Vector Flight is A+++++++++++++ [8D]

Hello VF fans. I can't blame the weather on not posting lately,,,, just busy building computers .
My elec prop adaptor idea didn't work out too well. At first it did. But on the 3rd time removing the wings the threaded shaft spun the epoxy and I couldn't get the nut undone. Billy,, a friend ,,,stopped by and basically drilled a hole through it and with brute muscle snapped it in half for me so I could remove the wing half. Back to the drawing board.
I tapped some 1/4" nylon bolts with adjustment nuts into the wings and all is well now. Gotta experiment you know. Sometimes it works and sometimes it fails.
Anyway,,, my Edge is complete except for an engine. I can't force myself to rob Peter to fly Paul. (OS91-FX in GiantScaleModels Spitfire) So I'm going with a Saito-100.
My VF came with all the latest modifications like the taller landing gear and the new idea for mounting the belly pan. Seems to work fine . We'll see once I'm wide open headed into the wind. LOL ,, My buddies love to run out and catch falling parts from my make-shift airplanes. hehehe

I went with the Sullivan tail bracing. I used the Kevlar and painted the wires with black Monokote brand paint. The tailwheel kit is made by Kleet. I used axles instead of the supplied bolts. And although I haven't installed them yet... (never do until after maiden flight) ,,,, the wheel pants are from a .46 U-Can-Do. I had a couple of pair laying around. They are a perfect match in size and color.
Using a Du-Bro 14oz fuel tank with the protruding lower front to protect the fuel tubing from pinching.
Used extra large CA hinges installed the long way to cover more gap area. Besides there is only a half inch of wood along the trailing edge of the main wing to glue into anyway. I can pick my Edge up by the control surfaces and shake it as hard as I want without slippage. The pic of the tail section shows how wide these CA hinges are .
The RX is a Futaba 8-channel PCM1024 with a 1800mah Nimh pack. My TX is a Futaba T7CAP.
I used Hitech HS425BB servos for the ailerons. A Futaba digital servo for the elevator. And a Hitech Hi-torque digital for the rudder.
The throttle servo is a HiTech HS81 .

Last but not least I stole RCFury's bottom wing decal idea. Well,,,, at least I changed the wording a little. Right Fury ? lol
Can't wait to fly this bird.

Well....I hope all of you are happy....

I badgered the wife enough.....Ummm..I mean discussed this topic with her....

Until she finally said.....Just ORder it...

So... I did!!!

Keep the great posts coming as I will be building mine in the next few weeks...

Now....
Magnum .91, Saito 100, or Magnum 1.20....
what to do.....what to do??!?!?!?!

Kurt,

That looks great!! When's the maiden? You will love flying this plane.

I like that tail-wheel, think I'll get one of those for my next plane of this type.

I'm thinking I'll get another VF Edge or Extra, but right now I'm building my first kit plane, a Burrito profile. It may be the only kit I ever build, but it's informative to see how stuff is made. Will be helpful after the next major doink of one of my ARFs.

jon

exeter,

We are tickled that you have ordered a VF Edge. Keep this thread going, OK.

Your wife made a wise decision if keeping you happy is on her list of priorities. You will enjoy the VF Edge.

Our spring fly-in is coming up on the 19th and I can't wait to put mine out on the flight-line.

jon

WTG !!!! Is that all you had to do ? Just discuss the topic ? LOL

Watching all the others report thier builds I came to the conclusion that the Saito-100 would be the best for me.
The Saito-120 is strong but heavy. The 2-strokes like the OS91FX I almost used is plenty strong but revs too much for close in and tight acroflying. The 100 will hover this plane if it's setup correctly. Maybe it won't go vertical till out of vision in 40 seconds. But it will balance easily and do everything I want to do.
Still,,, it would be cool to see one of the other guys do a low high speed pass at full throttle with the 120. You guys must get a tingle everytime you flyby at 100mph+.

Sturtz: Your plane is looking good. I could tell you the large lettering on the bottom of the plane has really cought on. The only way to look cool and still stand out enough to keep orientation. My plane has been done for a while now. Weather and work is really keeping me from getting this bird up in the air. I also have been keeping busy with building computers. Just cant stay away!!!!

I had my eye on this sunday to maiden my bird but, just when i turn on the TV the weather guy says theres gonna be a chance of snow, If not rain. ARGH!!! IM going at least try to run the motor one more time before i really start leaning the Saito out.

Jon and Sturtz, those planes are looking very sharp! Happy flyin!!

Mine (2) of them should be showing up in a week or so. I ordered up a Magnum 91 FS from tower. $125 with discount. Can't beat that. But I am looking around for a good deal on a Saito 100. Also have the Sullivan tail wheel as they are the best I have found, Dubro sintered clunk to filter and help prevent bubble problem, enough stuff to brace the tail, Sullivan wheel pants mounts, some checker board finishing for the bottom of the wing.
Servos I haven't decided on yet. thinking maybe Hitec 635's. Wouldn't 425's handle the ailerons? I have used standards (Futaba 3003) on applications that take a butt load of abuse and they are still going.

Yea!!! I get to join the club too!!

My 540 is ordered..will put a Saito 100 in it... and that is final (I think I have 3 or 4 threads out there trying to figure that one out!)

Was thinking about the 1.20 but after reading MANY posts I think it is just a bit too much wing loading.......

Now...on to servos.. I have read EVERY post in this thread up to about page 7.... Great info guys...it will help those of us jumping on the bandwagon a bit late out greatly!!!

Thankyou!

Oh yes,.... servos.. I have really wanted to try out digitals, and I think this is the perfect plane to do that with...

I am thinking about a Hitec 5645 for the rudder and Hitec 5475's for all the other surfaces with a standard high speed for the throttle....

Yes I know that this is a bit of overkill in torque, but I was curious what others think about these servo choices for the VF Edge?

Cheers and I can't WAIT to get mine too!!!

EXTER: Wow, you really did go big in the electroincs dept there. Those servos will be plenty for this plane. Now im speaking as everyone said since im still waiting for the snow to melt and the ground to dry up. I personally like having the extra torque on the elevator and rudder on my planes as i tend to really whip these planes around. Not needing anything real big i decided on the futaba 3010's.
Since there is very little throw needed for the elevator i connected the pushrod on the inner most hole on the servo arm for the extra torque, and put the rudder on the middle hole. Granted it did slow up the response a little but, after hooking it up to 6V it was back to normal You could do the same but, having the extra speed on your servos could help out a little.

Just thought I'd post some pics of where I'm at now on the Edge build.
Thanks to many who have posted on this thread . It really helps having all the pics and certain text saved to my computer for reference material. For instance the throttle servo placement. Or the wing halves bolts.
I got the engine, fuel filler and remote glow starter mounted yesterday. I also screwed up and put the fuel dot on the bottom and the remote on the top. I'll have a bit of overflow from the tube when fueling now,,, but I can live with it.
My good friend Billy came over last night and did the cowl for me. He did a good job . I trust his skill with a dremel better than mine. LOL. I tend to get holes bigger than they need to be sometimes. (VISIT GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK)
I am picking up a muffler elbow connector today so I don't have to put a big hole in the side of the cowl. After that it's just a few little decals,,, a bigger spinner,,,,,CG'ing to find rx and battery placement and run the rx antenna tube.

Looking good....mine is supposed to come in by the end of the month!

Keep up the GREAT information folks!

Kurt,

Looks good! I noticed that your landing gear struts are straight, whereas mine are curved. Are they the stock gear?

Yes,,, they are stock gear. VF reshaped the gear to accept larger props and add more support.

Note from VectorFlight:

"Thanks to recent customer feedback there have been some modifications including a new way to install the belly pan. And the LG struts are now straight and taller which allow using a larger dia prop up to 16 inches."

Best regards,

C/S
VF

Sturtz, I like the way you braced your fuel tank....very clever! [8D] I just used a piece of balsa to keep mine in there.

It looks like I'm going to maiden mine tomorrow......wish me luck! [8D]

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR MAIDEN FLIGHT GlowPlug !! Don't forget to take the camera.[:-]

Hey

How are you guys doing. Has anybody used a saito 91 in this edge or is it too small. Im debating between the

1. Vector Flight 58" extra 300
2. Pacific edge 540 40 size

Which plane (300 or 540) do you think would do good 3d or imac for this motor. Im just looking for a good all around aerobatic plane pretty much. I have a saito 91 that i was planning on using in the Matt Chapman Cap 580 until i found out that plane wont do 3d because it is too heavy. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks Scott

baddley,

The VF planes are all excellant quality and hard to beat for the price, but unfortunately none of them will excell at 3D. They are a bit too heavy for that. On the other hand, these planes would be great for IMAC style aerobatics. I have the 66" Edge 540 and it flies like it is on rails. It can easily handle the most demanding IMAC type trick out there. As for the Saito 91, I think it would be right at home in the 58" Extra. I had a Saito 120 in my Edge, but it was a bit too much motor for my taste. It added too much weight. Good luck with your decision.

Hey guys, sorry it has been a looooooooooong time since I last posted. I can see that everyone has made some huge progress. I think I am partly to blame for the redesigned landing gear. After I straightened mine out, I shot Chuck at VF an e-mail with some pics of it. The straighter gear are more inline with a full size Edge and provide alotmore ground clearance. I went from 1.5" of ground clearance to over 4" after I straightened mine out. Due to work (and lots of it), I still haven't had a chance to take the plane up with the O.S. 91FX. Next weekend, Easter weekend, will be my first weekend off in almost 2 months. I will try to take her up some time next weekend. It may be a little tough with Easter on Sunday, our normal flying day.

I got another new toy that has also helped occupy some of my time. I finally bit the big bullet and bought a Raptor 50v2 helicopter. Although I have only hovered it in my backyard a few times, it is loads of fun. I am not giving up on planes, so don't worry my ideas will still be coming.

I'll keep you guys updated on the status of the Edge and rest assured that I will provide a detailed flight report of it with the O.S. 91FX.

Later

Hey,

How are you guys doing. Thanks for the info i will probably go with the 58" i have just not heard too much about vector. My local hobby shop has never heard of them but anyways. Did anybody ever find a carbon fiber landing gear for the vf extra 300. I would like to put one in especially with the added weight of the saito 91.

Thanks Scott

Gary,

Glad you are keepin 'em straight down there on the bayou - but a man needs time to fly also.

I haven't had any trouble with my VF Extra landing gear - except when I ripped them off. I sheared off 4, 1/4" nylon bolts on 2 occasions. First time I landed too hot and hit the high grass at the end of the runway and the 2nd time I tried to land too slow and tip stalled it down from about 2 feet AGS.

I love flying my Edge, but I've learned to take the landings very seriously and try to smooze her in with a little gas.

The Great Planes wheel pants are working out great.

EZ, thats a long time away from flying! Dont work too hard! Its good to have you back here!

Baddley,I second the Saito 91 in the 58, should be a perfect combo.[8D]

The used Saito-100 I bought from a guy in Texas started the second I touched the starter to the spinner. Lucky me.
Had to go back in and adjust the throttle rod guide a bit but it's smooth now.
Strapped the RX to the main belly former and put the wings on. I CG'd it at 4-3/8 inch with a GreatPlanes CG machine.
With the battery in the rear fuse opening it cg'd perfect. It will be heaviest at the nose with fuel added. Just right for cutting through the Okla wind.
All that's left is to figure out how to secure the battery. Install the switch/charge jack. Do a final lining up of the control surfaces and recheck the throws. And last but not least ,, a good solid range check. Oh yea,,, put the rest of the decals on and do an after-build cleaning .
I will have to cg it again when I install the wheel pants. But I like to maiden a plane without them on just in case of a grass landing during deadstick, etc. Another reason I often leave them off is because I fly at a few fields out of town that are ,,,let's say,,, anything but smooth grass runways. Let's even go as far as saying ,,,, gopher holes and small cedar trees. But my main field is very nice , with a paved runway 255ft x 27ft lined up at a perfect 360 to 180 degrees. A nice large apron and plenty of room in the pits. It also features a shallow lake within walking distance that's perfect for float planes.
The photo of our field was taken by satelite. The ground shot is looking across the apron to the pits. That's my GSP Spitfire in the shot.
More to come as I near maiden flight time.

BLUE SKIES !!!

Curious if anyone has tried to recover their VF Edge....

I don't have mine yet, so I don't know about the covering, but curious if anyone has??

I doubt I would , but it might be an option down the road.........

I wouldn't want to do it. The fuse maybe,,, but the foam core wings would be a real bear. Besides the factory covering really makes this plane stronger than anything else I've used.

Well,,, it's finished. got the battery, decals and canopy installed the way I wanted and took some photos.
It's on charge now waiting it's maiden flight. Been a long build compared to some other ARFs I've had. But it was all worth it .
Learned several new tricks building this one. And I think it advanced me in my modeling and my think for yourself outlook on ARFs and kits.