Manny,,, I too am planning a VF Extra300 66" build as soon as I can . Will use a Saito-100 as the power plant unless I hear something else from others that may change my mind.

I ran the throttle push rod on the outside of the fuel area bulk head. There is plenty of room with a 14oz tank. (Will go take a pic here in a minute and post it for ya.)

I used a single digital servo for the elevator halves. Connected them with the two wheel collars. I haven't really found the need for more torque so far. If you do go with the duel elev servos you'll need one of these....[link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByCategory/Product/Default.aspx?ProdID=EXRA325]Reversing Y-Harness[/link] .
I own the 7-CAP too and it's a real bummer when you go to program your first plane and discover there is no delta mix. Only a flaperon mix for ailerons. Got to go with the 9-CAP to get free elev mixing I guess. I bought the PCM version 7-cap. For the price it's great. But why didn't they include the elev mix ?[:@]
Glad to hear it's close to being finished. Can't wait for pics and the post maiden report.

P.S. Don't have a pic of this,, but while your still building on the Edge make sure you install four wooden back plates for your cowling screws. I just cut 4 little 1"x1" inch squares from some 1/8" thick firewall board and epoxied them inside the cowling where I knew the screws would be installed.

Here's those pics I promised. Just happened to have the Edge on the work bench today . Filling in a tad of gap in the fuse where the wing joiners slide in . And replacing one of those cowling screw plates.

I just bought a new cowl for the edge and i TOTALLY messed it up. Started marking the holes and when it was time to cut Way out of wack. Cleaned it up a little and for the life of me couldn't get the cowl back far enough. So what i did was hack some more. Which wasn't a good idea. Now my cracked, dingy cowl looks actually better. Nope I wasn't designed to fit cowls onto planes. May just mount my Saito inverted so it will be eaiser to fit a new cowl. Which means have to re route my throttle servo and push rod. MMMMMM

Sturtz:

I am getting ready to cut my cowl. How did you get the cowl over the Pitts muffler? Did you soak the cowl in warm water? My power plant is an OS .91. Let me know your inputs. This is my first cowl I have to cut. I have some clear plastic I was going to use to outline the engine and the muffler and use it as template to cut the cowl.

Dual Elevators: What is the difference between a reversing y-harness and a regular y-harness? I am not so worried about the torque, but what if the two wheel collars fail. I am using a regular y-harness in my tiger 2 for the elevators since the dowel rod that connects the two elevators halves got fuel soaked. Bummer!!![:@]

The PCM version - is this just an upgrade version of the receiver? Great radio except for the dual elevators issue[:@]

Thanks

Manny.,,, when I first built my Edge I used a Saito-100. I ordered a new cowling and wingset and thought I'd try the .91FX this time.
I was amazed that the .91 slipped right in the motor mount and bolted up without any trouble. (Both mounted sideways.)
I put the Pitts muffler on the engine and without the needle valve the cowling slipped right on after cutting two exit holes on the bottom of the cowl. Was the easiest cowl job I ever did. No soaking in warm water. But I did use a piece of fiberglass cloth and 30-min epoxy where the cowl is taped together at the bottom. Then I probably ended up removing about 1"inch of rear cowling so it would slide right up to the landing gear. (YES,,, always make a template before cutting on the cowls.)

A reversing y-harness has a simple electronic pot with an adjustment that allows you to fine tune your elevator halves for even movement. Using two servos on two seperate halves of the elev without the ability to mix these with certain radios,,,, the reversing Y-harness is a MUST. A standard y-harness simply ties two servos together without the ability to adjust or fine tune the travel.

The two wheel collars and some CA or solder will not slip if you go with a single elev servo. And adjustments can be made from the clevises and horns.

Futaba makes three or four variations of thier computer radios. The PCM 7-CAP comes with a PCM rx and digital servos. Around $300.00 instead of $239.99 for the FM TX w/standard servos. Still,,,,no seperate elev mixing.[:@]

From reading different manuals online for transmitters it seems the only 6-7 channel computer radio that handles dual elevator mixing is the JR. I looked at airtronics, hitec and futaba radio manuals. After going through a couple of things with my 6EXA that it would not do I went with the 9C just because I never wanted to be in a situation like that again.

Manny, I don't know if it will make a difference but I think you have a futaba 3004 standard servo on the elevator right now (unless you've upgraded). It might be a good idea to go with something that has more than 40 oz of torque since it will be working both elevator halves on its own.

Oh yeah,,, almost forgot. I shorted the pipes on my Slimline Pitts muffler where they just come out of the cowl about 1/2". This was done prior to the Edge on another plane but it worked. It does three things. One , it just looks better and more scale. Two if you ever have a hard landing and shed your gear,, you won't rip your muffler out of the engine or bend the pipes because they stick out the bottom two inches. And three,,, you can remove your cowling anytime you like without cutting it all up on the bottom.

I was gonna ask, how the heck did you get the cowl over the pitts muffler even with the needle valve removed. I know mine sticks out a good 2-3 inches! Your shortened stacks answer that question

You could also cut a slot out in the bottom of the cowl that allows the two stacks plenty of room. Then just slip the stacks through the slot first and pull forward to get it over your prop shaft.

Watch the real Edge-540 in action this Saturday the 8th on the webcast here.
[link=http://www.redbullairrace.com/]RedBull Air Racing[/link]
Check local times for airing.

It is actually 44 oz of torgue with 4.8 v and I am going to use 6.0 v @ 57 oz of torgue. I think I will have plenty of torgue for now per VF. They required standard servo per their website. I am going to use two servos for each elevator halve.

Sturtz:

If I reverse the elevator servos, do you think I need the reversing y-harness? That is what I did in my Tiger II.

Oh yeah i got my computer to download it when it airs. Im not missing this for the life of me.. I saw it in person last year and gosh what a blast.

I got a quick question. Whats the easiest way to check the Lateral balance with this plane? Ive tried a couple of ways by proping the tail on a sharp object but, not sure if its correct. Also the instructions say that to cut a piece of covering off the end of the wing to put in some weight, but where? drill a small hole at the way end, through the wood and into the foam?

Just tie a 2 or 3 foot strong cord or some 25 to 50lb test fishing line to the tailwheel and then to a wall hook,, piece of furniture,,a friend or wife,,anything that will hold it up. "Don't use your dog."
Tie another 2 or 3 foot line around your spinner and lift the plane level and then inverted. If it's not super off balance then leave it alone.
Forgot which engine setup your using Nathan ?? If it's mounted 90.degrees then your naturally going to have a heavier right wing than a left. But at the same time the weight of that right wing serves to counter-effect the torque of the engine.
If you must add weight to this plane or change the location of componants to get a lateral balance try moving the battery, RX, etc to the opposite side of the fuse. Adding weight to the wing tip is not a good idea for advanced aerobatic plane IMO. Maybe on a trainer or something that has less roll rate and more wood to attach weight to. Thats just vinyl covered foam on that VF wing tip.

(Just my opinion here.)

Ill give it a try. Nobody is here to assist me at the present moment. ill propally just hang it off the door knob. currently im using a saito 100 right now, mounted 90 degrees and there is a lateral balance issue. Its always dropping to the right wing on a loop.
VF read my post when i messed up my cowl and there sending me another one for free, i just pay for shipping. Ive also decided to rework the firewall and place the motor inverted. Gonna try my new gator soft mount also with it. Its gonna be a big job but currenty i dont have a whole lot of time to fly so why not and improve.

Let us know how it goes Nathan.
I had an idea for ya.
Go to your local Walmart in the sporting dept and pick up a packet of Wrist-Rocket slingshot lead . Forgot what each ball weighs but they got to be at least 1/2oz . Then make a small slit midway in the left wingtip and drill a hole straight in maybe an inch to start with. Insert a leadshot or two and try it. If it's not enough to straighten out your loops then add another.
Plug the end of the hole with a plastic cap and a little foam safe CA. Use some of the extra red vinyl you got with your plane and patch the slit. What do you think ? Better than those darn little Great Planes 1/4oz bricks of lead with adhesive tape ready to fall off on your friends as you make a high speed pass. Plus only you will know about it. Or just invert the motor like you said. lol

Nathan, I find it much easier to balance the wings alone, without the fuselage. Join the wings the usual way, mark the center point on the joiner and balance using a knife edge under the joiner. If a weight is required, then drill a hole thru the wing tip ply for a cylindrical weight. I only had to use a couple of 1/4 inch threaded studs about an inch long and used elmers glue to secure them. Then capped the hole in the ply with a 1/4 inch dowel and used a small covering patch. Most lateral imbalance comes from the wing, and I wouldnt be too concerned about any small offset due to the engine horizontal mounting. Then if the plane still dips to one side you probably need small adjustments elsewhere. [8D]

That is also a very good idea cal. I never thought of just balancing the wings alone

All this week i was hurrying to get my edge back together after last weeks mishaps because the club was going to put on a RC demostration at a full scale airshow. I so wanted to fly then; so everyone can see the VF is one awsome plane. Anyway if you look at where im from and look at the weather radar you'll notice its not giong to happen. ARGH!!!!

Hey guys my name is cal and i have read alot of this post and i have learned some things but i just started my edgeand this wing joining is crap. It is saying that the center joiners should be 3/8 inch thick. Mine isnt even close and i dont know what vaneer strips are.Also the joiners are way to big for the wings, How do i get them bigger the directions dont say anything about cuting anything out of the wing. Im getting fustrated trying to figure these instructions out. All my other planes were stupid proof like the u can do and a OMP Katana. Please help ?

sorry guys it gave me an error [:'(]

My joiners took quite a bit of sanding to get them to fit...

I used fiberglass to thicken up the joiners. It took a couple of layers to get it right.

For the slots in the wings, you will need to sand down the slots to get the joiners to fit in properly. MUST SURE YOU USED 45 OR 1 HOUR EPOXY. I used 30 min epoxy to get the joiners into the wing and I just got them in.

Hey, if you ever need help email VF, they will respond very quickly. Great customer support. I am thinking about picking up the extra for a winter build.

Granted the instructions tell you to use the longer cure epoxy 45 minute or longer but, with the longer cure expoies you will get a lot of seepage through the covering. I used 45 minute and theres a few spots on my covering where it it stained. 30 minute would probally be the best just make sure everything is lined up before it cures. ONce that epoxy sets its almost a one shot deal.
I to had to a lot of sanding on the joiner and inside the wing core but, it didn't take very long. You want a snug fit so it wont start shifting on you.

I purchased a reserving y-harness on your opinion and it works pretty good. Thanks for the info. I started to break-in the engine this past Saturday and I will finish it up this coming weekend.

I just purchaced a super 9cap with synthisized module off of here for $282 shipped. And it does have the dual elevator servo mixing, i think they call it the aileator (sp) function. But then a reversing Y does work but sometimes its tough to get the halfs lined up perfectly becuase you can only trim both servos at the same time instead of each. Or you can use futabas MSA-10 servo synchronizer http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCTS1&P=0 which will allow you to set everything off one channel.

Great deal! Exactly the radio I have - love it!!!!

Having trouble settling on servos for the elevator and rudder. I still have a week before my Edge arrives according to VF, hoping to get it by the weekend. I ordered one of the new Polk Tracker III 8 channel radio systems for it (feel free to give feedback here). I figure I'll use Polk's atandard servos for throttle and each aileron but having trouble settling on what to use on the tail surfaces. I reckon more torque than 40 oz/in. is in order but the price goes up real quick for that stuff and I don't want to waste money on overkill. I saw on here that someone used the Futaba 9202 coreless on the tail but that's better than $50 a pop. If that's what I need to do then I'll have to bite the bullet and order a pair of them. Any help here, what works without being expensive overkill?

While I got y'all pondering that one for me...so far the plan is a Thunder Tiger .91 4 stroke for power. Think that's enough? I notice the Saito 100 is real popular, shouold I look into one?

Thanks and God bless,

-BunnMan