Wild Hare 88" Edge 540 Build

[Tired Old Man]

Should be Cub yellow or very, very close to it. I use Sig Cub yellow dope to paint my glass spinners for the yellow cowled W/H planes since that's what I have around and it's a near perfect match. The red is usually True Red. All Ultracoat colors.

[rager24]

Well just got back from flying mine for the first time
First it came out at 16 pounds 4 oz with a dl 55 on an can sys, A123 pack, hitec servos 4 7985 and 1 7955,
23X8 xoar prop, and a carbon fiber spinner
It had a ton of power will go up as far as I can see it
2 clicks of down trim was all that was needed
but it yaws left in the vert will have to add more right thrust to it
Other than that it will pull to the gear and roll out a little bit in knife edge, will mix that out with my raido.
Over all it is a nice flying plane
will post some pics later

[toad]

I waited until I had some more flights under my belt before posting a flight report. I know that it takes me a few flights to get an accurate handle on a new plane and I wanted to be fair. I have 16 well documented flights.

I am running a BME 50 Classic up front with a wrap around pitts muffler. It's still breaking in so I am running a BME 21X8 with Penzoil 32:1 for break in. This combo, @ 16lb 1oz is still very strong. It's not ballistic...but I am not lacking in power. I am confident that once she is broken in this will be a great combo for me.

I am running (2) 2400mah Li-Ions for flight control into a Smart-Fly Super reg. I have 1 2400mah Li-Ion on the ignition with a MPI regulator at 5.4 volts to the ignition. I have 5985 on all surfaces. For control I am running a Multiplex Royal Evo 9 with XPS module on 2.4ghz. I get between 9 and 10 hard flights on this setup before I have to charge.

I currently have the CG set about 1/4" back from the center of the wing tube. This is giving me true hands off inverted flight. With the recommended throws on low rates...the plane is lively but very controllable. No bad tendencies at all. In fact I may take out a little of the elevator or setup a flight phase for snaps as they are a little too 'deep' for my liking...though this is purely asthetic on my part. The snaps both positive and negative stop right when and where you tell them...I have to credit the very large and incredibly light wings on this kit for this.

Knife edge flight showed a VERY slight pitch to the belly...and I do mean VERY slight. I didn't see any roll coupling. I did have a strong yaw to left in verticals. Prior to fixing this with an ample dose of right thrust...I was holding near 1/2 low rate right rudder deflection on vertical uplines. I keep hearing that folks are needing to add right thrust. I would recommend that anyone building or planning to build this arf should plan for this in your build. The edge also does some of the prettiest ass over tea kettle tumbles I have seen.

I havent done any serious 3d work with the plane. Several reasons for this...mainly the new engine. I can tell you that harriers, upright and inverted, are rock solid. No wing rock and so slow and predictable that is really confidence inspiring. Hovering is uneventful, especially after I added a healthy dose of right thrust.

Overall, I am VERY VERY happy with this arf. Its strong, light and straight. Covering is very good and the glass is top notch. I have a slight mismatch on the cowl to covering...the red. Red is very hard to get a good match with. It is also slight. I was concerned with the gear...this has proved thus far to be an unfounded concern. Its kinda soft and springy...but is holding up well and I have been flying primarily from a rough grass field (I did leave off the wheel pants though). The hardware kit was a good investment with a couple exceptions. There is nothing wrong with the dubro tank in the hardware kit...but its 24oz. I am running 16oz...and even with a lot of verticals etc...I am still at 1/3 a tank after a 10 minute flight. The only piece in the hardware kits that is just not acceptable is the tail wheel springs. A very minor thing in the grand scheme.

With a little trimming work that really, all planes need, this is a great flying plane. Its light and strong. It lands super slow...it has no bad tendencies and with the control surface authority there is nothing this plane cant do.

Tom I am VERY happy and you can expect to have me as a repeat customer.

[Tired Old Man]

Toad,

The spring in the gear is a bit of a tradeoff. If the gear was rigid all the impact forces from a landing would be tramsmitted to the bottom of the plane. Eventually something would break. Having gear with a little spring in them permits some of the landing impact energy to be disbursed through the gear legs. I've flown W/H planes, including 28% Edges, from numerous field types from very smooth to very rough and the gear work out nicely.

Happy to hear that you like and are enjoying the plane!

[Wayne's World]

Edge is still flying great at 16.4 lbs...best plane in my hangar by far..Anyone that has any doubts about buying this plane is crazy.. also the service from Tom is excellent also..

[rager24]

ok My bud sent me some photo's of it in the air

[toad]

After getting into gallon 3...flight # 27 I finally pushed the edge a bit.

3d performance...in my hands...is pretty spectacular. I certainly am not comfortable enough with her to really make her sing. Harriers are rock stable. Rolling harriers are purdy...even if they are piloted with my shaky thumbs. The edge has god of thunder like elevator authority....yes...its a technical term. I was getting some of the prettiest tumbles I have seen in any plane. Its this line of flying that I think may have spelled the end of this edge. That line being...if she tumbles like this...what will waterfalls look like?

Well...my first waterfall...I take her straight up...at almost the point of stall, full down elevator/full power...she did three...yes three complete ass over tea kettle waterfalls before I even knew what the hell had happened...well thats not true...I literally just stared at it and said "holy ..." well you know. I did this once.

I flew a bit more...nothing severe...immlemans...stall turns...etc. Bring her in for a landing...nice slow and smooth like normal...I noticed some wrinkles in the forward deck. I though initially that I just had some loosening from the sun...but when I looked at it more closely...it looked as though the edge of the deck...right above the wing tube...on the right side had been pushed up sharply.

This caused me to take a closer look. Inside the fuse...the deck where the rudder servo mounts...I saw this (the first pic) on the right side right where the cannister tunnel roof ramps down to the rudder servo platform. Looking closer...down the sides of the cannister tunnel roof...I noticed the right side had pulled away from the sides on the right side. The next couple pics are the left then right sides as a comparison. The right side has pulled away just over 1/8".

I honestly am not sure how serious this is. When you add all this up...coupled with the dented front deck...its got me worried that I really got lucky in getting this thing down in one piece.

Just for the record...the plane has been landed gently...every flight. Its hard to mash this one in...its a real floater. This was the first flight where I did anything much more than a slow speed snap. And most importantly...I am not trying to stir up a bunch of crap here. The 88" edge...is in my experience...a superb airplane. Still though...if this is what I think it may be...I dont think the plane should have done this from a stall speed waterfall.

Your thoughts?

[toad]

My wife informs me that that original description of the waterfall is not accurate.

The setup...near stall...full down full power is correct...but the airplane didnt descend...it just swapped ends...three times at near the same altitude. I was out of the throttle in the second revolution.

I have NEVER seen a plane do this before. It was SUPER cool...but not so cool if I damn near broke the fuse in half doing it.

[toad]

	Quote: Originally Posted by rager24
	ok My bud sent me some photo's of it in the air

Love the graphics rager...she sure does look purdy in the air.

[rager24]

Toad
After reading your post I checked my plane real close and mine is fine.
It has about 10 flights on it so far and I have pushed hard every flight so far.
And the only thing I have had to do was add 1/16 to the left side of the motor mounts.
To get some more right thrust in it.
Other than that it flys real nice.
But check with Tom and see what he has to say about your plane.

Btw I'm glad you like the graphics

[toad]

Thanks for checking yours Rager.

The crack and pull apart happened on the same flight...it wasnt like that prior.

I will give Tom a call and see what he thinks. I am genuinely hoping that you all would say "thats a non stress bearing part...your fine".

[cacctus]

Any news?

	Quote: Originally Posted by toad
	Thanks for checking yours Rager. The crack and pull apart happened on the same flight...it wasnt like that prior. I will give Tom a call and see what he thinks. I am genuinely hoping that you all would say "thats a non stress bearing part...your fine".

[pipercub123]

Wow, that's too bad Toad. I have had plans of blendars once I get it off my work bench and that surely would give it hell just as well. Work, completing the new house, and family events have put things almost to a halt. This has been the worst start of any season I've had, lol. I may just end up taking it easy with this one and practice light 3D and IMAC. I want my investment to last atleast until I have a replacement.

Hopefully you get things fixed and this is only a problem with your kit! The construction really looked great, hopefully we don't have weak ply. I believe I read somewhere that WH is getting their current supplies from a differant company. I have only heard good about older WH kits so perhaps the new company is to blame for the flaws.

~Keep us posted!

Regards,
Cub

[dabrandt22]

Maidened my 88" Edge w/ DA-50 this past weekend. Great plane and great support from Tom at WH.

[maineflyer]

I am extremely close to buying one of these. I have been following the thread from the beginning and like what I see. I have a Pilot 300 50cc on backorder but the price is more than I want to spend. I always wanted an Edge and this, I beleive is the one. What are you seeing for all up weight? I would be looking at either a DL55 or an Area 51 for power.
Thanks
Jeff