PAU 36% Edge 540 Build

[Oilsands]

Well started on the Edge today. Got the stabs mounted with electronics and linkages mounted, rudder servos mounted, drilled the firewall for the motor and painted, and knocked out the bottom for the cans that I will be putting in. Started on the mounting of the pilot, dash and windshield (following Major Smackdown's thread). Also instaled the control horn in the rudder. This build is going really fast, very little holes to drill. All the control surfaces have predilled holes and the motor mount/firewall was glued in place already, not to mention all the control surfaces are installed other than the rudder.

[Oilsands]

I finished the Edge off yesterday and maiden was done today. Did a tune up and running checks with the cowl off, ready for flight. Put the cowl on and buttoned everything up, takeoff after preflight checks. Wow, 2 clicks of up trim was all it took. What a flyer, I love this plane. Did some of the Basic IMAC sequence and I really like this plane. After 15 min of flying, landed and went threw the plane to see if anything came loose or moved. All was excellent. Up again, flying for about 10 min then a dead stick .......I was up high and then throttled back to idle and a straight downline with a couple of rolls, on the downline I realized I had a deadstick. Brought her in for a landing, over the trees nice and gentle. Down towards the runway, but was still had too much speed as it sailed over the field. Boy do these big birds glide nice. A wide and gentle turn at the end of the field and down it came. Landed on both wheels, but did strike the ground with the prop (tip broken off XOAR eagle nose), one wheel pants cracked on the inside, and some minor damage to where the gear attaches to the fuse on the right side. So repairs tonight and hopefully some more flights this week. I really liked the XOAR eagle nose prop, will be ordering some more. Can't wait to get her up again.

[CSpaced]

Congrats on your maiden, the Edge looks great! Glad to hear you were able to get her down safe after the dead stick

[Oilsands]

Thanks. I am glad as well, I really like the way this plane flies and the way it presents in the sky.

[harv]

congradualtions. the plane looks, and flys great.

[Oilsands]

Thanks, it does look and fly great. Will have to try to get someone to take some photos of it in the air.

[jkhorvath]

Finally got to maiden the PAU 36% Edge 540. Mine comes in at 26 lbs, 13oz with a DA-100 in the nose; no canisters, only mufflers. For reference, this is a bit lighter than my Aeroworks 35% Extra 260. I used Hitec 7955's all around, except for the throttle, which has a Hitec 5645. It's interesting that I had to switch the 7955's to low resolution mode in order to get them to stop using up the battery too quick. I am using nickel-based batteries; two 5-cell 2700 mAh for the servos and a 4-cell 1600 mAh for the ignition. Servo batteries are mounted in the fuse right next to the rudder servos. Initial balance is set at 6 3/4 inches back from the leading edge.

Anyway, the maiden went much better than expected. Four or five clicks of aileron trim followed by one or two clicks of elevator made it fly straight. I deviated a bit from PAU's recommendation of dual rates and incorporated triple rates. I did this only because this is the way I have my other big birds setup.

After two laps around the field and one more inverted to check the balance, everything seemed to check out OK in the air; so I opted to have some fun. First I tried something simple; knifeedge, canopy toward pilot. Turned out to be easy as pie (of course, with a rudder that large, why wouldn't it be?). No roll coupling and hardly any pitch coupling at all. I turned the aircraft around and tried knifeedge, canopy away from pilot. Turned out to be just as easy with no roll coupling and hardly any pitch coupling.

Next I tried elevators and harriers. I use a crow mix during elevators in order to drop from the sky, then I turn the crow off to transition into a harrier. The aircraft remained extremely stable throughout these maneuvers (plus it looked extremely pretty). Now time for rolling circles and rolling harriers. Timing the rolls was easy and predictable; I could keep the aircraft straight and turn left and right at will. The aircraft loves to do these and can do them all day long if you like.

One more bit of fun before I call the maiden quits, hovering. I know, this is a new DA-100, so I should be a bit careful; but I did it anyway. I put the aircraft into a harrier, walked it into the middle of the field in front of me, turned it so that the back was toward me, and brought the nose up into a hover. I held it there just long enough to make a pretty ending to a maiden. The new DA-100 just loved this; I wasn't even concerned about a dead stick and had plenty of low-end throttle response. Remember, this is a fresh DA-100 just out of the box; I never moved the needles. This is why you buy DA for 3D. I am running 15% expo in the throttle, which turned out to be a bit short for a nice smooth hover. I have since then moved my throttle expo to 20%. This smooth the hovers out even more.

OK, maiden is done. Once over the runway, low, to check for landing speed. Then, bring it around again and flare in it; exceptionally smooth and easy.

I am extremely pleased with the flight characteristics of this aircraft. After landing, I told the folks at the field that was my maiden. I was asked to rate this plane from one to ten, with ten being equivalent to my best flyer (my Aeroworks 35% Extra 260). I responded that this was just the maiden, but I would rate it somewhere between 9 1/2 to 10 1/2. Not bad for a maiden.

[JohnVH]

looks good! its by far the best 100cc mono I have flown, gotta get me one

[Dan767]

	Quote: Originally Posted by JohnVH
	looks good! its by far the best 100cc mono I have flown, gotta get me one

You know it's a great one, John.

[Flyfalcons]

Glad to hear the maiden went well, J! The three different 36%ers I've flown (DA-85, DA-100 and 3W 106) have all been fantastic machines.

[Oilsands]

Congrat's on the maiden. I really enjoy this plane as well, can't wait to get the new CF wing tube so that I can get it back into the air. Was hoping it was going to be here in time for the weekend, but no luck. Should show up this week.

[apriliamille]

hi
well guess i can start posting in here as i think, ponder and do things since the plane is here now.
please bear with me and dont expect a rapid build. kind of fell in my lap and well yeah, economy blows.
bear with me as this is a huge undertaking for me so ill probably have lots of questions.
i figure this is the best place to come for advice and guidance. dont really like the thought of plastering all over the forums and having to chase them all down at later. hopefully the pau community can help out with direction.

i kind of think modular so this is my thought process on my steps and priorities of acquisition any feedback on my thoughts and order of merit list and items would be appreciated. due note that i am unable to use a "sky is the limit there shall be no expense spared get the latest greatest baddest" mentality to this

1. servos
2. electronics
3. engine and exhaust

1. servos: i have 5x 5645 servos here. since i have them and they exceed the manual required 150 oz i had planned on using these with a programmer for the ailerons. elevators i am thinking of getting 2x 7955 dont know if 5645 would work for the elevators. rudder a 7950 (i think they release in june) or an atx 94780m

2. electronics: i have a spare 42 percent optikill with me. i also use tanic a123 to power my other planes at the moment and have the cellpro charger and adapters so ill probably use those to power this one. a wolverine switch. not sure if i need a power expander or not. yes or no on the expander?

3. engine will be last. that way when it is time and if i get a new one over a used one the warrantery ticker will start then not a few months early. not really going to publicly ask brand x or y dont want to start a brand war. what i am thinking is whether i want to go twin or single. i have no experience with twins. hehe dont even know if they have to be tuned differantly then a single.

well i guess that is enough for now

/wave

mike