 Product Video
Product Review:
Hobby-Lobby Edge 540T
Perspective By:
John "Tank" Banks
Manufacturer Contact:
Hobby-Lobby International
5614 Franklin Pike
Brentwood, TN 37027
Manufacturer Website:
www.hobby-lobby.com
FlyingGiants Ratings:
| Packaging: |  | | Kit Quality: |  | | Ease of Build: |  | | Huckability: | | | Overall: | | |
With the dramatic advances in battery technology within this hobby in the past few years, the "foamy" market has taken off running and hasn't looked back since. The profile depron originals have lead to more radically advanced and full-fuselage designs. Enter the New Power Model Edge 540T full-fuselage foamy distributed by Hobby-Lobby International. This Edge 540T was designed by Benoit Paysant-Le Roux with 3D and artistic aerobatics in mind and is currently produced in France. The Edge 540T is a high performance, lightweight 3D hotrod designed for indoor and outdoor flying. |
    My first impression upon opening the box was positive. Everything came nicely packaged and organized. All foam and wood parts were cleanly laser cut and a selection of carbon-fiber rods also accompanied the various accessories. The 3mm depron parts were much like other 3mm foamies but even better in that all control surfaces are cut for you! The kit also came with wheels, pushrods, and an extremely light, tinted canopy to fill out the full-fuselage design. All airframe parts came painted directly from the factory and all parts had alignment tabs to expedite the construction process.
Plane: Edge 540T
Manufacturer: New Power Modelisme
Distributor: Hobby Lobby International
Type: Electric Full-fuselage 3D aerobat
Flying Weight: 10oz
Length: 870mm
Wingspan: 950mm
Radio: 4 Channel
Power System: Small outrunner, 3-cell Lipoly
Duration: 9 to 12 minutes
Flying Area: Gymnasium/Park/Flying field
Price: $99.00
Components Needed to Complete: Outrunner motor, speed control, receiver, 4 servos, 700mah-830mah 3cell Lipoly. Prop
Components Used: Axi 2204-54 outrunner, Jeti-04 plus edition ESC, Thunderpower 3c 730mah lipoly, Hitec Electron RX, Hitec HS55 servos (4), APC 8x3.8 slow fly prop.
There is a construction manual included with the kit, but it consists of a series of construction photos rather than word for word assembly instructions. The assembly process is not complicated on the Edge 540T, but it may take a first time foamy builder slightly longer to assemble. I had absolutely no problem assembling the model using the numbered pictures and diagrams as they were well thought out and nicely detailed. If you have ever constructed one of the many other profile foamies with a picture instruction manual, the instruction manual is similar, but the New Power Modelisme 540T is a "walk in the park" to assemble compared to the aforementioned designs. Parts are clearly labeled and the pictures and symbols don't leave you second-guessing. All fuselage parts are tabbed to ensure accurate alignment. An interesting note in the construction is how the cockpit and turtle-deck former are built first, and are the integral part of the fuselage construction. The wing is slid into position within the fuselage sides, then the cockpit crutch is added tying both sides of the fuse together. The fuse sides are also joined with a lightened; double laminate depron firewall in the front, and again at the rear by simply pulling the two sides together, being mindful to keep the sides square and not to twist the fuselage. The top of the turtle deck is then drawn together and glued, resulting in a completed fuselage! Simple enough!     Wings and stabs are all cleanly cut with ailerons and elevators all ready cut from the wings and horizontal stabilizer. One thing I noticed quickly was how large the rudder was for a foamy of this size. It should give massive authority for all 3D maneuvers. The kit includes some fabric-hinge material that is used to hinge all of the surfaces. I was somewhat skeptical about using it at first, but the material worked well allowing me to have tight hinge-gaps yet have the ability to get massive throws out of all the surfaces.     After hinging all the surfaces, the radio gear was installed in the pre-cut servo slots (all of which had to be opened just slightly to accommodate the Hitec HS55 servos). The control linkage is the one area that I strayed slightly from the design of the kit because I did not like the method they chose to use. The kits supplies very nice plywood horns to be used in conjunction with carbon rods and heat shrink tubing. The heat shrink tubing is used to attach the carbon rod to the horns, as well as attached the carbon rods to the servo arms. This is one area where the pictures within the directions were not clear. I tried several times to get their system to work using several different methods, but was not happy with the way it worked. In the end, I chose to take some micro-park flyer horns, clevises, and screw-lock connectors that I had along with the supplied carbon rods to complete the linkage installation. For less than $5, I was able to get the geometry I wanted and the throws I was looking for. This was the only deviation that I made from the original design of the kit. Final construction included wiring up the Jeti-04 speed control to the AXI 2204-54, installing the Hitec Electron receiver and plugging in all of the connections. Once the radio installation is complete, you can mount the motor, install the bottom of the fuse to seal things up, mount the canopy, and voila! You're ready to fly! A neat little item that Hobby Lobby included in the package for the review included the PROG-CARD for the Jeti-plus controller. With this programming card, you are able to select the settings you want by moving switches, plug the card into the controller, then power up the controller and bingo! It's programmed! It doesn't get any easier than that and is a far cry better than listening for a series of beeps while trying to program! Two thumbs up for that product! Total construction time on this project was about 5 hours from start to finish, but this included time for taking photos, and documenting information for use within this review.    
I charged up the 3cell 730mah Thunder Power Lipoly and headed to the local park to get some stick time with the Edge. Now, I don't usually check the CG on a foamy prior to flying it, but for the sake of this review, I checked it just to see where it fell. As it balanced out, the CG was about 1 inch behind the carbon spar, slightly back from the recommended CG location. From the moment I took off, I began going through the 3D book of tricks to see what this little hotrod was capable of. All I have to say is WOW! Immediately off the bat I noticed the affects of the full fuselage. The days of the tail-twisting profile-foamy are over! The full fuselage has done wonders to stiffen up the entire airframe. With control authorities set to max deflection, there wasn't a maneuver that couldn't be done with this airplane. Upright and inverted harriers, rolling harriers, rolling loops, blenders, flat spins, knife-edge loops and knife edge spins are all possible with this airplane. Knife-edge flight had very little pitch coupling, and that was only under extreme rudder deflection but was easily controllable.         The Edge 540T was extremely responsive in all attitudes and at all speeds. The overly generous size of the control surfaces allow some pretty radical tumbles that can leave you wondering what direction the airplane is heading on exit! I did notice the effects of the aft CG, but it posed no problem on the flight characteristics of the airframe. Overall flight performance was excellent and it has been one of the best flying foamies I have flown to this point. I believe that a lot of this comes from the full fuselage design, the light weight, and the large control surfaces on the Edge. I was a little skeptical that the Axi 2204-54 was going to be enough power for the 10oz model, and it totally proved me wrong. With the 3cell Thunderpower 730mah Lipoly, the Edge shot out of a hover with authority! This little motor is a workhorse!  
The number one recommendation I can make is to make sure you keep the airplane light! Don't get over zealous with the glue and you won't have any issues. The design is well thought out and is designed to be as light as possible yet maintain structural integrity. The second recommendation I will make is to take your time and study the assembly pictures before completing a step. The model is not difficult to assemble without verbal instructions and the pictures are more than enough to complete the model accurately and efficiently.
The New Power Model Edge 540T is a well-designed 3D hotrod for indoor/outdoor flying. The full-fuselage design is well thought out and does wonders to stiffen the entire airframe far more than a traditional profile foamy. With total assembly time of just a few hours coupled with unlimited aerobatic performance results in quite a hot little package. The Edge took every maneuver I could throw at it with ease and kept asking for more. I look forward to gaining more time on this bird as it has completely renewed my interest in foamies. | Hobby-Lobby International
5614 Franklin Pike
Brentwood, TN 37027 www.hobby-lobby.com | |
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