Mini craft Edge 540
 

Anyone out there flying one of these? http://www.minicrafthobby.com/FullDe...=AAA035&pCat=0 Edge 540
Just about to start a build of one I picked up the other day. Any imput would be great.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Products Code : FA3011
Products Type : Scale Aerobatic
Products Name : EDGE 540-120
Products
Description : SPECIFICATION
Wingspan...................78" (1981mm)
Length..........................68.5'' (1740 mm)
Wing area...................1010 sq in (651.6 dm sq)
Weight......................... 11-13 lb (5-5.9 kg)
Radio(not included)......4-5 Channel
Engine(not included)..... 1.08-1.50 (2-Stroke)
1.20-1.80 (4-Stroke)

Ok starting the build on this one. First impressions look good. All packed in seperate bags, covering looks good, everything intact. I have a dl50 sitting on the bench, so thats going up front.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Out of the box ...........

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

try again

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

The manual seems set out very well at first look

Step 1: hinge the ailerons on ca hinges, then seal all hinge gaps.
It is stated in the manual sealing the aileron and elevator gaps is mandatory, as failing to do so will result in failure. It will give more responsive surfaces and removes the change of flutter so I guess it’s a good thing. No covering is supplied for this, and I reduced the width of the seal covering to 45mm. Manual says to start at 70mm then trim of
18mm

Step 2 : Joining the wing half’s . There is a diagram at the bottom of page 9 which shows 0 degrees dihedral at centre of the wing. It also demonstrates that when you are gluing the wing half’s to keep one wing tip hard on a flat surface and raise the other wing tip 1 1/8 “. I found when I did this the leading edge was not straight. To get it straight a placed a pin centre of the leading edge at each wing tip, then ran a peice of cotton between them. Marking center line at the middle of the wing allowed me to acheive a straight leading edge.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

I am happy with the build, glue joints are good, and they have used good size stringers.
One thing I am not so sure about is there is no sheeting at the bottom of the fuse under neath the main wings. I am also suspect of the area just behind where the main wings attach. I have had a couple ARF's snap right here.

Anyways some 3mm ply in these two areas will not go astray. With the dl50 up front the exta 200grams it has added will not be a problem power wise. I fiqure it as good insurance.

Will beef up the fire wall with some tri stock. Support for the landing gear looks good, and not a lot I can do from the top. If it does go ( pray that it doesn't ) then it will be open from the bottom and it will be easier.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

sheeting and blocking finished

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Mount the main wing to the fuse. THe instructions are well detailed through out and easy to follow, so I will highlight anything that was't covered or a problem. When mounting the main wing the front holes are allready drilled. The back ones are to be drilled through the mounting blocks that you epoxy to the trailing edge. There are hole's already through the blocks but not through the wing. It says to drill through the wing into a beam mounted in the fuse, then install the blind nuts. Be carefull as I found that doing so meant the blind nuts ended up very close to the edge of the beam and losing some of the structual integrity. Double check position of the blocks before mounting on the wing.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Note the back blind nuts are close to the edge of the beam

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

The stabilizer and fin where straight forward, I did need to make some adjustment to the stab to aling it with the front wings. Before I installed the stab I ran some draw lines through the slots in the side of the fuse at the back ( where the control rod and pull pull system come through ) , to the front so it would be easier to pull the wires through later.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Hinging the Elevators. It makes note of this in the instructions, when you go to hinge the elevators check the clearance at the fuse. I found that they where binding and had to make the slots for the hinges longer. Thus moving the elevators out slightly to acheive clearance. Not a major

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

pics .........:D CA hinges so a drop of the good stuff and hinges all good. This ia going to have some good movement in the flight surfaces, I am impressed

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

The feet ..........Front landing gear seemed good quality straight forward to install. I choose a differant tail wheel than the typical wire one supplied. Had one sitting around works well with pull pull sytem, looks more scale. Note strings taped to side of fuse ready to pull through wires and control rods.

RE: Mini craft Edge 540
 

Basman,

How is your build progressing? I am completing my H9 version of this kit as I had it sitting around for awhile. I was wondering how minicraft was to deal with? as I need a replacement canopy for my edge.

Paul