Wild Hare 35% Edge

[Tired Old Man]

Canopy/Hatch

Note: I was later informed that only the prototypes required the hatch to be assembled by the user. The production kits arrive with the canopy blended and complete with the hatch.

For those of you that already have this together, which is probably most, you might want to skip this post. For those that have problems with canopies, this is for you, and it works on any size Wild Hare or other manufacturer's aircraft.

I wasn't going to do this one but I've seen a few posts that indicate that some people either have trouble mounting a canopy or just don't like having to do one. They are not difficult, just a little time consuming. If you were building a kit or doing a scratch build you could spend days building a hatch, measuring and marking the canopy position, cutting a recessed well for the canopy to to set into, fill the recess, and later do the covering and/or paint to make for that perfect blend. About a week all told if you ever added it up. Our ARF manufacturers make it a lot easier at the expense of a little labor, and a lot cheaper by not recessing. It's also a lot easier to repair if you ever damage the canopy. You would add a lot of money for a perfectly recessed and finished hatch. At 30' you are hard pressed to tell the difference between a user assembled hatch and a home built recessed one.

I generally use the following method (or similar) when working on a hatch/canopy assembly since it's easy, pretty clean in the final appearance, and is extremely secure. Note in the pictures that the tabs on the front of the hatch are square ends. Nice and hold well but when you lift the rear of the hatch to remove it they often hang up. When that happens some people not paying attention keep lifting and bugger up the tabs. I round up the bottom front of the tabs to let them roll out a little easier and it permits a slightly higher lift at the back of the canopy without any binding up front. Easy to do with a coarse file.

I don't much care for the way machine screws will loosen up and fall out of hatch assemblies. Worse, you have to carry a supply of machine screws if you want to fly more than once or twice a day. I don't like the looks of a machine screw with a big rubber bonded washer about as much. Tom came up with the idea of using a nylon screw some time back and I've been using it ever since. In three planes I've only had one of them fall out and I'm still not certain that I tightened it to begin with. Of coarse you can use the supplied machine screws instead if you so desire. In that event, don't remove the blind nuts and skip on to the actual canopy installation.

Use a hot soldering iron to loosen up the glue securing the blind nuts. They'll push right out without damaging the ply tabs when done this way. While you have the soldering iron hot, locate the hatch mounting holes that are under the covering on the fuselage and open/seal them with the soldering iron. You could do the mounting holes for the elevators and lower cowl mounts while you're at it. Bunch of small things done at once

Due to the diameter of the blind nut shaft the 35% Edge ends up using a #10 nylon screw. The 28% planes generally use a #8 if you're careful and don't pry the blind nuts out of the tabs and tear up the ply in the process. That's why we heat the blind nuts up, avoiding that damage. Drill out the holes in the side of the fuselage, making the holes just large enough to have a tight fit when you slide a 10-32 nylon screw through the hole. Now use some thin ca glue and coat the holes in the hatch tabs to harden them up. After the glue dries tap the hatch tab holes with a 10-32 tap. Coat the new threads with thin ca again. Now go back and chase out the threads with the tap one final time. The result is some nice sharp threads to run the nylon screws through. Cut off the nylon screws to a length you will be happy with. I like mine about 1/4" longer than the combined thickness of the hatch tab and fuselage. You don't need to use a washer if you don't want to, just don't crank down hard on the screws when you attach the canopy before flying. They don't back out.

Now on to the actual canopy. Note that the hatch must be attached to the fusleage for accurate alignment of the aft hatch bulkhead with the fuselage turtledeck.

Install the hatch on the fuselage and secure it with the nylon screws. Fit the canopy onto the hatch and tape it in place. Check to see if the canopy needs trimmed for length or on the sides. I like to use tape to mark cut lines. It's easy to run scissors alongside when cutting straight lines and you don't have to clean off any residual ink from a marker. Once you've made the cuts, check the fit again. If you're happy use some 180g or whatever sandpaper to clean up the edges of the canopy. Use a sanding block for the long straight edges. When that's done lightly sand the inside and outside edges of the canopy to remove any white colored sanding "fuzz".

The factory hardware package contains some small Phillips screws that are used for securing the canopy. Some people prefer to use only the screws to hold the canopy but I prefer to use both screws and glue for a solid attachment. Less canopy "drumming" that way. Tape the canopy back on the hatch, aligning as needed. Find a few locations where you can drill a 1/16" hole at the locations that where screws will be installed. I use 5 screw points, others use a few more. The front of the canopy rests on an area of very thin balsa with a layer of foam under. You might want to carefully remove a little bit of foam and add a small hardwood or balsa block to provide more backing for the screw threads. Use the screws to attach the canopy, making sure that the canopy lays as flat as possible where it contacts the hatch. If you are only going to use the screws, skip over the next step.

Use a pencil to mark where the canopy edges are on the hatch. Remove the screws and the canopy. Use 180 or 220g sandpaper to rough up the edges of the canopy and insode the pencil lines on the hatch. It will greatly assist the glue in it's adhesion of the hatch and canopy. Remove the hatch and lay a piece of wax paper between the hatch and the fuselage. Re-attach the hatch and secure with the nylon screws. Run a thin line of RC-56 glue around the edges of the canopy where you previously sanded. It doesn't take very much and you don't want so much that it becomes a runny mess. It cleans up with plain water if you do get some runs. Place the canopy onto the hatch and re-install the screws to obtain the desired alignment. Use some low tack tape to pull down the canopy onto the hatch where it might appear a little loose. Set the whole thing aside to dry overnight.

Some may have noticed that my canopy runs back a little farther than the aft hatch bulkhead. That's a personal thing because I generally don't glue the canopy to the aft hatch bulkhead. I just leave it loose. Then again, if I wanted to glue it I would do the bulkhead to canopy joint after the main part of the canopy was fully complete. Then I'd install the hatch, mark the part to be trimmed away with tape. Then lay some wax paper between the hatch bulkhead and the turtle deck and apply some RC-56 at the canopy joint, re-install the hatch on the fuselage, and set aside until dry.

Anyway, come back after 12 to 24 hours and remove the tape by pulling from the top of the canopy down. Not from the bottom up. I like to trim out my canopies with various colors of 3M vinyl electrical tape. Quite a few of the tape colors are close to Ultracoat colors so the match is close. Remove the screws, apply tape from the rear of the canopy working forward, re-install the screws and it's done.

[Tired Old Man]

Engine Mounting

Post Assembly Note: The production planes arrive with the engine crank center accurately marked on the firewall. The kits include mounting templates for the DA 100 and 85. All you have to do is center the template on the firewall reference mark and drill the mounting holes. W/H also has the correct length mounting accessories for those engines available to those that desire them.

I figure this post will be safe from the manufacturers since I don't know of any that are mounting the engines for you yet (that later turned out to be dead wrong)

I'm going to illustrate my method of centering and mounting engines. It's a bit different because it does not require a kit supplier to have first purchased every imaginable type of engine that could fly the plane, and expended the time and labor to mount them in order to make a template. Easy for the buyers but a royal and expensive PITA for the distributors. Everybody that owns an engine has the ability to make a simple and easy to use template for each of their engine types. More on that in a moment.

Somewhere and sometime in this post somebody is going to ask "What length standoffs do I need?". The answer is the depth of the cowl from the firewall to the face of the cowl ring, minus the depth of the engine from the mounting lugs or plate to the face of the prop hub, plus 1/8". The next question will be something along the lines of "What length standoffs should I buy?" The answer will be: Why do you ask when you can make your own faster, cheaper, lighter, and stronger than any commercially made standoff available?" This post will not make PSP Mfg, SWB, or DA happy at all. 3w won't care because they tell you not to use standoffs anyway. I'll show you a method very similar to what Tom uses for his planes. It's easier and faster than what I normally do for my smaller planes, while being much more supportive than some spindly legged aluminum standoffs. You'll have yours made and mounted before a supplier could get them in the mail to you. Another side to this standoff thing is that you have to bet that someone that's doing their first gasser will browse through this thread thinking they might see something that would help them mount their engine. Hopefully they will find an answer.

No matter what engine you elect to use on any plane, a basic mounting template can be home made out of a length of 3/8" or whatever wood dowel long enough to reach from the firewall through the cowl ring, a piece of 1/8" plywood, and some 1/8" balsa sheet triangle gussets. That's it, that's all, and you have an engine template that can be used on any plane you choose to use that engine on. You only need to determine the engine mounting hole pattern, and determine the relationship of the crankshaft to the mounting holes. Most engines have the crankshaft centered between the mounting holes but a few, such as 3w and 3mm, do not. Those just take a few minutes longer to lay out. See the pics to better visualize how to make a template. A little extra time making a "transferable" engine template saves a lot of time and work later when you assemble other planes that will use the same engines.

Once you have made the template apply some double sided tape to the back of the template. Use that to stick the template on the firewall. It lets you move the template around to find that magic center spot. You may have to stick the template on the firewall before you install the cowl. No biggie since you can still move the template around. If you already have a spinner that fits the cowl ring install the backplate on the template to make centering a little faster. Hopefully you used a wood dowel that is close to the size of the prop mounting hole. When the backplate, sitting on the wood dowel, fits nicely on the cowl ring you've found center. No backplate? Just use a tape measure and shoot for +/- 1/32". Now mark the mounting screw holes and check them for correct positioning, again using the template, one more time before drilling.

Below are engine templates for a Taurus 3.2, Brison 6.4, and a rear induction RCGF 100. For those that don't have table saws there's a picture of a tool you can pick up at any hardware store pretty cheap for making accurate cuts on the engine mount stock.

The wood engine mount standoffs here are 3/4" hardwood square stock available at lumber yards or hardware stores. Costs a couple of bucks. After cutting them to length, center drill them on a drill press. If you don't have a drill press find someone who does. Go slow and don't pressure the bit to prevent bending the drill. That's what makes for center holes that angle away from true center. After the standoffs are installed you can cut some 1/8" ply to connect (glue) the standoffs and make them as solid as the firewall. No need to glue them to the aircraft firewall unless you want to but that makes it a bit tough to change to another engine type at some later date. I prefer the structural rigidity that a "boxed" engine mount provides. No engine twist as you would have with individual standoffs. Nada, nyet, none! You can box the entire mount or simply add a sheet of ply to any pair of legs. No movement at all and much more secure than individual aluminum standoff legs.

For you folks that have wide engines using regular size spark plugs, there's a way to use smaller plugs, which also brings about using shorter plug caps with a narrower spread, perhaps eliminating any requirement to cut holes in the cowl for the plug caps. However, it comes at a price. Both CH and RC ignition sell adaptors for using a CM-6 spark plug. Using them requires that you either obtain a new ignition or have the caps re-worked to fit.

[Tired Old Man]

Empennage

The tail feathers are truly simple. The elevators have the servos mounted in each horizontal stab. Simply open up the Ultracote covering the servo hole in each one. I was not able to get a Pro Link to fit either way I turned the elevator servos so I just made my own using Tom's method and the materials provided in the hardware kit. As usual the hard points for the threaded rod are already installed and only need to be tapped for use. Took about 45 minutes to set up both elevators after the hinging was completed. Be carefull to assure that all the hinges are set to the right depth and turned the right way for free elevator movement. The first two inboard hinges on each stab are shorter than the rest to clear the tube sockets. Don't forget to install them in the right places when you glue the hinges. Without trying hard I ended up with about 55 degrees of elevator travel both directions. If you left a slight gap beteen the stab and the elevator you could obtain more. Lord knows why but you could.

Before you install the horizontal stab set screws in the fuselage check the length of the stab tube. Mine was roughly 3/16" too long and held one stab away from the fuse a little. A quick pass with a cut off wheel on a rotary tool took care of that.

The rudder is pretty basic but I like to add a couple of extra hinges. I have a habit of coming in low for a hover and banging the tip of the rudder as the plane rotates vertical. Yea, I know, just start a little higher but I never do. So another hinge at the bottom works out, providing me a little more time before I have to fix anything. Another personal thing is using a 10-32 threaded shaft for the rudder control horn instead of 8-32. I've consistently bent 8-32 stuff on rudder horns flying 28% planes so going one size larger doesn't hurt. All you need to do is use a larger threaded shaft and drill out the clevis and thread for 10-32. You'll do the same thing for the ailerons since it's a single servo installation. That's well covered in the aileron part of the hardware kit instructions btw. If you don't obtain the W/H hardware kit you want to use 10-32 threaded rod for the aileron horns and fit the linkage accordingly.

If you're thinking about installing the rudder servo in the tail, consider the possibility of using two servos. There is a rudder servo opening on both sides of the fuselage under the covering just forward of, and below, the horizontal stabs for those that want to go this route. The linkage length for the rudder is rather long and might be susceptable to bending loads if only one servo is used. Two servos would be better if linkage bending becomes apparent. Depending on the balance situation two servos could be a very good thing to do. Just more options to think about. Inside the fuse there is a single servo opening in the aft cockpit floor for those that want to use pull-pull. The cut outs for the pull-pull wires are underneath the servo openings below and ahead of the horizontal stabs. Perhaps the factory might consider moving the rudder servo openings in the fuselage a little further aft for a future production run. That would shorten the linkage length. Last picture is the rear mount rudder linkage.

[Tired Old Man]

Ailerons

Pretty straight forward and real easy to do since it's a single servo installation. As in any other kit take a few minutes to go over the covering edges with an iron and hot sock. I should have mentioned that at the beginning of this thread.

After opening up the covering for the aileron servos you might want to take a second and shoot some thin ca into the joints at the sides of the aileron servo mounting plate. Probably not needed but it's cheap insurance and now's the time to do it. The 7955's again dropped straight into the servo openings. It doesn't get easier than that. The only place I needed to adjust a servo opening was at the side of the fuselage for the rudder. A couple passes with a small file took care of that.

For those that like or want to use Pro Links this time you have a shot at it. If the servo output shaft is oriented towards the aileron you can use a 3-1/2" Pro Link on the ailerons. It's the only place I've found they will fit well. At all for that matter.

Only one picture for the ailerons but it's kind of important. It applies to the elevators as well. Due to the large surface travels available the linkage will bind against the wings and horizontal stabs when at full deflections with the ball link direct mounted to the servo arm. Do install the ball link on the "outside" of the servo arm. The situation would be much worse if attached on the "inside". The easy way to prevent binding is by using some old ball link spacer cones that you may have laying around. 4 required. If you don't have any use some 4-40 washers between the servo arm and the ball link to raise the linkage away from the surface. I haven't measured the deflection angles yet but it's a lot. More than 40 degrees with a tight hinge line

[Tired Old Man]

Short Strokes
(final assembly)

Finally down to the part I hate the most. Installing all the electrical stuff. You have tons of room to mount whatever you want. Prolly get a small fridge in there if you tried hard enough. If I was to do it over again I would installl the flight batteries on the deck where the receiver is now located. Had I used a longer extension on the rudder I would have changed this one for balance reasons. I've only done a rough balance by running a dowel through the wing tube socket and picking it up without the wings. At the moment, without the wings, adding one servo in the tail brings everything nice and level. We'll see how it comes out with the wings a bit later.

Note the battery installation. Don't see any regulators do you? That's because this is the dual A-123, 2,300 mAh battery package that Tom has. Saves a lot of time and effort in the power supply installation and much reduces the number of wires you have floating around that need to be secured. Cheaper than a li-po or Li-on package as well since the regulators are eliminated. Two batteries, two switches. It doesn't get any easier than that unless you only use one battery. Switch cut outs are already provided on both sides of the fuselage for the ignition and radio electricals. If you use the DSC type switches you will need to enlarge the switch openings a little. Don't cut into anything other than the lite ply when you do so. When you open up the switch opening, make the cuts to move the switch a little more upwards and aft. If you lower the height of the switch you might end up with the bottom of the switch plate interfering with the seating of the main wing.

Since I have a rear inducted engine it was pretty simple to make a plate to mount the throttle servo at a height direct to the throttle lever. That plate has some extra room on it that just might get taken up by a data logger I have on the shelf. Putting that in depends on the balance situation. Tail heavy it gets the data logger, nose heavy it stays on the shelf.

Some may wonder about the fuel tank. It's a 32 ounce Bennett. A little large but this engine is not well run in yet. Because of that I decided to go with more fuel and do some longer flights. It comes out easy enough that it might be changed for a smaller one later.

Use 36" extensions for everything coming from the tail. 24" extensions for the ailerons provide plenty of wire to work with once they pass into the fuse. Two 6" extensions should handle the aileron leads from the receiver. You'll need 2 or 4- 36" extensions depending on where you mount the rudder servo. I used an 18" extension for the throttle servo and no extensions (as it should always be) for the ignition switch and battery installation. Note that the ignition battery is mounted behind the fuel tank. This helps keep that weight off the nose.

Tom

Note the wheel pants installed for a change. I never do wheel pants! Just for you buddy, just for you

[Tired Old Man]

The Weight

Okay, drumroll please................................

All up at 24 pounds, 4 ounces. That's with a light 100cc twin so a lightweight 35% plane is well within reason. If I can hit less than 25 pounds with a twin and doing nothing special other than the A 123 batteries and a fiberglass spinner you guys with the 85's should be ballistic! Funny thing, if I had not changed out the 14mm plugs and RC Exl ignition on the engine and converted to a CH metal box ignition and 10mm plugs the plane would have been about 3 or 4 ounces lighter.

The Balance

With the wings mounted the C/G moves aft a bit so the tail mounted servo(s) is only for those using heavier engines. I was able to achieve a balance point of 3/8" ahead of the center of the wing tube by moving the ignition battery forward until I got what I wanted. At least for the prototypes the wing tube center is situated 6-1/2" aft of the leading edge of the wing, placing the C/G 6-1/8" aft. It's an Edge 540 so it doesn't matter where you measure from the leading edge at We'll see how that works out for flying.

I set up the ailerons with 17 degrees each way for low rates and 35 degrees each way for high rates. There was close to 50 degrees available with no gap between the hinge centers.

Elevators have been set to 20 degrees each way for low rate and 45 degrees each way for high. Prior to setting both could obtain almost 60 degrees with no hinge gap.

Rudder was set to 25 degrees each way for low rate and 45 degrees for high rates. There was 55 degrees available prior to setting.

My usual expo starting points were used. 35% expo for low rate everything, 70% expo for high rates on the ailerons and rudder, with 75% used for high rate elevator. Looks like Sunday might be the day. For now I'm naming this one "Virgin Hare" because of the white wings

[Tired Old Man]

From Tom Fawcett:


I had said mine with a DA-85 and canister weighed about 23.5 lbs, with a standard muffler 23 lbs is easy. Some weight crazy might get it down to 22 pounds but I think that's silly, with all that power there's no need. Its weight is roughly the same as our old 33% Edge.

The A123 2300 is perfectly capable of flying a 35% (or even a 40%) with a single pack, but when you get to that point another 6 oz. for redundancy is a no brainer since you probably want more than 2300mah anyway. I did actually fly the 35% Edge on a single pack, using the same pack for receiver and for ignition. I made several flights this way, and I am flying my 50cc Extra this way all the time.

[Tired Old Man]

Flight;

Time to get over the first flight jitters. Conditions: Field elevation roughly 1,200' msl, 75 degrees f, 30-40% humidity, no wind. Took the 28% plane up first because I haven't flown in over three months. Work gets in the way... So a few minutes to determine that the thumbs went the right directions at the right times and up comes big brother. One word:

Awesome!

So here it is about 3 minutes into the first flight and I'm pulling one of the easiest to perform hovers I've ever done. Nice! Knife edge flight has about 1/2 the coupling as the 28% little brother, and I could not make it drop a wing in a stall. Just mushes straight ahead like the 28%, only better. Wing rock? What wing rock" Pulling into a harrier from a speed between medium and low using 45 degree high rate elevator and it just sat there, nose high, regardless of throttle changes. All I had to do was hold the stick back aqnd needed to back off the elevator pull from max. It didn't need all of the elevator to maintain a very nice harrier. Harrier rolls are easier to do with this plane than any I've flown before.

This new 35% Edge is so good that I was bringing her down closer to the ground long before the end of the first flight. I was completely comfortable with her before the end of the second flight. By the third flight I just left her in high rates all the time and never had a concern. All in all I think it's my new favorite airplane Favorite enough that I was talking about selling my 28% Edge before the day was done, which had been my fun plane of choice for several years.

I bumped the low rate rudder up to 30 degrees for the "feel" I like but 25 degrees should work for most. The ailerons and elevators were fine where they had been originally set up. High rates were pretty good but I may set up a third rate with max everything just for a little more "wow" factor. It's not needed but what the hell. Balanced on the front of the wing tube she's a little nose heavy, making for floater landings. Center of the wing tube is a lot more neutral and easier to land. It's not difficult to land by any means but when she's nose heavy she'll float and use up a lot of runway cruisin' around low and slow. And she will fly very slow indeed

Just by the luck of the draw we had all three sizes of the Wild Hare Edge line up at the field today. Totally accidental. Really!! As was the dead stick

The one picture shows how much rudder is needed for a medium speed knife edge pass. Not much!

I know everone expected me to say good things about the plane because I do a lot of Wild Hare planes. I've been quite candid in what I've written in this thread and mean every bit of it. Each new generation of planes that Wild Hare has brought to market has been improved over the previous ones, and to date this Edge is the best freestyle plane I've had my hands on. It holds lines better than any Edge I've flown but truthfully I couldn't say how it would do in IMAC. Some planes are designed primarily for precision with pretty good freestyle ability and some are built for excellent freestlye with precision ability thrown in for good measure. The operator has to be the one to determine what fits their flight style best. I know that this Edge trimmed out easily and held a straight line very well. Humpty Bumps worked out real clean, as did the hammerheads. Loops were round with great tracking. Inverted flight was easy. Slow rolls coordinated and maintained altitude extremely well, as did a series of faster rolls. Flat rudder turns could be performed in a small radius circle. Rolling circles are easy, even for me with this plane. Harrier rolls were a lot of fun and a "no sweat" maneuver to perform.

Many at the field noted how effortlessley this Edge performed everything I threw at it. The power levels required to complete and carry every maneuver were far lower than I had anticipated and it was quite pleasing to know that I had an abumdance of power available to do anything I wanted to do. That was 100% due to the design of the plane. Depending on how you want to set her up she'll fly very much as light as an over grown foamie.

If you're into freestyle and 3d this plane is one of those you have to have. If you fly IMAC every once in awhile she should be competitive. If you're a serious IMAC flyer you'll have to tell the rest of us what your opinion of her precision peformance is. She's just too much fun for me to bother with structured flight all the time.

(I'll go back and upload all the pictures in the added posts a bit later)

[whiteknuckleairlines]

My buddy Gilbert got one of the proto's too.. he put custom trim on it. Flying it with a DA-85. The plane is simply fantastic.

video --> http://whiteknuckleairlines.com/inde...4&key=39&hit=1

[Tired Old Man]

Using A 123 Batteries

This was my first time using A 123 batteries and I like them very much. I recharged after the first flight, about 8 minutes worth of flying and the batteries took between 115 and 123 milliamps respectively. That was using 5 Hitec 7955 servos with one JR 4721 servo on the throttle.

The second and third flights were conducted back to back with each about 10 minutes or so in duration. Recharging the batteries after the two back to back flights, the total recharge took less than 10 minutes per battery with inputs at 292 and 288 milliamps.

So with a pair of 2,300 mAh A 123 batteries I could probably fly 10 to 15 flights on a single charge using the numbers obtained from the three flights as a reference baseline. For me that pretty much ends the use of lipos and lions for flight batteries. This was is safer, cheaper, and easier to set up. Plus I can store them for months at a time at a full charge state instead of trying to find a 60% capacity storage level while hoping for the best.

[Tired Old Man]

WKA,

Thanks for posting the video. Charrua has a DA 85 in his where I have an RCGF 100 in mine. His vertical accelleration out of the hover is real good. The 100 provides a little better but at an 8 ounce or so weight disadvantage.

Looks like it was pretty windy the day of the video!

[Tired Old Man]

I took the Edge out for another few flights today and have come to some interesting conculsions. You most definately CAN fly IMAC with this plane. Dial down the rates a little from where I have my lows at aand you don't over control. Hammers real good with no tail waggle. A tiny amount of elevator top rudder mix for the KE positions takes care of any coupling that you might have based upon cg location. It holds a very nice straight line and rolls quite axially. Vertical lines are whatever you want them to be. Wind correction stuff is easy, as is inverted flight. Stall to spin will happen when it stops, so you have to plan your altitude line when you slow down for a spin. Wings drops, rudder into the dropping wing, spin, stop where you want it to.

For 3d stuff just don't "overfly" it. Like any of the big planes with big surfaces you don't want to pull high sped stuff with big deflections. It will harrier until the tank runs dry without any, again any, wing rock. It LOVES to harrier, and it LOVES to hover. Rolling maneuvers are super easy, as is total control at stupid slow speeds. The controls remain completely effective at all times. You really have to try hard to do anything wrong with it. You can make big mistakes and never feel that you will have a problem. Hover, climb straight up into a vertical snap, into another hover, into another vertical snap, into another hover, and on and on and on... I haven't bothered with any mixes for knife edge flight yet. The coupling very slight, but I'm guessing that you might dial in a 4 or 5% max elevator to rudder mix for worst case coupling. That's near none. I haven't experienced any low rate rudder roll coupling except at max rudder rates for KE loop stuff and that's relatively minor for that much deflection. You can hand fly the roll couping quite easily. Lands trainer slow. Actually slower.
I've flown some nice planes but I haven't flown anything that beats this one.

[airlyons]

sub

[Tired Old Man]

Not too much to add to this one. I'm flying the production plane now and it had a couple of changes that make the assembly easier for the owners. The canopy/hatch assembly is factory completed with a nice blend of the two parts. With the exception of the rudder (shipping size reasons) all the hinging is factory done.

I've got a DL 111 hangin' on the nose with a Fuchs 27-10 prop. The plane has no limits! Could use a 28" prop though. She has a very clean stall break that had an IMAC guy sorta drooling. His statements about it having a cleaner break than a Yak or Extra was encouraging for those that prefer precision flight. It's a straight ahead break so you get to pick your spin direction. She doesn't appear to have any of the tail wag that 50cc Edges always seem to have so she flies a very clean line. As well as anyone could fly one IMO.

Keep the control throws down and she's quite IMAC capable. Go for the big throws and 3d is extreme and simple to execute. No problems at all using single servos for every surface after many flights. Just be sure to gap seal the hinge lines to eliminate and airflow through flow at the hinge joints. Makes for a much more positive and predictable control response.

[clm]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Tired Old Man
	The Weight The Balance With the wings mounted the C/G moves aft a bit so the tail mounted servo(s) is only for those using heavier engines. I was able to achieve a balance point of 3/8" ahead of the center of the wing tube by moving the ignition battery forward until I got what I wanted. At least for the prototypes the wing tube center is situated 6-1/2" aft of the leading edge of the wing, placing the C/G 6-1/8" aft. It's an Edge 540 so it doesn't matter where you measure from the leading edge at We'll see how that works out for flying.

I know this is an old thread but I would like to ask about your CG location of 3/8" forward of Center of wing tube.
How did you come to that exact location?
Do you still have the plane? Have you changed the CG? Does it flying nice IMAC type straight lines?

I have been flying my 35% Wild Hare Edge for about 7 months now doing hotdog flying with an aft CG.
I want to switch to more IMAC type flying so I'm moving the CG forward looking for better straighter lines.