holes with CA to make sure they gripped in the wood.

I think the little half holes that were glued in will more than do the job, because the landing gear will keep the circles from pulling out and the cover can not push the holes deeper into the fuse. The landing gear prevents that from occurring. I bet the next batch of planes will have this little goof up fixed. It was no big deal though.

The holes on the landing gear are allready offset, so you can not attach the gear backwards. I will add some additional details tomorrow about the servo install and I hope to have pictures. I can tell you one thing about those little Power HD servos. Man they are powerful and quick. More tomorrow.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Is this your battery?
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_pa...vt90fos9hsja00

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

FYI...for you guys using a DLE30 with the stock "muffler". It isn't a muffler and you will be at about 103 db (pain range) at 10' using the AMA test standards with a Xoar 19x8. I would find a good pitts muffler before you cut the cowl. It will save your ears, your field and look a lot better.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Yes thats the battery! Seems like a nice battery. At the moment I do not have a voltage regulator installed. A friend of mine has been flying without one using a life bat. on the DLE ignition for over a year now with out any problems. I may buy one for security when she's ready for flight. As far as the DLE manifold (aka the muffler) goes I dont feel as if it is much louder compared to other pitts style mufflers, I was acually surprised by this. But pitts muffler looks alot nicer!;)

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

have flown a few gas planes just going to throw this out there but I would never put a fuel filter on my plane, just a nother thing to plug or restict fuel flow,and it will happen, Filter the fuel when you fill it . If your running that motor on the plane put the wings on to keep down vibration down and i just run my on the ground to check it out then fly it . what kind of oil you useing and how much 32% 40%. would realy like to your AW 540 fly

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Forgot to say realy like that plane and thanks for all the pictures. was flying my EF yak this fall and my tank moved about 2inches forward but again I velcro my tanks in, so i can change out the fuel lines but with av gas you don't have all that ethenal . never could spell

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Hey thanks! When II ran it I did pop the wings on her, I could not resist! I think I will move the filter to the outlet on my fill tank one less thing to leak or plug. This is my firts gasser and going off what little I know and AW instructions. If the tank is clean and fuel is filtered prior to filling it should be clean. Plus carb does have a screen in it . I still need to order servos and extensions but most likley will wait till after xmas. IIts all pretty much ready to go other than servos and running servos extensions, pull pull set up, and final adjustments. I want to get a aluminum fuel line tee and get a different filler dot not to sure I like the one that it came wirh.
This weekend I am planning on starting tobuild a set of skies for her. I made a set for my contender and found snow to be fun taking off and landing on.
As far as oil goes I am breaking it in on lawn boy like DLE recommends and afterwards going to synthetic. I have been using the STHIL syn. inl my 2 stroke chain saw,red max leaf blower and snowblower for the last 6 years with great results. I left my Toro snow blower sit with gas in it last year (Bad me!) and it fired right up andran great today. The snowblower is 6 years old and still has same plug in it as well as leaf blower. I also like the belray hr-1 syn as well, its a few bucksmore I had ran it in my Honda cr 250 at 100:1 with no issues at all. I may try a few differentones to see what works the best. Any recommendations?

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Oh lawn boy gen 2 is mixed at 32:1, if I use the sthl syn may go to 40:1, 50:1, I read other posts where guys say they have been running that ams oil saber at over 100:1 Even with the lawn boy 32:1 the engine runs very well with a ton of power and is very reponsive. I would imagine a higher quality synthetic would run better at 32:1 than the lawn boy.A seized motor would possibly spell disaster and under lubricating atthose costs does not makesense to me to pick up a small amount of preformance. Ill probablly stay around 40:1 in the future. I hve heard alot of people complaining about DLEplugs. I ran a tank on the bench and in the plane with no complaints but just ordered a coupleNGK cm-6's off ebay for $1.99 off ebay sure beats 9.99 been seeing for the DLE plug. I have always had goodluck with NGK's.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

I got another few hours to work on my plane tonight. I installed the elevators, elevator servos, and control rods. It was really nice using the AW turn buckles. That made getting them adjusted really easy. Everything went in with out a hitch. I mentioned I would talk about the Power HD servos DS090M that I installed. I tested them all prior to placing them in the plane. They are fast, center well, and seem to have great resolution. They seem a little bit louder than other digital servos that I have used before, but man are they quick. The accepted Futaba arms like I was told and everything installed very easy. The servos come with a variety of arms, hardware, grommets, and screws. I decided to use DUBRO super strenght arms because they seemed stiffer and I just like them. I took some photos and I have posted them for your viewing pleasure.

I took some overall photos so that everyone could see the lines of the plane. The close ups of the inside of the fuse to show how the plane is built. I took a picture of the gear from the inside so that everyone could see the half circles that I spoke about when I installed the gear. You can also see the alum bracing for the gear.

I hope I will have some more time this weekend to work on a few more items. Let me know what you all think.

RE: 30cc Edge 540 build
 

Here are pictures. Something went wrong in the last post
Brian