sorry to hear about your funtana. interference might well be to blame. I hear this is a problem with so many park flyers flying around unnoticed.

Sorry to hear about your Plane Ron. The VectorFlight Extra 300 58" Wingspan would be a great Plane for that Saito 82!

Excellent Job on the RFG2 VF Edge Gary! I just bought a new G3 Saturday, so its back to learning the program all over again for me! I still have my G2 though.

That Bellypan is looking great Jon! I also like the idea of the hinged Belly Cal. Be sure to get some photos of it when you are done!

Sorry to hear about that Funtana, Ron.
My Funtana can sometimes suddendly drop a wing, too. Scared the heck out of me a few times.


The bellypan hinge idea sounds great too.......I might even do that, but Gary, I'm still interested in hearing a price of your "ARF" bellypan. [8D]

Ron, sorry to hear about your Funtana.

Jon, looks like your belly pan is coming along nicely. Did you use one piece stringers and notch the formers? That's what I plan on doind for my next belly pan. I think it will simplify construction and provide a little more support.

I have decided to change engines in my Edge. I think that I am going to go with the O.S. 91FX or the ST G90, mounted sideways with a pitts muffler. I am not looking for unlimited vertical or hovering (I'll save the hovering to the Katana GS profile or Funtana 90 that I will be getting this month), I just want enough vertical performance for good uplines. I should be able to lose some weight with the engine change as well and this will help the plane fly even better. I have been having a hard time trying to get it tuned. It deadsticked on me again this weekend. And although the approach was almost perfect, the landing gear came out again. This time the nylon bolts did as they were intended to ans sheered off. But this was a very easy and soft landing with no bounce. I am definitely going to switch to 1/4x20 nylon bolts now. Go ahead and say it, "We told you so..." LOL. But I am only going to install 2 - 1/4x20 nylon bolts.

Glowplug, with Mardi Gras in full swing down here, I haven't had the time to throw some numbers together. I am off work this Wed. and I will get the numbers out to everyone.

Later guys.

Gary: TOLD YOU SO!! should of went with the 1/4 x 20 bolts. haha..

Well this sunday i tried to run in my motor a final time but, ran in some problems. Got the motor running pretty good then suddenly i noticed a boat loads of air in the lines and the motor then cut out. Pulled the gas tank out, noticed the clunk line fell off in the tank and severed a nice little hole on the vent line. I guess with all the vibration on the motor caused it.

Gary,

>>Jon, looks like your belly pan is coming along nicely. Did you use one piece stringers and notch the formers? That's what I plan on doind for my next belly pan. I think it will simplify construction and provide a little more support.<<

I notched the center former and used one-piece stringers. I butted them up on the ends. I'm had trouble getting the side edges bent down enough to match up well with the sides of the fuse. I cracked the balsa sheeting and mended it with CA. The edges just aren't gong to match up too well on this attempt.

Nice day for flying here yesterday so I went to the field. I'm enjoying my UltraStick with the O.S. 61 on it. It will climb verical as long as I want.

No building tonight, as I have the mother of all colds.

jon

ez, if you get the Katana, consider the new 70 size Accel has, versus the 40 size. It is a great plane! I have flown both and I really like the stability of the 70 size plane. Just a suggestion. Ron

Ron, I considered the 70 size Katana, but due to the fairly small airspace at one of our fields I want a small plane that I can easily throw around.

I worked out a pretty good deal for a used O.S. 91FX w/ both a pitts and the stock mufflers. I am getting the whole package for $150.00. The motor has about 1 gallon of fuel through it, so it still in relatively new condition. I think that the plane will fly a little bit better with this combination. Now I have to order a new cowl.

Talk to you guys later.

That's good news for me ez2bgman . I'm planning on using the same motor and muffler setup. OS91FX-Pitts muffler.
Since my Edge isn't here yet I'll have some good info to use based from your modifications.

I told a friend and fellow modeler all about my new VF ARF coming soon. He said he didn't like the way all this extra modification and after market fabrication sounded. He said a good ARF shouldn't need all these mods if it's built right in the first place.
I told him everyone here in the VF Club thread loved theirs and said it was the best looking and built ARF they ever bought.
He just said,, "We'll see when it gets here. But I got a bad feeling about an ARF I've never heard of ,nor have any of the veteran modeler's I've asked since you told me about VF ."
I kinda just blew it off . But it did make me think a bit. (Forgive me VF Club members , I have to ask these questions.)

1. Why does the plane need all these modifications in the first place ?
2. If I'm staying up with the thread correctly,,, are there unfinished areas such as the tail section ?
3. Why aren't these things done before they ship the ARF ?
4. Plastic belly pans suck IMO. Why do you think they continue to include them in the build ?

PLEASE,,,, someone ease my mind here. Is this going to be a loooooong build for me to get the plane to a 100% level ?

Sturtz,

I think most of the mods discussed here are improvements, instead of completions. In many case the guys are hanging engines on their VFs outside the recommended range and feel the need to beef things up a bit.

On any ARF I've put together I've noticed things that I felt needed beefing up or improving, so this is not unique to VF.

I agree that the belly pan is lacking and I would pay a little more for a better solution there, but hey, it's a $160 airplane.

I bet your friend thinks Hangar 9 is OK. A flyer at our field had the entire front section of the fuse of his H9 33% Edge ($850 list) come off during normal flight with an engine w/i manufacturers specs. Maybe they could use a little "completion"

MHO,
jon

I'll ask him about H9 ARFs and see what he says.
I knew you guys would read this and jump in to comfort me in my long and lonely waiting period. It must be jealousy. Yeah,,that's what it is,,,jealousy. LOL !!!

Sturtz,

The only thing that I would change from the original design are the wheel pants. I know I made more changes than everyone else, but these are changes that I make to most of my planes. I tend to be a little rough on my planes, therefore I like to beef them up to suit my flying style. I also stuck the largest recommended motor on my plane and I wanted to be sure that she could handle it. Other than the wheel pants, and possibly the belly pan, there really hasn't been much that I really changed. I added the tail wires as VF suggested. Per Chuck's recommendation, I also added some tri-stock behind the firewall to help reinforce it for that big ***** Saito 120 I had up front.

The only mod that I highly recommend you do is the wing-fuselage nylon bolt mod that I came up with. If you need the instructions, just let me know and I can repost them for you.

I know that you will be very pleased when you get that big box from the mail man. Once you open it up, you will see, just as the rest of us have, the beautiful craftmanship that VF puts into these planes. They are by far the best that I have experienced in this class. I have had many H9 planes. And each of them required mods of some sort.

Keep us informed on the status of your plane and let us know what you think of it when it arrives. As I stated earlier the only mod that I feel is a necessity is the nylon bolt mod for the wing-fuselage gap. Good luck.

Sturtz, LOL if it will make you feel better, I have been flying my Edge for 2 years totally stock, no change whatsoever!! Druing this time I have seen countless other airplanes, some of which with a price tag twice that of my VF Edge, come apart or break a wing in flight or pop a firewall new from the box and always wondered how well my VF airplane is made. It has some unconventional aspects, but the value and quality on this airplane is exceptional, and like ez said once you see the plane you will know. That having said I have seen no ARF which could not be improved or strengthened at some point. So just relax and fly it the way it is . I personally have used the original belly pan all along with 4 screws without any problem, it just takes a few extra minutes and I like some relaxing activity at the field so it helps me calm down and only recently am fitting a hinge to it just to do something new!

Sturtz
Half my Planes that I own I built from Kits, and the other half are ARFS. Normally most of my ARFS I assemble, I think to myself that I could have done a better job building the Plane from the Kit than what was built at the Factory. The VectorFlight Edge 540 is the first ARF that I have bought that I know that I could not have done a better job than what they did at the factory. Have your buddy take a good close look on the inside and the outside of this Plane, and anyone who has ever built a kit will really appreciate how now of job VectorFlight does building these Planes. The superior Craftsmanship is obvious in how neat, and how well the Plane is put together on the inside and the outside. He might be able to make a comment that the wheel pants should be stouter, or possibly a different design on the belly pan would be better, but anyone with eyes can see that the VF edge is a well constructed, and awesome looking airplane.

It does not surprise me that your buddy has not heard of VectorFlight. They do very little advertising, and most of there Planes are sold by word of mouth. Which means one happy customer spreading the word to another Pilot about how well they like the Plane. No glitzy magazine ads, and no over rated magazine reviews. A Quality Product, at a great price, and awesome Customer Service is what sells these Planes. I have noticed that people here on RCU are always happy to voice a negative opinion about a product that they believe is bad. Not many on here hold back their opinions,good or bad, which is good. Do a forum search using the keyword "Vmar". You will see what I mean by people not holding back! Hundreds on here would be happy to tell you what they think of Vmar, and it is mostly not good! Now do a search using the keyword "VectorFlight". It is a totally different atmosphere in these post due to the much happier people who actually got a great product at a low price, and not junk that is not even worthy to sell at any price.

So I basically just want to put your mind at ease to let you know that I would be more than happy to imform anyone if I though the VectorFlight was no good, but this is not the case, and I am happy to share my great experience with VectorFlight with others so they to can enjoy a 1st class Airplane at a 3rd Class cost!

Well My new fuse arrived today and i must say it is STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW!!! yeah.

Pat, that is GREAT news. Now you can finishing building this awesome plane. I am now awaiting my O.S. 91FX that will take the spot of the Saito 120. I am going to reserve the Saito 120 for the Funtana 90 that I plan purchasing in the near future.

Until I get my engine, I am going to be trying my hand at designing and building a SPAD. I picked up all the supplies I needed today. I spent less than $100 and I have enough materials to make four .40 size spads. My mind is buzzing with the possibilities that I will have. Once I become proficient at SPAD building, I plan on doing a profile EDGE 540 modeled after my VF Edge (hehe).

Keep us posted on the build and let us know if there is anything that we can do to help you out.

Later

Thanks guys,,,, I do feel better now. I have had to do something to every new ARF or kit I've ever built as well. So hearing your advice in advance should make this the easiest build yet.
You want to know what I've been doing while I wait ? I've been converting anything I can get my hands on around here except my larger scale planes. I took a nitro P-38 and converted it to elec. I still wasn't feeling any better so I took an elec and converted it to nitro. And I got to tell you,,, this little Carl Goldberg Shock 3/D elec was going on the garage hall of shame with all the other GWS crap and a few trainers that survived the learning process. I tried 3 differant types of brushless motors, props,, weight, less weight,, etc , etc. And it still flew like a horse biscuit. So Sunday night as I was driving in from another city I got the idea to stick an OS.15-LA on it . This evening it got nice enough to maiden it . Wow !!! What a great little plane. It would do anything I wanted and probably more in the right hands.
Well,,,, I got to do something while I wait on my VF Edge. Right ?
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/Carl_Goldberg_Shock3%2FD_conversion/m_2629454/tm.htm]CG Shock 3/D conversion[/link]

Kurt
(A proud VF-Club Member.)

YIIIIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to hear that VF helped you get back on track!

Just refreshed the page........ COOL BEANS !!!! GOT THE NEW FUSE DID YA ? Won't be long now and you'll be posting your maiden video.

OH NO! Where was this post before saturday? I just bought a CG Shock 3/D Saturday! Still assembling it, along with building my new Cap 232. Maybe I will have to put a small nitro on it like you did if it flys that bad with the Electric Motor. Sounds like we have lots in common! I have a garage full of GWS Planes, and retired Trainers to. I have the GWS Pico Moth, GWS Tiger Moth 400, and the GWS PT-17 350. I just sold my Sig LIL Rascal EP which I didn't think flew as well as I thought it would. Thanks for bumming me out about the Shock 3D! I was really expecting it to be great! LOL

I built Mark Rittengers 42ws P-51 with his recomended setup. It flew ok. I converted it to a OS 15max and man what a differance

Oops,,, sorry.[:-] I tried two geared brushless and a external rotored PJS1000. 3S 1550mah,, Jeti30-3P ESC. The nitro rocks though.
Would you feel better if I told you I'd sell you a new OS.15 cheap ? LOL !!! Heck,, try it elec. If you hate it PM me if you need a 15.
What a rocket.

Sounds like everyone is at a waiting stage now..
My edge is in the corner waiting for some decient weather and my own personal time. This last week ive been cramming for mid-terms. Yeah im still doing the college thing. Accounting is really confusing.
From the last time i started the plane i had some pretty serious tank / fuel issues so the guts of the plane has been ripped out trying to find a better route to route fuel lines. I also replaced the brass tubing in the plane with the plastic tubing. Ended up that with the vibration of the saito frayed the fuel lines on the tank. Ive never had luck with the brass tubing in fuel tanks. I was thinking the other night to plug the holes that were predrilled for the fuel lines and make one bigger hole in the center so it would make it lot eaiser to pull the tank in and out. So I wouldn't have to try to fish the fuel tubing through the small holes in the firewall. I may wait and just get this plane in the air.

Gary: With the wheel pants i was looking through tower for some replacements. [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJ917&P=7]Is this the part[/link] that you used on your plane?

Nathan,

I can't remember the exact part number for my wheel pants. I will let you know which ones they are when I get home and check out the packaging. I could also just call the LHS and get the part number for them. Either way, I will post it for you later as I am at work right now.

Later

OK guys, I just started assembly and I have a question already! In the manual, where it tells you to join one side of the front and rear wing joiners to the center joiner, it mentions to use 1/4" dowels for alignment and epoxy them in. Are the 1/4" dowels included? I didn't see them in my box anywhere.