No there not included for some reason.

yeah the same little problem i ran into also when building. Couldn't find the dowel anywhere. Forturnatly i did have some 1/4 dowel stock in my workshop so i used that.

Cool, thanks guys....I have some here too.

glowplug,

Be sure that the dowels are the proper length and don't protrude from the joiner - else you'll be sanding them off later when you stick the joiners through the side of the fuse. Probably obvious to everyone else but me.

Guys,

Tonight I worked on installing the tail brace wire kit (Sullivan Flying Wire/Tail Brace Wire kit, No. S546). I used the stainless steel cable AOT to the Kevlar. In typical male fashion, after I was through I read the instructions carefully. Before starting I just looked at the pictures.

There, the very last paragraph of the instructions reads:

"These wires can be used on any part of the model. It is often good practice to "break" a closed loop with something nonconductive to avoid an antenna effect."

I assume that has something to do with the dreaded "RF Interference".

My tail brace set-up currently forms a four sided loop that is all metallic, just like the picture on the front of the instruction booklet, except I only put clevises on the wires under the tail.

Should I put nylon clevises on this set-up?

Thats exactly what they are saying. I used the same exact method with the flying wires. But, on the bottom i screwed the connectors on opposite sides of the fuse, instead at one point on the bottom of the fuse. Hoping that will help open the closed loop. Granted i havn't flown my plane yet, but during the
'running in" of the Saito I at the same time did a very long range check with the antenna collapsed and found no problems yet.
Using the nylon clevises I dont know. The flying wires are going to be subjected to a lot of stress and I would think the nylon clevises may strip out eventually at the threads. Could anybody else confirm this?

Sorry for the bad picture I didn't want to pull out the good camera etc. so i used my cell phone camera.

Good morning. Just doing my small part to keep our thread bumped up on page one. I don't want anything to happen to it.

Careful when running your Futaba radio with the antenna down. It's said that at least one section should be extended or there is a chance of burning out the RF module. I know, I know,.,, "How can I do mt range check then ?" Just passing the info on to you guys.
I didn't come up with the technical data .

Sturtz: Well yes that is true to an extent. All radios suffer from that too not just futaba. If you leave the antenna down when powered up for extended periods of time, hense trying to discharge the battery, yes you could cause damage. And probally shift the tune a little on the TX. When doing range checks your TX is probally on for maybe a couple of minutes at the most. I turn the TX on with the antenna down, then walk out till i notice glitching. Then i turn off the TX. That maybe takes 2 minutes.

Well, had to go out of town for work all last week so I have been absent from the thread for awhile. I did my maiden this afternoon and I must say this plane flies great. Very stable on all planes, up, down, inverted, etc. It lands fast, but it is so stable on the approach it is not bad at all. I flew it twice but did not put her through too much. Tomorrow I will give her h***. I will give a more detailed flight report soon with some pics, but I have to go out tonight so I do not have time right now. Also. is the offer for the belly pan still up. If so, I will buy one. Just let me know where I should send the money. Thanks. Ron[8D]

Nathan,

I put one horizontal bolt through the fuse on the bottom so my wires are one loop - but a very strong set-up.

I wonder how RFI manifests itself. Does a problem suddenly appear when everything was previously fine? Or will a problem be identified during range check or ground check?

Is it common? Anyone here actually exprerienced verifiable RFI.

I've read where people would get all crazy about using a metal clevis on the carb - Metal to metal! Will cause RFI! People will die! But people at my club say they do it all the time and have never had a problem.

I hope to maiden my VF Extra tomorrow. Although I have quite a few little things to do, it's just mostly attachment. Hopefully I'll get all that done tonight and work on balance and radio set-up in the morning. And pictures, got to take some pics before that first flight.

jon

Thanks for the radio info RcFury. Makes good sense.

Rcjon,,,, I have built several planes with connected wiring all over the place and never had a single hit.
I have an Ultimate Bipe with flying wires on the tail and wings. Never had a problem. But I have seen one or two guys at the field freak out when they saw wires on anything.
One of my buddies has a 1/4 scale Neuport 28 with fabric skin , wooden struts and yes,,,,flying wires. The plane took months to build and I don't think he would risk anything happening to it period. He won't even take it out unless it's a special event day and the weather is perfect.
On the otherhand,,,, we all look for an excuse when we get shot down by radio glitching. I'm sure someone here will speak up and read from the holy RC bible what the facts are. But in my opinion it's like smoking and drinking. Some people die of cancer and liver ailments while others that smoke and drink more than anyone live to be old folks. Ya just never know. But why take a chance.

Jon: Well i cant really tell you why it happens, my father could definatly tell you why since he is very knowledgable in Radio Communications. But, what i can tell you that all the metal in a loop like acts like an antenna and "could" pick up outside interferences which the reciever could pick up hense glitching. Like everyone in RCU seems to live by is metal to metal vibration which also could make "external noise" which the RX antenna could pick up.
If anything is going to happen you should notice it by a simple range check with the motor running.

Ill call my father up later tonight and see if i could get a REAL answer.

Ron: Thats great that you a sucessful maiden flight. I need to get my plane up in the air but, everything is going wrong. As in the other day i was going to put another tank through the motor but, my tank developed a pretty bad leak. So after fixing that (when i had the time) thought i would get it done this morning. That didn't happen since it was just way to windy. On top of it we are expecting another snow storm in the next couple of days. Anyway what prop are you using on your Saito? Your fast landings is probally becasue of the prop. For what i know the plane could slow up to a crawl.

Nathan, stick with it, you will get your Edge up when the time is right. At least that is the way I look at it. I had hoped to maiden my Edge well before today, but things just did not work out, weather, schedule and the like. If I would have pushed to do it sooner, something bad was bound to occur. You are right about the prop. I am using a 14x8 APC I believe. It is one of the props recommended for sport use in the Saito manual. The higher pitch makes it tough to slow down. It tends to be windy here in the winter and spring so I like the idea of having a bit more thrust at idle speed so I do not have to worry about stalling if a gust happens to come up as I am landing. I rather deal with a little extra speed. I may change though. Hard to tell after only two flights. Ron

rcjon, good luck with your maiden flight tomorrow!

To help it out a little.. I talked to a local expert of Radio communications, my father, about this issue. Yes it is true that having a closed metal loop, flying wires is going to create an attenna effect but, since RC is opperates at 72 mhz it wont be even close of causing interferences. If our RC was opperating at around 1000 mhz you could probally see some effect but, with a low power emmiter (TX) wont be enough to cause a differance. But, of course its better to be safe than sorry. He gave me like an hours worth of mathmatics and history to prove the point but, im not about to try to explain that.

Also i asked him about the metal to metal vibrations, ie metal clevis with the metal carb arm. RF interference is going to emmitted but, not enough power to cause a differance.

That is a very good point you do carry. Granted having all this metal wires everywhere on a plane "could" cause interference but, its something that gives people an excuse to blame something for a horrific accident. With today now everything is operating via Radio broadcasts anything could happen, so if you flying something very personal to yourself why not and be safe than sorry.

Nathan,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like my set-up is not certain disaster, but possible remote chance of disaster. I'm not changing my setup unless I see some glitching or other indication of a problem during range check.

Re: the oft stated cliche "Better safe than sorry." Too much of our time and money these days is spent on this premise. I might be hit on the head with a meteorite if I go outside, so I'll stay in the house. Better safe than sorry. One in a million automobile drivers is killed from a direct side impact, so I'll spend thousands of dollars on air-bags. Better safe than sorry.

Personally, I like living on the Edge.

jon

Metal wire question.
I just got off the phone with long time RC expert Ken Kehlet. (Does reviews for RC Modeler magazine among others.)
He said.......
"Yes and no. For instance if the metal throttle pushrod is touching the engine or making contact by rubbing against it. (Test this for yourself next time at the field by extending antenna and touching it to your engine while it's running. You will probably notice the servos glitching.) JR vs Futaba has been discussed on this matter as well. JR uses a single conversion system while Futaba uses the duel conv. The JR radios have had more reports of wire tapping than the Futaba's. " ( Basically it all depends on how your radio talks to your receiver.)

Another test is to have a friend you can depend on to really pay attention connect with you via cell phone or walkie talkies while your plane is running in the tail stand. One or the other starts walking away with the radio moving the surfaces as you would during normal flying. (Try to be easy with the throttle gimble but do go through all the levels of throttle throughout the test.)
Next pick up the plane and hold it at least 5 feet off the ground moving it in all directions just like you were flying.
Constant contact with your buddy should keep you from dealing with a full throttle situation I would hope....lol
Let the distance be as possibly far away as you can. Most RX are good up to 1 1/2 mile. So a few hundred yards shouldn't matter.
If it's going to glitch it will do it sometime during the test.

ok... yeah that does make perfectly good sense. Basicly stating again that do a good range check before you do anything....

This subject here is beginning to turn the other direction from this thread, dont want this thread to become hijacked so lets try to stay on the subject of the very awsome plane the VF Edge 540.

Sticking to the subject, what is the best way to try to get the ailerons centered on the T.E. I eyeballed it by looking down the TE edge of the wing and tryed matching them up that way. Doing it that caused up aileron being higher then the down aileron. Or in easier words, aileron reflex?

Great info on the radio glitching issue guys. I strongly believe that radio interference caused my trainer to nose in at full throttle last summer. But I cannot put the blame on anyone since I was flying in a very large open field less 1/4 mile from the interstate. I used the kevlar wire when I setup my flying wires on the tail. Not because of any particular reason.

Ron, you should switch to a 15x6 APC prop. It will really help slow your plane, yet provide the additional thrust that you desire for those "oh *****" situations. With the 16x6 APX on my Saito, my Edge would slow to almost a crawl. It lands a lot slower than my H9 Aresti 40.

My O.S. 91FX should be in by the middle of next week. I already have everything I need to get her airborn again, except the engine and a few props. I had to get another engine mount since mine broke on my last flight after it deadsticked on me and nosed in on the hot landing. I also have another cowl on order with VF. I plan on really taking my time on this cowl. It will be a much cleaner install since I will be using a pitts muffler.

I will keep everyone updated on the status of my plane. I have been busy building me a profile SPAD Edge 540 to play around with. I may even model it after my VF Edge 540. The sign distributor where I got the Coroplast from also sells vinyl almost exactly like the stuff our plane is covered with. The best part, it is less than $2.00 for a 36"x30" piece. I am definitely going to get me some more in various colors. Not that I really need more, but you never know when it will come in handy.

Gotta hit the sack. Have to be up at 5:00 am for work. Later guys.

Well FINALLY got ur done. Thought i would post a pic or 4.

WOW BANK !!!!!!
Man,,, I can only hope mine looks that good when finished. WELL DONE DUDE !!!!!!!!

(We are working almost non stop to ship out orders and to eliminate the backlog, however at this time the backlog still stands at just about 4 weeks due to a high order volume. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Your order should be shipping out by the middle of February. Vector Flight.)

Hey guys,,,?? Is it around the middle of Feb yet ??? LOL !!!!!!!

P.S. I got all my extras waiting now. I have the Kleet tailwheel kit. Is that a Kleet ,,,,?Bank?

Thanks Sturtz[8D] The tail wheel is a CBA/TATONE for 0-9 pound plane

BankYank,

Great job on the Edge. Make sure you post a flight report when you get a chance to take her up on her maiden flight.

Later.

Guys,

Well mine doesn't look nearly as good as Bank's, but here are some pics of mine. I said scr*w the wheel pants and the decals, I got to get to the field!

This morning I'm was scrambling to finish up the VF Edge. It was going to be nice here today and I couldn't stand to sit here all week with my plane essentially completed and unflown. Last glitch was when I checked CG, she was pretty tail-heavy. I slapped four oz onto the landing gear because I didn't want to pull the cowl and all that. I'll make some more permanent adjustments this week.

I got to the field at about 2PM and it being a nice Sunday afternoon, it was busy with all the usual suspects there. When I began unloading the VF, the curious began to gather and make comments and ask questions as I put her together. And ask, "Who makes it?" Lot's of positive remarks and some good suggestions as I put the plane together.

I was a bit nervous already and it's distracting to be getting so much attention but after some fumbling around and false starts due to my haste this AM (loose prop, loose muffler). Range check was great and I got the Saito running and taxied out. I lined up on the runway and slowly advanced the throttle and she took off just fine. I made a climbing left turn, straightened out on the downwind. I gave two clicks of up trim and she was on a string. I made a couple of circuits and hit the right stick for a roll. Dead on! One of the fellows came out to the station to ask how she flew. I put the plane in about a 45 degree bank and dropped my hands to my side. We watched as the plane made almost a 180 degree turn with out losing altitude or attitude.

This is my first scale aerobatic plane, I know Edge's are notorious for tracking straight, but I couldn't believe the experience of flying this plane. It made even me look good.

In loops it was falling out to one side and later a keen eyed observer noted that my elevators were not quite matched up, so I had to adjust one of the clevises.

First landing took several attempts because I had the Saito idle set too high and I kept having to slow click the idle down and I'm still a bit tail heavy, but finally I greased her in just fine.

I made two more flights and just had a ball. Four point rolls, and slow rolls were so easy. It IMHO, the Saito 100 has plenty of power for this plane. I had a 14x8 MS wood prop on her today, but I'm going to try a 16x5 or something next time out. I also had too much throw in the elevator it would snap out on full up.

Anyway, great day and a great plane. I think VF probably sold two or three more airplanes at our field today.

jon

OK JON, you can brag now. Yea it's me Don. Guys I watched Jon make the first flight today and it was pretty darned impressive, especially with both hands looking like someone with Palsey. The wind was gusting pretty hard, but OLD Jon went for it, after a few dozen nudges from everyone in the club, but give him credit, he went for it and the E540 flew great. After about 10 approaches, he got it to mother earth in one piece. I got to get me one.
Congrats Jon

Don,

Welcome to the Vectorflight Edge 540 build thread.

If you've read through this thread, you'll see that the VF owners are pretty high on the planes. Have you been to Vectorflight website www.vectorflight.com?


(Guys, Don helped me make my first R/C flight and is a good one to have looking over your shoulder to see what you are about to screw up.)