The Aeroworks 60/90 Edge 540T is an excellent quality ARF designed by Aeroworks to bring 3D flying to those with less-than-extraordinary budgets. Although I feel it fails at its goal of being a 3D machine, it makes an excellent IMAC pattern plane with its smooth, straight, and predictable flight characteristics. This is after some teething problems associated with having purchased one of the first kits released.

The quality of the Aeroworks ARF is excellent. It appears to have been built by World Models, because all the hardware was World Models brand, and the quality and construction style was similar to other World Models aircraft I had seen. The plane went together straight without any tweaking whatsoever.

When we purchased this plane, Aeroworks was claiming flying weights of 6.5-7.5lbs, so we decided a hopped-up .91FX would be more than adequate for the plane. When we finished building, it weighed 9.0lbs dry. This weight necessitates the power of a 1.20 for good 3D performance, yet the wing is still only 64", which would result in pretty high wing loading if a 1.20 was installed. For this reason, I don't think this ARF would ever make an excellent 3D plane.

The first flights with this plane were eventful, to say the least. The first flight was barely under control, I could not get the plane to fly in a straight line, and it felt like it was constantly stalling. I forced the plane down, managing to avoid all damage except a slightly bent landing gear.

It took us about 4 weeks and numerous trials to find all the causes for this erratic behavior. The first problem was a faulty PCM receiver we had recently sent to Hobby Services for repair. Although the receiver would range check fine using our normal range check practice, it was constantly losing frames, even at short distance. Only after modifying our range checking routine did we notice this, and a receiver replacement fixed this problem. The second problem was a rearward balance point. The instructions we received with the kit said that the balance point should be located at 4-3/4" from the leading edge of the wing, and ours ended up being about 1/8" behind that. This location is about half an inch behind the neutral position, making the plane unstable, keeping it from flying in a straight line without constant attention. Moving the balance point forward cured this problem.

After a few flights getting settled with the plane after the distressing test flights, I realized how well it flies in typical IMAC aerobatics. It tracks straight, snaps cleanly, and is properly powered. It will not hover on the .91FX, but the vertical is good enough for a snap or two on the upline. The Jett muffler was a great addition to the .91FX, adding nearly 30% more power than the stock muffler, exactly as claimed on the Jett webpage. The plane looks great both on the flightline and in the air, and is a good addition to our hangar.

Tail Wires

The tail on this aircraft is a bit flimsy, and Aeroworks recommends tail wires. We used DuBro pull-pull cable threaded through Sullivan 2-56 eye hooks and crimped in place with brass tubing. The eye hooks are threaded into DuBro metal clevises, which attach to bent DuBro landing gear straps. The landing gear straps are attached to the fin and stab using 4-40 nylon bolts in an attempt to avoid creating a circuit for radio interference.

Tail Servos

For a more positive elevator setup, we used tail-mounted servos with short carbon fiber pushrods. Originally, Hitec HS-225's were used for elevator servos, but were replaced with JR's digital minis when the plane felt like the elevator servos were not centering properly, which turned out to be a CG problem in the end. Although the digitals do center better, the difference between them and the Hitecs would barely be noticeable with a proper CG.