krproton

Okay, so this is my build thread for my GP 27% Edge 540 ARF. Let me start by disclosing that I work in the R&D department at Hobbico (as noted in my signature). And I don't want to appear as though I am trying to take any credit for the Edge, so I should also disclose that I didn't do any of the development work on this one. I'm posting for the same reasons as anybody else - just to help others (if I can) and to have fun.

Also, this thread doesn't take the place of any reviews that will be done by outside parties on this plane. I'm just posting my progress and won't really be doing an evaluation.

Introduction: I didn't plan on building another model this summer - I am already focused on my Extra and trying to improve my precision flight skills and trimming the model accordingly (I've run out of mixes on my 9ZAP!). I've gotten in a few IMAC's this year and plan to attend a few more. But we got in the first shipment of these kits and a few were unfit for sale due to water damage incurred during shipping. I was offered one of these from this damaged batch, and I've never owned an Edge and always admired them, so I said, "sure, I'll take one!" Turns out it was mostly just box damage. I've also watched a few of the Red Bull Air Races on TV and noticed that they are pretty much all flying Edges now. One trim scheme in particular inspired me to break out the Edge and re cover it in another scheme, so I decided to do Mike Mangold's "Wings of Life."

First evening I got all the covering stripped. Took a couple of hours. Second night got most of the sanding done (a little 400-grit will smooth the finish after the covering removal) and a little balsa filler here-and-there. I'm not going for a "Toledo" job - just something nicely-done and special. This evening I got the paint sanded off the canopy (it's painted on the inside). The red tape serves as a guide so the sanding line is nice and clean.

Well, here are a few pics from the first three evenings. I'll post more as I progress.

CCFPILOT

OK Tim, I'm ready to follow your build.

Salty25

My Feedback: (9)

Tim,

Since you have it stripped down and plan to recover do you see any areas that need reinforcing or that needs some extra epoxy added?

That's a pretty evil looking guard cat.

krproton

Hi Salty.

There isn't much you can see inside the wings because of the sheeting - at least where it matters most. All of the fuselage looked great except where the formers meet the sides right at the very top at the wing saddle. I wanted a little more glue there so I added some medium CA. The firewall and landing gear area looked fine (and are glued with epoxy where the rest of the fuselage is done with some kind of white glue). Anywhere you would want to reinforce any glue joints in the fuse though you could still do if the model was covered because the structure is so open (as you can see).

Oh, I will be using a DL 50 engine on this plane - a few of the my buddies at work told me to "be careful" with that engine on this plane. I have a DL on my Extra, but this Edge is slightly smaller yet. It will still come in around 15lbs, but it is a smaller airframe. I'm not worried because I will not be subjecting this model to the rigors of what we do in test flying (full-throttle vertical dives with full elevator pulls and pushes and snaps), but I will be "glassing" the center section since the model is uncovered and I have the opportunity.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Glad to see you're still "in the game", Tim.

Several of us were skipping down memory lane the other day, and recalled meeting you at one of the Mount Pleasant fly-ins so many moons ago.

We had heard of what happened re your former position, and were wondering what had become of you.

FWIW, you were highly thought of. The Empire couldn't BUY the sort of goodwill and PR you provided.

Hey, it all worked out. The planks are less aggravating anyway, eh?

I haven't flown a helicopter in years; sold my last one in 2006, since it was just gathering dust.

.

krproton

Okay, a little more progress tonight - may not look like much, but I put about five hours in - got the center section of the wing "glassed" with Great Planes 2" medium fiberglass cloth and Z-Poxy finishing resing. Tried a tip I learned from Don Anderson - after you put down the resin and cloth, tape MonoKote backing very tightly across the wing, then roll out the air bubbles with a dowel. Looks like a mess underneath, but it's all feathered in. Took off the backing a few minutes ago and it's very smooth.

Laser-cut a cowl ring held to the fuse with 4-40 socket-head cap screws and blind nuts. The cowl will get glued to this and will require an extended ball-end wrench to get it off. Most work than most guys want to do, but looks great.

Bought my paint today too - PPG Omni (this will be for the canopy trim, cowl, landing gear and wheel pants). Will sand the colors off the cowl and pants tomorrow hopefully.

Also got my Audi logo paint mask cut at my buddy's last night. Waiting for my new DL 50. Will get the cowl cut, mounted, then painted next week. Hope to have all the white MonoKote on by the end of the weekend. Probably start with the fuse tomorrow or Saturday.

'Til next time!

P.S. Thought I'd throw in another pic tonight. It's my step-daughter holding my GP Venus II ARF I did last fall. Same as this project, re covered and painted in my own trim scheme. Also converted to electric. Flies great - I love it.

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

Look-in good Tim

David Smith

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Tim,
Nice project. I was wondering what the covering was like before you stripped it, as it appears that most of the upper half of the new Edge is covered in metallic blue, a Monocote color I had a great deal of trouble with on my GP 27% Cap 232. In the light of that experience, if I see large areas of metallic blue Monocote on a GP ARF I tend to steer clear! Can you persuade me that I was just unlucky, or is it a 'tricky' color?

Regards,
David S. in Finland

krproton

Nice to meet you Dave.

Tell you what, I won't try to persuade anybody of anything! I'll just try to be candid in my answers and one can decide for themselves. So, about the trouble you had with your metalic blue, I didn't see anything particularly wrong with any of the covering on the Edge. I pride my self in being good at covering with MonoKote, so of course, I'm going to say the covering job wasn't as good as I can do, but overall the covering job was just fine. Can you be more specific as to what was the problem you had with met. blue?

I don't know if this well help, but here is a link to a little document I wrote up and we published on how to tighten the covering on ARF models. I don't know if this is the nature of the problem you had, but maybe it will help...

[link]http://manuals.hobbico.com/top/tighten-covering.pdf[/link]

Get back to me if you can identify exactly what was the problem you had with your met. blue.

Tim

David Smith

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the rapid answer. I also consider myself reasonably accomplished with most heat-shrink coverings (been building and flying models of one sort or another for around 40 years now), but could not get the wrinkles out of the blue parts of the Cap. I ended up removing the larger inboard blue patches from the wing and left that part in white. The other colors snugged down nicely, but the blue seemed to be more critical on the heat requirements - it refused to shrink and would then suddenly wrinkle. I believe that the main reason for the problem was that it was covered in several layers, first the base white (nicely done) and the the trim colors, which had a different rate of shrinkage than the white.

I had already read and inwardly digested the useful tips in the link provided, and the techniques worked well on the other colors. I also read through the Top Flite instructions on using Monocote which specifically instruct the user not to put one layer of color on top of another!

The model went together very well, the fits were excellent. I am looking forward to flying it when the current wind and rain moves away, and am already wondering what to tackle next.

Incidentally, I also considered stripping and recovering the Cap to match a 'local' full size, but as that one is completely metallic blue, I chickened out!

Regards,

Dave in Finland.

masonman

I'm sorta worried about the 27% 540. The reason being is wing area (1088sq) on an 78 inch wing span.
I have the 27%Extra 260 H9. It has 1134sq on a 78 inch wing, an with a Fox 40cc engine at 15lb it can be a hand full. You have to land it a little on the hot side.To much elevator will make it jump right everytime. Thats what worries me about the edge. cause everyone see 27% an thinks 50cc. 15lbs is to much for 1088sq. Just my 2 cents

krproton

Hi masonman.

Thanks for your comments and concerns. Knowing how we go about developing our planes to make sure they not only perform well, but are designed so there are no tendancies that would "get you in trouble" (snappy, difficult to control), although you raise a good point and I will be extra careful for the maiden, I am not too worried about any problems with this Edge. I don't know what "too much elevator" is on the plane you describe, but I'm confident that with the proper throws and C.G. as specified in the instruction manual, I'll be fine. I promise to follow through with this thread and let everybody know how this model flies with a 50cc engine up front.

krproton

Okay, finally getting some covering on; but first, a little more sanding! So I sanded the "glassed" center section today. I know it looks ugly, but it feathered in pretty well. It is the center section of the wing and will be concealed when the model is together, but I wanted it to look nice just the same. There were some hard edges that required sanding, but with a little more practice this technique could be perfected.

Hmm, what else (I haven't loaded the photos yet!)...oh yea, I added 1/4" x 1/4" balsa sticks to the front of the fuse and at the aft stringer on the bottom of the fuse. The sticks in the front will "grab" the covering well (so it won't pull off the front former inside the cowl) and the rear stick will grab the covering later if I have to cut open the bottom of the fuse for adding tail weight later. Did the same thing on my Extra, but I had to slip the stick under the covering after I cut it open ('cause I didn't do a re cover job on that one).

Also have generous wrap-around around the front former.

Oh yea, line across bottom of firewall - that's where the bottom of the firewall is on my Extra. I'll have to cut off the firewall here to accommodate my Slimline wrap-around Pitts muffler. Not quite sure how I'm going to go about this and how I'll have to reinforce the bottom of the firewall later.

Well, packing it in for tonight. Will have the rest of the fuse (and then some) covered tomorrow.

Good night!

Tim

maddog 71

Its good to see you working on the EDGE Tim I am going to do the same when I get mine DL-50 up front also and strip it down too! Heres a pic of the one Im going to make!
Maddog

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

Tim your talent with an iron and a roll of Monokote ceases to amaze me. Can't wait to see how it turns out. (you sure the cat isn't helping out)

krproton

Maddog,

that's an ambitious trim scheme! I can't wait to see that one! What do you know about that plane?

Super,

thanks! My cat is helping by staying out of my way! Yesterday it was time to take them to the vet for their annual shots (we have another cat too) and they didn't like that all!

Okay, more pics later today. Gonna get a few flights on my Extra this morning.

See ya!

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Move your CG forward a bit. I have a Brison 3.2 on that airplane; every bit of 16 pounds (it was my first gasser- I knew nothing), yet she floats in very lady-like at a walking pace. It is one of the most "honest" models I've ever flown.

All these aerobatic models have very powerful elevator response. If they're tail heavy, they can be quite "pitchy".

.

maddog 71

Tim Her name is Chandy Claton I think she is from Nebraska she is a member of the USA Unlimited Aerobatic team and her sponser is Lightspeed I have E-mailed her for more pics of the Edge there is some on her web site not many though here is her site http://www.chandyclanton.com/ and a few more pics!

krproton

Wow maddog! Hey, that's an awesome trim scheme. Have you started yet or when do you think you will start?

Her's a pic of me and my Extra this morning after getting in a few flights.

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

That is a nice scheme. Looks like it is going to be a bit of work to replicate. I would love to see it.

Tim that is a real good picture. The way it is perfectly centered and good lighting it would be worth framing and throwing up on your wall or maybe our desk at work. It's nice to see who you are talking to on the forums once in a while.
Later
Doug

krproton

Hey Doug,

I like how you said that..."throwing up." He he he. It's bad enough posting pictures of my self on the internet, but having a picture of my self at my desk at work would be just too much! I would never hear the end of it from the guys at work! But thanks for the compliment!

But check this out...

krproton

Okay, here's more.

Got the hard part done. Let's see; cover the vertical. Then, use 1/8" vinyl masking tape to mark the seem directly on the covering. Then lay the piece in place and tape it down. Use a ballpoint pen to mark the cutline directly onto the covering using the masking tape underneath to guide the pen. I did it this time with the backing in place, but it works better with the backing off (but you have to remove any dust particles picked up on the backing. Remove the covering and tape, cut on the line, wash off the ink with piece of a paper towel dampened with denatured alcohol, then remove the backing from the covering and iron it down. This will be the hardest part of the whole job as most of you know - that fillet. Use a contoured covering iron (like the 21st Century) with a covering sock and a trim iron with a rounded tip.

Next, the blue flag with the stars. In the past I've cut this stuff by hand, but we have a laser - cutter at work that cuts MonoKote well (sorry, I know that's cheating, but I've put in my time on past projects!). I used one of the throw-away blue stars to mark the borderline on the white stars (you can see the marks on the white star that hasn't been ironed to the back of the blue yet. Then, one-by-one, place the white stars behind the blue and iron them to the blue with a trim iron. Work over something that the covering won't stick to (like a masonite table top or that marble plate shown in the pics). Then, iron the blue with stars into position as though it were just one piece!

Yea, pretty sweat I know.[sm=teeth_smile.gif]

Well, this is how far I've gotten today. The rest will be easy!

krproton

Dave, you can put one layer of MonoKote over another, but try to avoid doing it in large pieces otherwise, air bubbles. But for trim and graphics (cut from MonoKote), try this; spray the back of the second layer with some kind of window cleaner like Windex. Lay the piece down, then squeegee out the Windex with a piece of soft balsa. Do your best to get it all out, wait overnight, then you can iron it down permanently and you will be amazed that you will have no (or very, very few) air bubbles. This works so well it's illegal in seventeen countries! [sm=bananahead.gif]

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

This thread is like a book on covering tips from the pros. Great information here Tim, thanks.

David Smith

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, Tim - and pretty much the technique I've been using on models I've built and covered, but perhaps it should be passed on to the people responsible for covering the ARFs!

Anyway, the rain has stopped and the forecast is for it to keep away today, so I might be able to maiden the Cap, when I am sure that it will become the most beautiful and desirable model I own once I see it in the air.