got my 3DHS 48" edge 540 today

[dannylightning]

who ever those people are, you did notice that i stress how windy it was and i did say

"with all the wind we had today i know i did not get a true test of how this plane handles but for the conditions it flew pretty damn well, but i can compare how the EPP extra and this plane flew in this amount of wind. and for most things the EPP extra had a major advantage"

i explained how the plane flew in allot of wind and how it did compared to the 3DHS 48 inch extra EPP plane, i thought it was going to do better in the wind.

i don't know crap about planes so when you talk about wing loading i dont know exactly what that means. i was told that a balsa plane would fly better than the EPP plane in every way by some of the guys at the field, they said surfaces are stiffer and will not flex as much so it will be better in the wind, more precise,

i should be out flying the plane again when i get a day off and than i get the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th of june offo work than work another 10 days before i get a day off again. i think my schedule gets back to noormal after that.

[hANDYman]

Wing loading refers to the ratio of wing surface area to the weight of the plane. (How much weight must each square inch of wing lift.) As I learned back in my days of hang-gliding, (IIRC) lighter wing loading provides a more docile flight characteristic and a slower stall speed, but the handling in wind will be a bit more "bumpy". While a smaller surface wing (for the same all-up weight) will be more responsive, have a higher stall speed, and will be much less affected in windy conditions.

It's the equivalent to disc loading in the heli world. By changing the length of blade, and thus the surface area of the rotor disc, you can change the way the heli feels in flight. Shorter blades will be provide a more agile feel in the air, while longer blades will provide more lift, more float, better auto capabilities.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by hANDYman

Wing loading refers to the ratio of wing surface area to the weight of the plane. (How much weight must each square inch of wing lift.) As I learned back in my days of hang-gliding, (IIRC) lighter wing loading provides a more docile flight characteristic and a slower stall speed, but the handling in wind will be a bit more "bumpy". While a smaller surface wing (for the same all-up weight) will be more responsive, have a higher stall speed, and will be much less affected in windy conditions.

It's the equivalent to disc loading in the heli world. By changing the length of blade, and thus the surface area of the rotor disc, you can change the way the heli feels in flight. Shorter blades will be provide a more agile feel in the air, while longer blades will provide more lift, more float, better auto capabilities.

thanks for the explanation, i don't really know much about disk loading either on a helicopter, that is one thing i never bothered to read up on. i do understand what longer, shorter and wider blades will do for flight so i figured that was enough information lol.. i know people say some helicopters can have better disk loading than others even if they have the same size blades, but i cant tell you why that is.

10-15 mph winds are pretty much a common thing here. if the wind is under 10mph we are all happy. each week we might have a day or two in the summer with out much wind, in the spring the wind is usually pretty calm allot of the time. summer hits and its often some what windy. more than likely most of my fling with be in 10-15 mph winds or more. 10 mph winds are what we consider a pretty calm day.. and than there will be a day here and there where its blowing a few mph and were all super happy

so far this year the wind has been pretty mild up until the last couple of weeks.

[drdispatch]

CG will affect the knife edge and KE spin performance if even off a little. Play with the CG next time and see how it changes the KE performance, find the sweet spot YOU like. I didn't have the Edge but most of Ben's planes had little to know coupling in knife edge. Could be that you just don't dig the airframe though, no harm there.

if you decided to sell the edge and try a different frame I highly recommend the Slick, hands down one of the best.

You may have seen this before, if not check out this thread, tons of info there.

[hANDYman]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

i know people say some helicopters can have better disk loading than others even if they have the same size blades, but i cant tell you why that is.

Well, given that the disc loading = weight / disc area, the only way to change the disc loading (given a fixed length blade) would be to alter the weight of the model, or alter the distance between the blade grips. If you increase the distance between the blade grips, you are effectively increasing the useable surface area of the disc.

Too bad about the constant wind conditions in your area... definitely handled better with heli's. In theory, you could add a bit of weight at the CG to increase the overall weight of your plane which would increase the wing loading but that will increase the stall speed making your approach speed for landings greater. Something that was made all too clear to me the first time I flew a smaller double-surface hang glider!

Probably the best bet would be drdispatch's suggestion of changing the CG... maybe try changing the placement of the battery a bit and see where you like it.

If it's any consolation, I haven't gotten KE flight at all yet. Can do it a bit in the sim (especially with a gyro installed ) but it's just not happening in real life yet.

[dannylightning]

thanks guys,

the wind kept wanting to tip my wings pretty hard in normal flight, lots of choppy thermals that day, so when trying to fly knife edge in the wind, it may have just been kicking my wings making KE flight nearly impossible, for me any ways since i am not a experienced pilot.

my battery will go forward more but the power wires on the battery rub on the wood, so i try to stick the power wires in the open area so there not rubbing on any thing, i guess next time i get a day to go out and fly ill try to stick the back closer to the nose and get the COG right, i put a dot under each wing at 80 and 90mm with a magic marker so its easier to put my fingers tip on the dots and play with the COG

knife edge straight lines are pretty easy on that EPP extra, i was told that that plane excelled in knife edge flight and harrier it was extremely easy to do both on that plane as long as you were moving at a descent speed, for KE you seriously just flipped sideways and you did not need to touch any thing but the rudder and it would just fly a straight line KE like it was nothing i could even fly circuits KE like it was a piece of cake.. maybe all planes are not that easy to fly KE

i bought the little UMX extra micro plane a few days ago and have been flying it in the movie theather or the ball room in the building i work in. i notice that plane takes allot more work to keep it in KE flight and i am not all that good at it with that plane either.

once i get a nice day with out much wind ill post a new review about the EDGE. the first review was only what i thought about how the plane handled in allot of wind. i think it did good but not as good as the EPP extra.. on a windy day that EPP extra is probably hard to beat for a 48 inch 3D plane but you do halve to keep it moving quickly or it will stall which is the one think i really did not like abut that plane, that was actually the only thing i did not like about that plane..

[drdispatch]

Nose heavy CG will cause the plane to pull towards the canopy in KE flight. Tail heavy the opposite. From there some people mix in the radio if any coupling exists. I never did - I just flew it as is.

Profiles will fly effortless KE but suck in other moves.

[dannylightning]

now that i have got some flying time in with this plane, its pretty easy to fly for the most part, could be better at pattern flying, great for 3D flying.

still not sure exactly what i think of the plane, i am starting to get a feel for it, i think i would like something that is a good pattern flyer and good at 3D, the epp extra was great for pattern and sport flying and pretty descent for 3D

not totally happy with it but its growing on me. i guess i am getting some blow back on my rudder so i need to move closer in on the rudder servo horn. i have those extended arms, i think that is why knive edge is kind of hard because i need more rudder authority.. ill get that all fixed up here pretty soon

[hANDYman]

Just ordered the 3DHS 47" Extra 300 SHP a few days ago... can't wait for it to show up. Went to a local field the other day and one of the guys was flying a Precision Aerobatics plane and the balsa aerobatic planes just look so nice. I was starting to get the hang of KE flight with the profile foamy. Doing straight passes and circles.

Good to hear that the plane is growing on you. What do you mean by blow back on the rudder?

[Mojappa]

Blow back is when the servo can't hold the rudder against the thrust from the prop. As long as you follow the recommended setup from 3DHS it'll fly very well.

And about it being better for 3D than pattern flying, that's kinda the thing with 3DHS planes. As you progress you'll grow into it which I would rather have as opposed to a plane that I could outfly and therefore outgrow.

[hANDYman]

So what is meant by pattern flying anyway? Just flying simple circuits etc. Is it simply because the 3D planes have no dihedral that some find them less enjoyable as pattern planes or is there some other design feature that determines that?

I also would rather get a bit more plane than less. The LHS steered me away from buying a high wing trainer such as an Apprentice and I'm so glad I skipped that step... I think I would have been more than a bit disappointed.

[Epoweredrc]

3DHS planes are so great I have a AJ slick the 42 it fly so nice check out my utube videos if ya want.

[marcoeldragon]

Danny if you go to the next to outermost hole on the extended rudder servo arm and get 6 volts to the servo with a external UBEC then set endpoint adjustment to max you will get plenty of travel and no blow back. My rudder touches the elevator with my DX6i set to 125%.

[dannylightning]

the guys at the field tell me i have blow back because my servo does not have enough torque due to what hole on the extended servo horn i am using.. they did some kind of pressure test on the rudder and said that was my problem...

ill move it in from the outer most hole to the next hole in and see what that does.

i am running 6V on my ice 50 that should be fine right ?? how would a external UBEC be any better ??

should i move the rest of my servos in a hole, they are all on the furthest hole out on the extended servo horn set.

[marcoeldragon]

If you already have 6 volts to the servo the only advantage of the External UBEC would be more amps. Yes I would go one hole in on all the servo arms for better resolution and torque. You have them on the ailerons too? I used the longest plastic one that came with the servos for the ailerons and that gives me plenty of throw. Ben Fisher from 3DHS says that the servos have more holding power near the ends of their travel than anywhere else. So go in one hole on the arm and set your end point adjust or travel adjust (or whatever it is called on your tx) to max or near max, on my DX6i that is 125% on a DX7 it is 150% to get back the throw you lost by going one hole in. Hope that all makes sense.