Top Gun Edge 540

[Colin Leighfield]

This is a nice looking model, but it''s not cheap, therefore you expect good quality. Don''t kid yourself.

Straightforward to assemble except for some fiddle getting in a decent size tank to feed the OS91FX.

First flight, started up the (already run in) engine. Warmed up, set for full throttle and the black trim stripe down one side of the fuselage peeled off and blew away in the slip-stream. Oh well.

Took off like a rocket and needed some trimming to sort out in admittedly very windy conditions. Flew very well, promising.

No fun in wind like this,fortunately straight down the runway, so bring it in after 5 minutes. Comes in over the fence with a very low ground speed into a 15 knot wind, land it and the alloy undercarriage flattened itself out.

This had been reported in an earlier review some time before, with the observation that the supplier (CML) said that this would be resolved in kits on sale. (Heard that one before).

Went home ordered the nearest spec carbon fibre u/c I could find in the Carbon Copy catalogue, it arrived quickly and with a little modification fitted it. Painted the black c/f white to match the original.

Up the field again and had some good flying, it''s quite fast with the OS91and rolls like a dingbat.

Next time up the field, started off ok, then went deadstick and had to land in the grass just alongside of the runway. Stayed upright but the U/C plywood plate ripped straight out, whells went up and punctured holes in the wing covering.

It''s in the garage roof at present, I''ll get round to sorting it out when I can get motivated. But for £159? I''ll think hard the next time.

At least it''s not as bad as the Vemar CAP232 I tried a few years ago. Words fail me and I won''t insult you with that one. Fortunately I still have my YT International Ultimate fitted with an ASP180 4 stroke  (originally it had the 120 but needed some more poke, the previous owner flew it with a Moki135). That''s brillliant and the build quality puts the Top Gun and Vemar offerings to shame.

[YakMad]

I would have to agree Colin, I had two Top Gun models, the Ultimate and Extra and both required alot of work just to make them fit for purpose, I too had to replace the undercarriage with Carbon Copy versions and when you add this extra cost and the effort required to sort out the problems they are very poor value. I would  not even consider one again.

[Colin Leighfield]

Thamks YakMad, I'm glad it's not just me.