tiktock

hi, my WH 28% edge with DA50 weighs just above 17lb and the pull out of hover is a bit slow. it's all stock hardware and by getting CF wing tube and landing gear i would save 14oz. i also have a heavy ignition battery ( 6v 2300mah nimh ) which i'm going to change to a 4.8v 1500mah nimh . that should also save me some weight.
is it worth spending $110 to save a lb? and will 1lb make a noticeable difference in the flying performance?
thanks

flyinrazrback

My Feedback: (69)

I think 1lb on a 50cc plane is a lot, I would change that stuff out, and your performance all around will increase quiete a bit.

quist

My Feedback: (198)

YES that is less then $7 per oz. It is worth it.

aviti

My Feedback: (54)

Yep, do it.

DeadAccount237939

what prop are you running?

altitude above sea level?

if it is worth $100 to have your airplane fly like it does when it is almost out of fuel, than spend the money, because that's more or less what the difference is going to be.

tiktock

i'm running a Menz 22x8 at 7K rpm, Bisson muffler with the tips chopped off and i fly at sea level.
also, i'm using a 16oz tank so not much weight there.

Absolut Yak

My Feedback: (4)

Big difference going to a 23 x 8 prop.

Ken Bryant

My Feedback: (10)

Sounds like you need some engine tuning and a better prop to start with. There are LOTS of ways to lighten that plane up.

1. Wing tube
2. Throttle and choke servos to mini size. (not Micro)
3. Go with no choke servo. Use a mechanical choking method.
4. Batteries!!!! Go with something LIGHTER! LI-Ion or Li-Po. Don't forget you will need a regulator if you go with those.
5. Stab tube. Very llittle savings here.
6. Ditch the wheel pants
7. Do you have a pilot in the cockpit? How much does it weigh? Ditch it to save wieght.
8. Lighten the airframe up. Go through it and see where you can remove wood and lighten her up. Yes, there are allot of places this can be done safely on the Wild hare.
9. Carbon spinner and prop.
10. Change the landing gear to something lighter. Yes you will save weight here but I have not seen a good carbon gear yet that is worth the investment.
Adding these per suggestions:
11. Use a Standard DA Muffler instead of and slimline/Pitts
12. Use a Light carbon/titanium tailwheel assy

Allot of the lightening methods above will only save a little bit of weight here and there, it does begin to add up real quick and YES, you do see a difference in how the plane flies. Seeing an Edge/Extra get all these modifications done and perform like it didn't before is truely a satisfying thing. But is it worth spending all the time and money? It depends on what you want your plane to do and how you fly it. You can always get the WH yak and not have to do any of these things to get the wieght off of it.

Flyin Hawaiian

I would change the prop first- I have a Aerotech Velox w/ DA 50. weighs in at 17 lbs. I prefer Biela 22-10 or 23-8. Both of these props will pull out nice w/ good power. Of course it was me... I would get the aircraft as light as I can. The weight you shed will result it big smiles.

Rennie

torqmeister

Good advice, fellas. If all you want to do is fly IMAC, leave it where it's at. If 3D is on the menu, then save every possible ounce you can find. Have a friend with a WH 28% Edge that weighed 17 1/2 lb. He used all the weight saving tips here, and then changed from a wrap around pitts style muffler to a standard DA muffler. He gained 400 rpm, & the performance is awesome. At 16 lb & standard muffler this plane does it all. It is nice & light on the wing, & flies like a larger plane. The key to the 50cc size planes is to get the weight to 16lb, or less. You 'll be able to fly IMAC & freesyle equally well, with no compromises. My .02.

rcblimppro

Don't forget the tailwheel on that list. In some cases a 3 oz savings can be had by going to one of our Titanium setups. Then throw on a CF spinner and save even more weight. On a 50cc it could be a 1/4 pound or more with these 2 items alone.

Shawn

tiktock

i'm going to try a 23x8 and see how it flies. then i'm going to see how my vertical is when i'm almost out of fuel and that would give me a good idea if it's worth getting all the CF stuff. it seems quite difficult to lighten the frame but just to see, i'm going to remove the wheel pants, cowl and spinner. after reading all the reply's i have a good idea on what 's required if i need to lighten the plane. thanks

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

My Feedback: (42)

Tic Toc,

On my 29% Extra 330S I changed the wing tube, tail tube, landing gear and removed the wheel pants (they were getting beat up anyway). I also changed the two 2000 nimh 6v batteries (way overkill) with 1200 6v (4 oz right there). I went from 1/2 oz shy of 17 lb dry to 16 lb 1 oz dry

I saved 14 1/4 oz and the plane now will hover with very near 1/4 throttle (meaning almost 1/4) with DA-50 and NX 22X8 prop. Before the weight loss it flew what I thought was good, but now the difference is noticeably lighter.

Here is another one for you to save a few ounces. Go to a smaller fuel tank. Once my DA-50 appoached the broken in point and I have leaned the engine to normal, the engine actually will sip fuel and a large tank is not needed. I fly a 10-11 minute flight and use a timer each time. On an easy 10 minute flight I have a half tank remaining. I rarely use full throttle unless I am showing off on uplines or multiple above the horizon snaps. Some guys are using 20 and 24 oz tanks. Consider that each ounce of fuel weighs .046875 pounds (figured at 6 lbs per gallon of gas) Going from a 24 oz tank to 16 oz load of fuel saves 6 ounces at takeoff. A light plane like the setup I fly can actually exist on a 12 oz fuel tank for a 10 min flight. That is 9 oz (reads 3/4 lb) less than if I had the 24 oz tank full of fuel.

I just did switch out to the NX 23X8 prop and am not sure how I like it. It pulls more but spools up slower and you are required to stay on the rudder more for the added torque. I probably should put a few dozen flights on it before I can make up my mind.

RDB

YNOT

An intelligent question with great answers!!! Thank God.

As stated above, spend the money and lighten it up.

Got a couple of other tips:

Foam. Weigh your foam, there is heavy and light foam. Go to Velcro and only use foam to vibration control.

I see most airplanes loaded up with all this foam in the nose of the airplane securing the tanks, battery packs, Rx, etc. Git rid of that foam.

Wheels. Rubber wheels are much heavier then foam wheels. Only problem, foam wheels will flat spot. Can't leave them always on the gear.

Is the turtle deck and hatch hollow or still full of foam??? Canopy floor? Do you have one? I don't. I a freak.

The lighter the plane the better it flys, however there is too light. Too light sucks in any wind, however zero wind its freakin awesome.

Cappy69

Definately!!

I have a WildHare Edge myself. Was originally really overweight at almost 20 lbs. I had 2 sets of 6v batts, smoke system w/20oz. tank, and about 8 oz. of weight in the stab tube to balance. Since then I got rid of the smoke system, 1 6v batt that was for reduncency, reduced the main fuel tank to 16 oz, removed the weight in the stab tube and moved the ignition and receiver batt on a lighweight tray in the turtledeck to balance, moved the rudder servo to the tail for balance, cut out the entire bottom of the hatch, removed all the excess wood that made up the servo tray for the pull-pull rudder, used 3" foam wheels....then I put a carbon fiber stab tube and wing tube in it, carbon fiber main gear, carbon fiber wheel pants, and carbon fiber tail wheel. Now it weights in at 17.5 lbs. WITH a full fuel tank and NO dead weight. It's amazing how everything adds up. The wildhares are no lightweights by any means.....but mine flies like a different plane now. It definately doesn't rocket out of a hover now....but you could imagine how sluggish it was at 20lbs. . With over 300 flights on it...I'm still havin a blast with it. .

Just thought I'd share a vid [link=http://www.rapidupload.com/file.php?filepath=8343]HERE[/link] from 2 Sundays ago (85 MBs...but fast)

Cap

AcroJo

My Feedback: (1)

Tell me your secret. Not counting the removal of wood, weight saving upgrades on a plane this size is more like $350.00 per pound. What are you swapping out that weighs a pound and only costs $110.00? Joe

YNOT

Even at 350 a pound, it would be worth the effort to improve the performace of the plane.

Gear, wing tube and a smaller battery pack may be done 110.

Also, billet servo arms and control horns sure add some bling, however they add weight too. Or you could spend a couple of hundred to have some CF ones sent to you from down under.

catfish2

My Feedback: (43)

On my WH extra, by far the best bang for the buck was to replace the wing tube with a CF tube. You save somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 lb, the CF tube is stronger, and CF is much more rounder. In my case the stock tube was very tight and difficult to assemble/disassemble, not so with CF. With a DA50 on these planes, odds are you need all of your gear as far forward as posible to balance the plane. Anything done to lighten the tail pays off quickly by allowing you to downsize or move these components back toward the CG. Any or all of he mods posted by the others will help 3d perfomance to some degree, its more a matter of how much money and time you are willing to invest.

torqmeister

Hey, Catfish, how have you been? Have you been flying at the Bullard field lately? I haven't seen you at the Tyler field recently. I've been debating renewing my membership at the Bullard field, is there still a lot of activity there?

AcroJo

My Feedback: (1)

Total agreement. Have an older 'Midwest' Extra on the bench now. Projected savings is 1-1/2 lbs. Managed to hog out 7oz. from the fuse and the rest from swapping out components. Useing CF, titanium, etc. wherever possible. Seeing a lot of savings from small items that are now being produced much lighter than when they were offered back in the 70's. Wheels, pants, cowls, etc.etc. The savings are great, but do come at a steep price. In my eye, the results are well worth it. Joe

jongurley

My Feedback: (29)

For your interest guys you might want to check out my thread in the wildhare forum, It is called "HELP PUT MY 28% WILDHARE etc,etc, on a DIET" I will post a link on this post or you can go to the wildhare thread, I took the plane from about over 20 lbs down to 17 and it is like night and day, it flys like a foamy(not really but you guys know what I mean,)) here is the link http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3541968/tm.htm