update on the stab mount, with some sanding i manged to the difference between the horizontal stab. tips down from 7/8 to 3/8. Do you guys think thats close enough or should i send the fuse back?

Well guys,

Some weight figures of the factory belley pan and G-Man's belly pan

Factory Belly pan = 2 oz. (not too bad)
G-Man's Belly Pan = 2 oz. (no weight gain here)

As you can see they weigh identical to each other. These figures were achieved using my digital fish scale. I do not know how many grams apart they are, but I don't think it really matters. The important thing is that they are very close to being the same weight.

If enough people are interested in one, I can put some numbers together. I would not mind making them for you guys at all. Just let me know what you guys think.

Later

B. Matt, ... thats pretty close, you can do it now!!! Did you have to sand a lot?? you'll need a 1/32 shim or a little bit more sanding of the seat to get it level!! Good luck!!

Gary, thats one neat pan!! You really work fast, it would have taken me a week to build that!! I bet it is a breeze to install with the 2 dowels instead of the small screws all around.

Now the question is can the factory pan be fitted with the dowels. It has nothing in front to hold the dowels so if a ply former was made to fit inside the pan at the front, that shoudl do it. I am also thinking about quick clamps in the back, sort of which would open with a 90 degree twist. or like a cam lock. If anyone knows of some lightweight cam locks please let me know.

ez, I might take you up on that offer to make me a belly pan. I need to see how the factory one works out with my velcro attachment method. If I do not like it I will let you know. I like what you built a lot and it looks great. Thanks for the offer. Ron[8D]

Gary,

Great job! I think I'm going to try this stick-build job. I'm very unhappy with what I've done with the factory pan just trying to trim it out. I could screw it on, but what a PITA.

I'm wondering if I can't just use long balsa sticks instead of butting them at the center like you did. Did you completely cut out the factory former in the center?

My Edge isn't going to fly this w/e anyway, so I'll have another week. Belly pan is last.

jon

I broke in my Saito 100 this evening. It runs great already. I hope to maiden my Edge on Sunday if the winds calm down enough. 20 gusting to 30 is too much for me on a maiden flight. I will keep you all posted on my first few flights. Thank you all for all the great tips and tricks in building this plane. Ron[8D]

Ron,

Looking forward to seeing your flight report. I bet the winds die for you this w/e. We have pretty nice weather here today, if it pushes on down to FLA you should be in good shape for that maiden. Be sure to snap a pic just _before_ that first flight .

jon

Ron: I think you would maiden your bird before i finish my break in. The days i have off from work the weather decides to dump rain or snow on me. Mainly snow.. Yesterday i had the day off. I couldn't ask for anything better. Id just run a couple more tanks through the satio, start leaning it out a bit and maiden it on Sunday. But then mother nature seems to hate me and my planes so what does she do? Dumps 4 more inches of snow. ERRRR[:@] Now the field is covered again so guess ill be waiting a little.
I do have a ikarus piccolo to fix up and see if ican fly it.

Gary: I also may have to hit you up on that offer. Im allready getting annoyed taking off all those bolts for the belly pan.

Allright Gary! Now I am jealous. I guess if I am going to try keeping up with the Jones, I better get busy building me one of those fancy bellypans. That is really nice! Also I was cleaning the inside of my truck today, and found a little package addressed to you under my arm rest(buddy cord). As messy as my truck gets from work it could have layed there for a year unknown to me. Anyway, keep an eye out for it.
I've been busy working on one of my kits at night, so I havn't checked in here for a bit, so I am glad to see after I checked in that everyones VF edge projects are going so well! It supposed to be a great day where I live tommorrow, so I plan on taking my Edge to the field tommorrow and really knocking the cobs out of it! I may try to spend a few hours in the morning bulding me a new bellypan before I go. That really looks like a big time saver at the field!

To address a couple of questions...

In my original design, the stringers went the full length of the pan, but were not one solid piece. I would change that on future pans and make the stingers one piece with the formers notched to accept them. I would also eliminate one of the hold down bolts. One 1/4x20 or even am 8/32 nylon bolt would be more than adequate. The reason I went with the 1/4x20 bolts is because I already had the drill and tap handy, but of course it would be up to you to mount it as you see fit.

I did cut, ummmm break, the factory former out. I then added a balsa stick brace in it's place because the factory former did provide some strength to the fuselage sides.

Calflyer, I don't know if the factory plastic would take well to gluing in a plywood former in the front. It is worth a try and something that I considered. But after much deliberation, I decided to go ahead and make one myself. I plan on making another one this weekend with some other minor changes, such as the one piece stingers and the notched formers. As soon as it is done I will take some pics and let you guys know the results.

So let me get this right. So far there are 3 of you interested in this belly pan: glowplug, rcfury (aka Nathan), and RBgunner (aka Ron). Is this correct? If there are others please let me know so that I can get the proper amount of materials.

Thanks for everyone's support...

hi gary

i haven't been able to start my vf edge yet but hopefully will start on it soon.I've been putting together a kangke cap 232 sport arf.You can put my name down for one of the belly pans.Maybe vf will incorporate some of the mods in this thread in future runs.


thanks .ken

Gary, I'd be honored if you would include a belly pan for me as well.

Ah heck, if you are going to mass produce a bunch of belly pans, I guess I would rather just pay you to make me one while you are it. Go ahead and put me down for one to.

Here is Color Scheme for the VectorFlight Extra 300 for RFG2. I converted it to gif format, so all you will have to do is size it right over top of the stock image by using a program like Microsoft Picture and Publishing. First open the program and then click on the Extra 300. Then use the option "create a new color scheme". You will then be asked to name the new scheme. Once you do this, a stock file will appear in your "Color Scheme" Folder in the "RealFlight" Folder. Open the Color Scheme with your favorite editor, and then import the gif image I have supplied here. Then overlay this image, and size it over top of the stock RF image. Once this is done then just save the file to your Color Schemes folder, and it should work. My Scheme is not perfect, so you will also be able to go back and touch up a few spots you may not like, and also add the VF Extra 300 Plane specs in manually.

A few Pics of my VF Extra 300 in RealFlight!

Many thanks for the extra Ray!

Gary did a fine job on his belly pan, but are you guys sure that the mass produced belly pans are going to fit that well?

I've stolen his idea (thanks Gary!) and am working on one now, and although I've never done anything like it before, it seems to be going fairly well, although I did have to cut the joiners twice. On the first attempt I didn't allow for the sheeting to overlap the sides of the fuse.

No VF Edge here for me yet. But the month is young and I await the arrival of mine. Looks like I got a lot of work to do when it gets here. Belly pan is lacking from the box eh ? Let me know what your charging for the custom pans sir .

Sturzt,

>>Belly pan is lacking from the box eh ?<<

IMHO, the belly pan is the real weakness in the package. It's plastic that must be trimmed out and when I trimmed the "ledges" off as instructed, mine was too small. It would work with some coercion, but would still require a lot of time to attach at the field.

Attached are photos of my attempt at a stick-built pan. Not as nice as Gary's but after I get through covering and fitting, I think it will be a notch above the factory provided one. It will be a little bit heavier, too. When I get all done I'll post an accurate weight of the factory pan with attachments vs. mine with all attachments.

jon

Ok guys, for those who are lazy like me to make a new belly pan, I was having some fun with the stock belly pan to see how it can be made easier to install and remove, and here is what I have done so far. So instead of using screws around the perimeter, my plan is to hinge the stock belly pan at the top center of the front former where it is supposed to seat, and use a single nylon screw in the back. I got some neat brass hinges at the hardware store today but then I found some old Dubro pin type hinges which will work even better since they are soft and will curve gently. The belly pan sides are already tight and springy so will stay snug with the fuselage sides. It seems to work great during the test fit and props up like a hood on a car when opened. I will try to post some pictures soon.

That's good because my home built pan would look something like bark off a tree. Well, maybe not that bad,,but I want it to look great,, not so-so. Hinges ?? What a good idea !!!

Guys,

Check these pics out. I was able to make a near perfect replica of the VF Edge 540. I used Photoshop 7.0 and Microsoft Paint to manipulate the pictures I ttook and clean them up. I can try to sent you the file if anyone is interested. Just let me know.

Later

Gary, I would like to have the files. thanks

Well, I did not maiden my Edge today. Was all set to, but decided to fly my FuntanaS 40 first to warm up. I was on my second flight and just coming around (about 75 feet off the ground or so) on a regular old turn when she flipped over and dove into the ground.[:@] I have no clue what happened. I may have been shot down, but no one would admit it. After that I was in no mood to fly a new plane. Bad carma all over the place after that. The good thing is the engine (Saito 82) and all the electronic are ok. I did fly my Katana profile a bunch after that without any problems. Oh well, now I need a new plane to put my 82 in. Any suggestions. Ron[8D]