PLEASE
NOTE THAT THIS VIDEO WAS SHOT WITH SAME EQUIPMENT AS SHOWN
IN THIS RCU REVIEW
Quality
Ease
of assembly
Performance
Tracking
Handling
Looks
Price
Manual
Comes with own carry case
Breakdown for travel in minutes
Easy to build
Incredibly light for a built up ARF
Price can't be beat
Not
enough hours in the day
to fly it as much as I would like
WOW
- I can actually get a fully 3D capable ARF airplane complete
with a power system for only $175? This had to be
too good to be true. So I acquired a 3D Buddy Edge from Ultra
RC for a review on RCUniverse.com and I was pleasantly surprised
at what I got. This is no cheap foamy. This is a completely
built and covered balsa and plywood constructed airplane with
a beautiful red white and blue transparent covering job.
One of the most amazing parts about it is that it's fully
transportable and breaks down in just minutes for travel inside
the included carry case. Ultra RC even includes a brushless
power system complete with ESC, gearbox and prop.
Packaging
The ARF comes boxed in its own cardboard carrying case that
you can use to store your plane for travel needs. Once assembled
the ARF is designed to be taken apart and strapped back into
the carrying case for you to take along on any travel or vacation
ventures.
The
contents are neatly packaged and wrapped in thin foam covering
with a plastic outside wrap.
The
plane
What can I say, how can you not like the stars and strips
in transparent red & blue covering. The stars are solid
white covering, and the canopy is solid gray covering. Clear
covering is also used on: the entire bottom of the wings,
the bottom half of the fuselage, top and bottom of the horizontal
stabilizer and the separation between the red stripes. The
joinery is laser cut and well assembled.
The
Hardware
The pictures provided with the manual are small, but effective
enough to guide yourself through completion. Having built
a few planes before it wasn't hard to figure out. All
hardware supplied is complete with brush-less motor, speed
control, and all control linkages. Landing gear and wheels
are also supplied.
The control horns are cut from plywood and intended to be
glued into the provided slot in the control surfaces. I also
used Dubro E/Z mini connectors at each servo linkage hookup
for flexibility of surface adjustments.
The
build did not look like it was going to take long so lets
get started.
Name:
Ultra RC 3D Buddy Edge 540E
Distributed by: Ultra RC
Web site: www.ultrarc.com
Price: $174.99
Wingspan: 30-3/4"
Length: 32-7/8”
Weight: 10.22 ounces without
battery
11- 15 ounces depending on battery used
Prop used: 10x4.7
Radio used: Futaba 7C
Battery used: Kokam (3 cell)
11.1 volt 1500ma
Motor supplied with ARF:
Ultra RC SR20L-4200 Gear Ratio 4.64: 1
Speed control supplied with ARF:
Ultra RC BL-ESC 18A
Servos used: (2) HS- 55,
(2) GWS NARO/STD
Receiver used: Great Planes
Electrifly, 4CH- FM R
THIS
ARF INCLUDES:
BRUSHLESS 20 ELECTRIC MOTOR BRUSHLESS 30 AMP ESC GEARBOX, 11X4 PROP
Items
purchased separately
Great Planes Electrifly, 4CH FM Receiver
(2) HS- 55, (2) GWS-Naro/std servos
1-Short Y-harness (ailerons)
Small bottle Thin CA
Small bottle medium CA
(Optional) 1 Pkg Dubro mini E/Z connectors (Cat.No.
915)
(Optional) Hook & loop material
Heat shrink tubing
Tools
needed
Utility knife
Solder and soldering iron
Phillips and regular screwdriver
Small drill bit and drill
Scissors or small diagonal cutters
Hardware
Electronics
included
Almost
ready to fly!
Great
detail
Bottom
of wing
Dovetail
joints
First
thing to do is to remove the covering where the wing, horizontal
stabilizer, control horns and landing gear fit into the appropriate
slots. This can be done with a utility knife but is best done
with the tip of a hot soldering iron. The soldering iron not
only cuts through the covering but also seals the covering to
the fuselage as you work your way around the opening. Mounting
the motor is next.
The ailerons and elevator are pre-hinged to the wing and stabilizer
with more than enough deflection. The slots in the fuselage
allow you to install and the wing and elevator into the fuselage
with the control surfaces and servos attached. The rudder will
need to be hinged to the vertical stabilizer with the provided
CA hinges.
180
degrees throw
180
degrees throw
Wing
Comes
with carry case
Prep
for gearbox
Wedge
for thrust
Glue
the plywood wing mounting connectors into the top and bottom
of the wing in the provided slots. Slide the wing through the
fuselage until the mounts are tight against the fuselage. After
sliding the wing tight to the fuselage I noticed that the wing
and the fuselage were not square to each other. To fix this
I padded out the mounting brackets until the wing and fuselage
were perpendicular to each other. Secure the wig to the fuselage
with 4 screws provided. Repeat this same procedure for the horizontal
stabilizer and elevator.
Score
trim
Score
trim
Score
trim
Attach
motor
Motor
attached
The
only 2 hinges to attach
Mount
the plywood linkage stabilizers for the rudder and elevator
into both sides of the fuselage. Before you CA the plywood linkage
stabilizers into the fuselage run the control rod through the
hole in the plywood stabilizer to make sure the hole is not
to tight. If there is resistance, enlarge the hole a little
so passing the rod through the hole is smooth and non-binding.
The plywood control horns can also be glued into place. The
plywood control horns are shaped different for the elevator
and rudder. To determine which one goes where, the hole in the
horn should line up with the center of the hinge line with the
control surfaces set in neutral position.
Prep
for hinges
Landing
gear
Wheels
Ready
for gear
Attach
stab with screws
Easy
to install and remove
Hookup
the speed control to the motor and your preferred connector
for hookup of the battery. This will require a soldering iron,
solder and some heat shrink tubing. A trial hookup of the motor
will tell you if the motor is running in the right direction.
To reverse the motor for proper rotation switch the outmost
yellow wires before you solder them. The ARF comes with tie
straps to secure the speed control to the fuselage but I opted
to use hook & loop material.
Install the landing gear, wheels and tailskid. The landing gear
slides into the triangular slot and held in place with a small
tie strap. The tailskid can be glued into place with some thin
CA glue.
Control
rod guides
Attach
wing with screws
Score
for horns
Horns
installed
Looking
good
She's
pretty!
Hookup the
ailerons with the two short control rods provided. I installed
the z bend into the plywood control horn and used the Dubro
E/Z connectors for attachment at the servos. The longest rod
provided is for the Rudder and the shorter of the two is for
the elevator hookup. Here again I installed the z bend into
the plywood control horn and used the Dubro E/Z connectors
for attachment at the servos. I also had to shorten up the
length of the rudder plywood control horn and drill a new
hole for the linkage hookup so that it would not interfere
with the deflection of the elevators.
Ready
for electronics
Electronics
Close
up brushless
Landing
skid
Stab
Easy
to install
The
receiver is installed in the wing through a hole you will cut
in one of the small octagonal holes between the aileron servos
and the octagonal holes at the leading edge. There are extra
clear covering provided to seal the hole back up once you install
your receiver and servo hook-up. The antenna was brought back
out of the wing through a hole I made next to the fuselage and
weaved through a few small holes I drilled through the bottom
rib of the fuselage down to the tailskid.
The day finally came to test fly the edge and we lucked
out with just a slight breeze and a beautiful blue
sky. With a handful of freshly charged Lipo packs
we set to the flight line. The first thing I noticed
was how much power this brushless/prop combo produced.
The plane was trying to leap out of my hand before
I even reached 1/4 throttle. This was going to be
fun!
A simple hand launch and I was flying. I needed a
couple clicks of aileron and elevator trim for straight
and level flight. I was concerned about the CG position
with the battery but a quick roll to inverted and
I was hands off level flight.
POSING
TIME
With
the cg as setup, it flew well, harriers upright and
inverted were very easy. I noticed some slight coupling
in knife edge flight but I mixed it out quickly with
my radio. Rolls on high rates are almost too fast
to keep up with, so be sure you are on low rates for
the initial flights. Point rolls were easy and the
plane stopped on a dime when the controls were released.
Hovering
and torque rolls are easy to keep up with and very
predictable, rolling harriers were much easier with
the battery in the stock location as well. I found
the rudder to be very powerful. Flat spins are as
easy as full throttle, full rudder and full or less
of up elevator. Just by adding a touch of aileron
and sometimes I got mine to climb while spinning.
The Edge does really nice walls and parachutes! I
found the Edge to be a lot of fun and it performs
3D maneuvers with ease. I found that I have just as
much fun with this model in my backyard as I do with
my 50cc planes at the field.
What
can I say? The more I flew the Edge, the more I enjoyed it
flight characteristics. I did end up removing the landing
gear as it sort of looks funny on there due to its size. And
besides this plane was easy to hand launch and catch so why
use the gear? For $175, you can not go wrong. A plane that
builds in no time and performs like the big boys.
The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review.
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