HK Edge 540 V3 800mm sport

[solentlife]

I must be mad .... clicked Buy it on HK ....

Must say - I always liked look of the aerobatic / speed machines like Sbachs, Edge etc. It was a toss up of a SU or the Edge ... the Edge won out based on price and gear supplied.

Now just have to wait postman and my return home ...

Read some reviews and very mixed reports .. most complaining about CoG .. and wing loading. Forgive me if wrong - but this is no 'Cub' .. it's a model of a hairy sport machine that BITES yer a*** in full size let alone model.

Lets see what comes !

Nigel

[matiac]

I took a stroll on over to Hobby King to take a gander at it, and I must say, if my skills were a little more honed than they are I do believe I'd grab me one of those. Now I know it's not the same as real, but my Clearview has a 33%, a 25%, and an electric Edge 540 that I can do some pretty neat things with. Hmm...

[solentlife]

This was quick to assemble ! Literally within 30mins - it was ready for Rx.

The only area that I had small problem was to install my 'crazy pilot'.... had to cut the cockpit hatch to install ...





Sure looks nice ..



Now just need good weather !

Nigel

[solentlife]

what I'm looking for now is what people are setting the throws at ... I've read 5mm ... 10mm .... all seem to be different - but what is said - is that this baby is responsive and throws need to be cut right back.

Mine is set up as, throws measured at inboard ends of surfaces :

Aileron Full 10mm, DR 5mm Expo is 60% both

Elevator Full 10mm, DR 5mm Expo is 60% both

Rudder is just at factory setting and plenty of expo for ground work.

I've left quite a large throw on full rate but serious expo to tame it down until I find my ideal setting. The 5mm I reckon is cruise around setting ... but all remains to be seen once she's in the air.

nigel

[matiac]

Video MUST be shot...

[JetPlaneFlyer]

If it flies as good as it looks you have a winner!

[solentlife]

I'm actually ill at home - so when she flies I don't know ....

I'm hoping this weekend.

In between bouts of real ill feeling - I'm trying to get on with building ... have set-up the Twin parkjet ... printed up the Lancaster plans ... looking to see what else I can do ...

I hate being ill .. such a waste of flying time ....

Nigel

[solentlife]

Here's meassured data for anyone looking at this model as per standard set-up with wheels etc.

Model weight with wheels w/o battery : 524 gr

With 4S 1600 35C Zippy Compact RTG : 698 gr
With 3S 2200 35C Turnigy Blue RTG : 718 gr

Motor on Wattmeter :

3S 2200 = 19A / 225W
4S 1600 = 28A / 405W

Ailerons 10mm full, 5mm DR
Elevators 10mm full, 5mm DR
Expo is 60% on all settings ...

Control throws will be adjusted once flown.

CoG came out about 30mm back from LE at root

Nigel

[solentlife]

People aint kidding when they say this is a handful ! I rolled her out with a 3S 2200 in her as a maiden job - that weighs similar to an 1800 4S.

She took of like a scalded cat ... but as soon as I eased the stick - she stuck her nose down hard ... So there's me fighting to keep the nose up and click that trim ... she's out on aileron as well - so it's a right hand doing as much as possible to keep her under control and left hand trying to get those trims set ... I'd closed her to about 2/3rds throttle but she was still going like a bat out'a hell ...

Well I couldn't hold her she got quite a distance away while I was trying to get the trims done ... she rolled over and in she went.

Damage :

Compression to general front area - hot water straightened that out but still crease lines showing.

Motor mount shed two legs - replaced with lite-ply ring and motor bolted to that ... with spacers to give right and down correction due to the compression I can't remove.

Landing gear ripped out of bottom and small part of fuselage next to it - glued back with 5 min erpoxy.

Fuselage seam split along bottom - opened up and 5 min epoxy applied ... taped closed.

Prop broke - bought spares anyway.

Amazingly the cowl and spinner survived relatively unscathed ...

Conclusion :

Mine was seriously out of trim to make her dive for the deck and also roll right. It was a fight to keep her under control ...

Control throws - ONLY after trimming her out and getting her as you want her should any throw be more than 5mm up / down ...

This machine takes no prisoners ..... even on the 3S I had in her ... she was quick ...

..........................

Have I given up ? No way ... I will have this baby in the air and she'll do what I tell her ... I don't give up that easy .............



Nigel

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Small fast models can be a bit of a handful, good eyesight and quick reactions are a necessity that's for sure. Hopefully once you have the trim better dialled in she will be a lot easier.

30mm seems like it may be very nose heavy. What's the chord of the wing? I have the Hobbyking Rare Hear Funfighter which is a bit smaller at 620mm span. The manual for that said to put the CG at 30mm but she was ridiculously nose heavy. It headed for the ground like like a lead brick from a hand-launch. I moved the CG gradually back and eventually settled for about 48-50mm which is much better.

[solentlife]

Here's the flight or what should have been !!

HK Edge 540 racer maiden crash 24 11 12

The Root chord is 155mm, tip chord 80mm, with a near straight leading edge.
Manual gives 40 - 45mm back from L/E but many write that is too far back and they settle for 30 - 38mm.

I've just checked her again and it's 30mm ... and agree that usually with a 1/3rd chord ... I'd be looking at about 45 'ish .....
I even tried a smaller battery and still it's not back there ...

I am now totally confused about posts I've seen over on RCG that talk about the CoG and need to push it fwd ... but not surprisngly most have crashed same as me !

Nigel

[JetPlaneFlyer]

You do need to be careful with CG on Edge's because that straight LE gives some sweep forward to the average chord line. I'd guesstimate that about 38mm would be right. The guys on RCG are probably correct in that 45mm is too far back. So a few clicks of up trim will probably be needed even if you do move the CG back a bit.

Maybe back off a little on the Expo. With as much as 60% you can sometimes get the effect that nothing happens when you move the stick until you get the stick half way over then all of a sudden the model reacts wildly.

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by JetPlaneFlyer

You do need to be careful with CG on Edge's because that straight LE gives some sweep forward to the average chord line. I'd guesstimate that about 38mm would be right. The guys on RCG are probably correct in that 45mm is too far back. So a few clicks of up trim will probably be needed even if you do move the CG back a bit.

Maybe back off a little on the Expo. With as much as 60% you can sometimes get the effect that nothing happens when you move the stick until you get the stick half way over then all of a sudden the model reacts wildly.

I noted the apparent sweep forward of the wing ... to the eye it really looks like it's swept fwd.
Guy over on RCG talking to me reckons he flies his at 32mm ... he reckons I need to put the 4S in it and give it the power it wants ...

It's the age old problem of small fast model .. if it's not trimmed out of box - each flight is a nightmare till you get things sorted. You want to keep it close so you can see what it's doing, but you need straight and level for appreciable time to trim out ... which with this baby puts her miles away !

I always wondered why it had the name EDGE .... I think I know now !!

Nigel

[solentlife]

Today you would think it was a different model all together .... I left all the CoG as was ... used same 3S 2200 battery ... but had the elevators dialed up a couple of clicks - with a ruler actually set absolutely straight through the chord.
Set reduced rates for both El / Ai at 5mm up/down .... 40% expo on all ....

She took of like a beaut into a straight level easy climb ... I leveled her out throttled back to see what ... nothing .. she stayed rock-solid. It was such a difference ... she was flying on rails. Halfway through the flight after some rolls and loops - I even flicked in full rate ailerons 8mm up/down ... smoothhhhh !

I have a video that I'm just sorting out ... will upload and let y'all see.

It was all down to elevators and movements.

Nigel

[dahawk]

Congrats Nigel !

Looks great !


I have two HK Yak-54's in their boxes. Won them in a fly-in/fundraiser raffle sponsored by HK. These are older HK models, though still sold, with Fiberglass fuses, balsa & ultracoat coverings. Have all the parts to complete the build on the Groupe Tranchant version and will part with the other.

Meanwhile, I have the foam parts cut out to build a couple of small, ultra cheap foamie 3D planes. I'll use these to train on before attempting to fly the 3 kilo 52" WS beast.

Hope you're feeling better !

-Hawk

[solentlife]

Here's the success flight today ... (video may still be uiploading so please check back after a while ...)

http://youtu.be/SrO_v1cI7rU

Nigel

[matiac]

Still processing...can't wait to see it fly!

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Originally Posted by matiac

Still processing...can't wait to see it fly!

Still says processing, looks lake some sort of error?

[dahawk]

Looks like she's got quite a bit of zip on the 3S 2200. Nice plane !

[matiac]

Judging by your remarks through most of the video, I get the impression you're...happy with the plane? DOES kinda zip along with that 3s you're running...

[JetPlaneFlyer]

yep, video is working fine for me now too.

It looks soooo much better, though maybe no faster than the little 620mm Rare Bear?

Rare Bear on 3s:

YouTube Video

4s:

YouTube Video

[road king 97]

Looks like a hand full Nigel but your retracts only work when you land fast.lol Just kidding ,i have ripped my share of landing gear off plus other parts as well. joe

[dahawk]

Jet,

+1 on the Rare Bear w/ 4S. Great vids ! She flys alot faster than the 3 edf's I have. Scary fast on 4S. Just got my second one. Was looking for a Sea Fury kit version but cannot find. The AT-6 Texan in the series is a dog.
-Hawk

[matiac]

You can certainly hear the difference between the 2 batteries...that thing was SINGIN' with the 4s battery.

[solentlife]

My video uploads are slow as the internet connection I have has serious ISP filtering and also is via radio link ...

I really enjoyed flying it ... she did what I expected her to do once dialed in.

I did lose a fairing to one wheel leg ... fashioned another out of 6mm depron ...

It may sound strange coming from me - but with this one, I'm more interested in doing aerobatic than speed. That means I may look at staying on 3S and upping the prop to give the thrust for aerobatic stuff. I will give it a blast on 4S - to see what she can do before that though.

Conclusion ? Flies on rails - but she will not forgive any error. Needs extreme care to get set-up right ... eyeball is not good enough on elevators for example - you need to straight edge through centre-line of stab and elevators ...
Be careful of the motor mount - its easy to break ... I'm now looking for a better replacement so I can remove my ply mount.

Nigel