Tired Old Man

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Tom gave me a call a few days ago and asked if I would be interested in performing a kit review for the new 1.20 sized Edge. needless to say, I was reasonably excited to be considered for the opportunity and told him yea. The down side is that I'm in the middle of another project for a kit review and I will have to enlist another of the areas club members that I trust completely to do the building.

In further conversations with Tom, it was noted that this particular plane had originally belonged to someone else, but it had received some of that cursed UPS freight damage[>:] in the shipping process, which the new owner didn't feel the need to deal with. That's very understandable. I agreed to make the necessary repairs if they weren't too invloved, and the plane arrived on my door step today, Tuesday the first. Lucky me, they are pretty minor. 2 hours work at the most, and most of that in hiding the cuts I will have to make in the covering on the bottom of the wings to repair some sheeting damage.

Opening the box and my first impression was WOW! That's a good looking plane! Taking the parts out of the box and is was lighter by far that I thought it would have been. Speaking of the box, it comes in a box almost exactly the size that the 28% planes arrives in.

I noted that almost all the hinging had been done by the original owner, and that the tail wheel assembly had already been installed, making the assembly process that much shorter. This is going to be a quick build! The hardware package that is available for the plane is the usual high quality parts that you would normally purchase yourself at the local hobby shops. Pretty good deal, IMO. I just love one stop hobby shopping!!

I took a couple of pictures to get this started. I will be giving the plane to Bill Simunek of the Mountain R/C Flyers to do the assembly work so it can get out to the field sooner that it would if I performed the assembly. I will be following the process closely and will be flying the hooters off of it before passing it along to the club member. More to follow as the saga continues...

Pat

ben beyer

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Have you decided on an engine?

blue ice

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You read my mind. Think a YS110 would be a good choice for the Edge or a little to small?

rctom

Clarifications;

The box IS one for a 28% plane because I shipped it with the rudder attached, normally it will ship in a smaller box.

This is the plane I used for pictures so I did a lot of the assembly work already, it does not come already hinged and with tailwheel or rudder attached.

Yes it is very light. I think a YS 110 might do the job nicely. Moki 1.20 would be slight overkill but acceptable. Many people have said they plan to use OS 160.

TF


TF

Tired Old Man

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I thing that a YS 1.10 would be an EXCELLENT choice for the plane. A 1.60 would be too much. As I mentioned to Tom yesterday, the plane would likely fly ok with a strong .75, but a .90 would be a better baseline choice.

Of course, more is always better as long as it doesn't add more and more weight. I'll be posting some fuselage interior pics later today.

SunShyne

My Feedback: (68)

thanks for the update Pat, looks like winner. I am still in awe of the fact that a 73" wingspan 1/4 scaleish airplane can be flown with a 1.20 sized 4 stroke! I have had several 1/4 scale airplanes and all of them have had the 1.60fx and peformance was good but never great. This is a great accomplishment if it turns out to fly well on the YS 1.10

matt

Tired Old Man

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Fuselage Interior Views

As you can see, the type of construction is very similar, or the same as the 28% planes. This one seems to be a lot lighter in weight on a proportional scale.

The area where the gas tank will be located will have a floor of either balsa or ply for it to rest on. I haven't decided on that part yet.

Looking at the bottom of the engine mounting box and you can see a real nice touch for those that like to, need to, or want to, mount their throttle servos up front. A servo cut out on both sides of the box. That's kinda neat cuz it should cover the throttle servo location for either a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke engine. For those that want to use a small gasser, it alos provides a choke servo location if desired.

There is a lot of room for the radio gear inside the fuse, and once again a cut out has been provided for a rudder pull/pull installation.

Tired Old Man

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More Fuselage

Just a shot of the stock tailwheel installation, but a good view of the area behind the firewall looking forward.

The rudder on this plane should be extremely effective. Nice and large.

I thought a better overall view of the interior of the fuselage may help, so it's included here along with the view of the wing tube installation.

Tired Old Man

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One More Fuselage

This shot looking at the side of the fuselage shows all the cut outs for the aileron wires (still covered with Ultracote) and support locations for wing retaining screws. As you can see, it's about the same arrangement as the 28 and 35% planes.

Tired Old Man

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Engine Choices and Radio

For those interested, the engine that will be used in this plane will be one of the following;
1) Super Tigre 2300
2) OS 1.20 four stroke (an older one)
3) Super Tigre .90 (also an older one)

I will be using a Great Planes 1.20 to 1.80 adjustable black nylon engine mount.

These are the glow engines that we still have laying around. The only others that I have in the shop is an MDS 1.48 and a Moki 1.80. Both of which would be a lot of engine, but weight wise on a par with the ST 2300.

For the radio installation I'm going to go with a very basic 6 channel transmitter, a JR 631, so I can get a feel for the plane as it would be set up with an entry level 6 channel radio system.

Servos will be some of the original release Hitec 5945's that haven't been in use for awhile. If I was into spending a little more or running out to the hobby shop at the moment I would consider some mini metal geared digitals for everything except the rudder, and a 56xx series digital would be good choice there. I also can't see any reason why any good standard servo couldn't be used anywhere except the rudder. A metal geared servo should be used in that location, IMO. It's a very light plane and the servos that come in the box with any radio should work well.

aegis

Silver - I have a just rebuilt YS 120AC with no home. Sounds like maybe it would be a good match for sport aerobatic flying. I'm surprised standard servos would do the job (except for the rudder). I was thinking the size of the surfaces would require something a little more. I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions of the finished plane.

Dan

Tired Old Man

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There are a couple of reasons I think standard servos would work out. I'm not saying they would be the best choice by any means, but would work for someone on a limited budget.

1) It's a very light plane
2) An Edge doesn't need to be flown fast to perform well. Especially a light one.
3) Flutter will not become an issue if the speed is kept down and surfaces are gap sealed along with having tight linkages.

ben beyer

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I'd go with at least a Hitec 635, but that's just me.

Tired Old Man

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No arguements from me.

Tired Old Man

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We brought the 1.20 Edge out to the field today for some outside opinions and to show it off a little. The elevators just arrived Wednesday and the engine hasn't been installed yet but with luck it should fly next week some time.

We took some more pics in the sunlight to bring the colors out a little better and did a size comparison. The fuel tank location won't been settled on until the engine is on and some C/G checks can be made. It's still coming out very light. Much lighter than a similar sized Edge from another manufacturer.

Tired Old Man

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The "gentleman" standing behind the cowl in the first pic of the previous post is Bill Simunek. with this plane he is now comitted to 1/4 scale and larger planes forever. I don't know if I'll ever be forgiven[8D]

It's my understanding that the red on this second prototype is going to be changed to the true red that's used on the Giles and Extra's. The true red will look much better and be less transparent than the current color.

We've tossed out the idea of using an OS 1.20 four stroke. Now it's going to get a newer version of a Super Tigre 2300 two stroke. A thirsty little devil but it should provide a lot of thrust for 3D stuff. It's weight with muffler is right in line with a 2 pound requirement for proper balancing.

A couple of more pics:

euclid

I've just bought the "big brother" to this one. This one would probably have suited better. I'm like the little kid standing outside the sweet shop, and I just had to have one of these planes, so I couldnt wait any longer!!
Its unfortunate my flying skills arent really up to scratch for a plane of this calibre.

Tired Old Man

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Euclid,

Knowing the 28% W/H planes as I do, I don't think you will have any troubles at all. It never hurts to have someone around that already flys medium sized aerobats well.

The flip side of the ability issue is that the 28% planes will provide all the help you can ask for in improving your ability. They are pretty stable flight platforms at standard rate settings, and have the flexibility to "do it all" at higher control travel settings as your comfort and ability increases.
Personally, I think you made an excellent choice. Enjoy

Pat

sheetsg

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Glad to hear that you've choosen the ST2300 as I've got one NIB. I have a Karl Mueller header, but no canister or pipe yet. Do you think it possible to use either in the 1.20 Edge?

mstroh3961

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I was in the same situation as you, The 28% edge will make you look like a better pilot almost instantly! I find it much easer to do most basic maneuvers, stall turns, Cuban eights and I can even hold a knife edge almost the length of the flight line. Just keep it on low rates for a while. I took mine up high and tried 3D rates only once for several seconds....wont be doing that again for a while.....my high rates needed more expo.

Tired Old Man

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I'm not familiar with either muffler or header since I left glow powered planes a few years ago. This will be one of two forays back into glow. If either type will attach to the exhaust outlet of the engine and point generally down, it should work. Tom may have more info on the muffler types than I do.

Could you post a pic or two in this thread for me to look at? That would help some.

This particular plane will have some differences from the production kits. Production planes will have the engine mounting box moved aft a little to make it easier to get the proper firewall to spinner back plate distance.

mstroh3961

Try expo percentages of 75% on elevator, 65-70% on ailerons, and 60% on rudder at high rates.

flatlandmike

My Feedback: (17)

my opinions on the expo is no more than 45 % and i try to go lower

example for me that hovering is harder with more expo along with rolling harriers

for example on a 3D capable plane i would start with 35 % on the ailerons and 40 % on the ele and 30% on the rudder and if the plane was to twitchy i would increase the % if i felt like i had to move the stick to far for the plane to do what i wanted to do decrease the %

edit:these number are with a semi fast servo travel speed of .13 if the servo is slower like .2 i would decrease the expo

example of this is a mini funtana with the Jr 241 servo it has a .23 travel speed and i used no expo on the ele and rudder and 20 % on the ail

mstroh3961

My Feedback: (4)

Thanks Pat and Mike, I just need to burn more fuel on such a capable airplane! Just need to get the feel for it, Its kind of like mental telepithy think what you want the plane to do and its doing it! Sorry for hijacking your thread.

charrua

My Feedback: (47)

hey euclid

The edge 28% it's my first gasser and I was kind of scared to take it up for first time, but it's acctually easier than any other 1/4 scale planes I have flown, for take off mine with DA-50 pretty much jump out of the ground for take off and it's really sable, and for landing I think it's easier than any 40 sised mid wing plane I have flown for friends.

I think if you balance it where thay say on the manual it should be fine for first flights you will be able to tell how easy the plane flies as soon as u take off!!!!!
About the expo. I started mine at 60% on high rate and now I went up to 80% on elev and ailerons but I think it depends on how u like it and on how much throw u have,, I got like 50deg on elev and 45 on ailerons. this is using servos at .13 deg. speed

For low rate I got a bit more than what the manual tell u but it's plenty I think I could lower my rates to the manual specs.

euclid

thanks for the comments guys. I'm looking forward to getting her in the air. Unfortunately I am strapped for time, and cant get to spend much time working on her. But, she's semi clothed now, enough to make her modest anyway.
In the mean time, I keep banging that sim whenever I can!

Thanks guys.



Mike.