Daggum you must have one heck of a vibration problem for it too disinagrate your cowling and wheel pants ???


Chad

Actually, very little vibration - more like just cheap fiberglass.

The prop and spinner were balanced, engine is new. This setup vibrates less than the ZDZ-80 powered planes I did.
I was surprized at how fast the stuff came apart... of course, I emailed Max and he said "no spares" so I am going to retire it.

I think I am going to order an extreme flight Yak..
DP

Man 50 flights and retired , that is way too short of a life span. I have 35 flights on mine and i consider it sill new. I hope to get a couple hundred flight on it this year. And i hope it last several years more .

I hate to here you having bad luck , and it really sucks that they dont have replacement parts. Geeesh i hope i dont have a minor accident with mine and need a cowling or something.


Chad

I was in contact with Max and he said he is expecting to carry spares fairly soon. I hope so, cause he promised me a new set of wheel pants as mine were slightly crushed in shipping.

What size prop was that? I would be calling Gene at [link=http://www.troybuiltmodels.com]Troy Built Models[/link] and see what he has in stock. My 22x10 was $46. When I called him a couple weeks back, he had six in stock.

Spar

Hey spar... it was the spinner, not the prop. DA carries spinners made by mezjlik.. they are real nice! My Bolly prop was unhurt despite chewing up the cowl into 50 pieces and trashing my spinner!

If you need wheel pants, get the ones from the Patty, they are only $20 at Tower Hobbies and one hell of a lot stronger and nicer than the ones that came with the edge. They also are a little larger so they fit the 3.5 skylite wheels.. huge diff on landings! I saw the Patty today in person and they are the way to go!

I actually flew the Edge today sans cowl, spinner and pants. It is BUTT UGLY now but it still flies well. It really burns me up that I can't get a new cowl for the POS that came in the box. It was bad out of the box just like the wheel pants... all cracked and weak and no support. [:@][:@] I have decided I am just going to just torture it until it either falls apart or until my Yak arrives... whichever comes first!!

I absolutely ABUSED it this morning! I have never done 10 full throttle snaps in a row... and a full throttle knife snap!

I did today!!
mooohaaahhaaa!
DP

Ooops, you're right!! They say the eyes are the forst to gi...

Spar

Well Desertpig one thing that will come good from this abuse for the rest us is that we now know that airframe is very strong.

Keep up the testing i'am glad to know that this thing will take that kinda abuse. When you get done abusing it if it is still together Maybe you could call Stans Fiber glass and get a cowling for it. Maybe a cowling off a WH edge will fit? There has to be a cowling off some edge that will fit this plane.

Chad

There will be... it's just that BME is out of stock of the planes and didn't have many parts for replacement. Again an initial faux pa in underestimating the demand.

BME Aircraft will of course have replacement components in the near future, including the cowl.

Thanks for the info desertpig.. I do have a computer radio that would do the mixing, I was just trying to get the firewall right on with very little mixing. I have a friend who does fiberglass.. Thinking I should do a mold of the cowl and wheel pants before i install them.

Any extreme 3d videos of this thing flying?

I had heard there was a video on the BME website so I checked it out... the info panel on it made me really mad [:@]

How they could say that plane weighed 15.5 pounds is beyond me. Must have been that British Columbia hothouse weed they're smoking up there these days.

There is no way with a BME 50 that plane made 15.5 pounds. NO WAY.
You can tell its heavier by the way it lands.. it drop stalls, just like mine. Get it too slow and drops a wing even on CG.

Oh well... let the beating continue.
DP

great job on the cockpit.. If you have downsized the file i would like to have you email it to me [email protected].
Thanks!!!

Well a little more info for everyone.. today's regimen - full speed pass into a wall... then a hover into a tail slide. Did 5 in a row with no issues whatsoever. Landed after the 5th one to check the wings to see that they didn't delaminate then took off for some more abuse. Full throttle on low pass knife edge into a hard upline snap roll into a reverse lumcevok (sp?) into a hover.

Man I can't believe nothing has broken yet! I have never beat on an airframe as hard as I have on this one. I am beginning to think I might want to keep it now as it really is strong. The crazy stunts I have done with it is amazing. To my amazement nothing is loose either which says something about the construction.

It has done a great job at testing my rigging. I'de say at this point the nelson pull-pull setup is bullet proof.

My gear plate is weakening again, I did notice the stringers broke in the same spot they have 4 times already. That lite ply BME used in the engine box / gear plate area is just crap. This will be the 5th repair I have made on it and not one bounced or even semi-rough landing.. I'd hate to see what it would do if I really muffed a landing.

I might try to take some video in the next week or two.. we'll see.

Man this is fun!!
DP

ROFLMAO DP! Fly it like you stole it!

Thanks jdec!

Here is what I did. I removed a couple of layers that personalized it for me. I reduced the pixel resolution for printing from 600dpi to 300dpi and zipped it up. It is a lot smaller, but too large for email, so I put it up on my webserver for public access. Download it, open it in Adobe Photoshop and add whatever layers you want to customize it to suit and just print it off. DO NOT resize it using the pixels at it will not print correctly. It is already sized to print to fit the Edge's cockpit. I would recommend a good quality photo paper - I used Kodak High Gloss.

If anyone wants the panel, go download it here -> [link=http://www.lobstercove.ca/downloads/BME_Edge_%20Panel.zip]BME Edge Panel[/link]

I just got my Mejzlik prop in yesterday, and what a beaut!! I checked for balance and it is right on the money! Need one? Try TroyBuilt Models.

DP - glad to see that someone is flying the p*iss out of it!!! I am almost ready.... just need for Spring to arrive now.

Cheers,
Spar

Thanks DP for putting the EDGE through its pace. I was babying it last year now i can fly the crap out of it without worrying breaking it.

Sparhawk you will like the way this plane flys.

Thanks for the download link Sparhawk. My BME Edge just came in on Thursday.. I ordered a couple of the BME Aircraft laminated props.. these props are beautiful.. I hope they perform as well as they look.. The were perfectley balanced as well

Hey Sparhawk!

Thanks for the instrument panel - is it sized to be printed at 100% for proper fit?

I print it at 100% its too big.

You may have to adjust to suit your printer, but the way I made it was to print at 300 dpi, and at that it printed fine (in inches). When you go to print, just compare the size in inches and resize as required to print. It should be 7" by 3" high. You will need to trim the side a little bit and fold it inside the fuse.

Cheers,
Spar

Did anyone get a manual with their BME Edge. Nothing came with mine. Looking for the suggested high and low rate setup. I know this is usually a fine tuned individual setting but most manufactures usually give a good starting point.

thanks for any suggestions

No Manual - you have to download it.. nice of them eh? Don't bother downloading it - its useless! I did not even look at it once.

The CG needs to be 5.5 inches or less from the LE at wing root. It flies best at 5" Put it behind even slightly

Throws in DEGREES not percent:

Low rates , 35% expo

A 20*
E 20*
R 35*


High rates, 45% expo

E 45*
A 35*
R 45*


I also did not build mine with 3* of side thrust in the firewall. I put it in straight so as to provide maximum strength in the 90* joints and used hardwood corner stock to brace the firewall and glassed over it. It is very strong. I then use throttle to rudder variable mix to mix in rudder when throttle is advanced... very effective!

DP

Regardless of how you mount the firewall, for added comfort, pin the firewall. I put 3 in each side and 4 on the bottom. I doubt that it will ever pull away from the fuse.... unless I change the engine to a turbine or something!!

Also, read back about the tail being a bit heavy and how you can counter it. Look at getting longer engine mounts to put the engine out as far as it will go. Every little bit helps. I think I can balance it ok now - even with a Pete Model's carbon fibre spinner on the front end. It arrives tomorrow or on Monday.

Spar

Agree on the pinning. I always use screws into the hardwood + epoxy + glassing.

DP

The Edge finally flies! We got a decent day of weather finally and the Edge flew at long last! This edge is powered by an MVVS 58 with a custom canister exhaust, the airplane will hover at 1/3 throttle. On low rates this airplane is a *****cat. In the hands of an expert pilot it was capable of anything the pilot wanted it to do! The "Chinese Air Force" trim scheme leaves a little to be desired, but a few decals have it looking better. Also it is imported directly to Canada, shipping was very reasonable, keeping the overall cost down. Shippng bigger airplanes up from the US gets spendy in a hurry!