Edge 540 33 Percent

About

The Zivko Edge 540 is the product of Zivko Aeronautics, a small American aerospace company that has spent three decades designing purpose-built unlimited-aerobatic aircraft. Development began in the early 1990s and the type made its first flight in 1996. From the start it was conceived for one job — winning at the very top end of competitive aerobatics, where airframes need to do what most aircraft cannot: hover on the propeller, knife-edge with no rudder support, and snap-roll at staggering rates.

The Edge's reputation is built on raw numbers. A lightweight aerobatic airframe paired with oversize control surfaces and a high power-to-weight ratio give it a 420-degree-per-second roll rate and a 3,700-foot-per-minute climb — figures that have made it the dominant airframe on the international Unlimited circuit since the late 1990s. When the Red Bull Air Race World Series launched in 2003, the Edge 540 became the most common aircraft on the racing grid, and the airframe most associated with the series during its peak years. The Edge 540V3 variant, introduced around 2005-2006, carried Zivko's race-honed refinements.

The Edge 540 is one of the most-modeled aerobatic subjects in RC. Walk any 3D-aerobatic field today and you'll see Edges in every size — foam park-flyer, electric ARF, balsa 25-percent giant-scale, 35-percent gas-powered competition mount. The "33 Percent" in this model name refers to one-third scale — the upper end of the giant-scale category, popular with serious competition flyers. At this size the airframe carries a wingspan well over a hundred inches and a substantial gas-powered engine, with the kind of in-the-air presence that turns heads at any flying field.

In the simulator

A heavyweight take on the Edge 540 character. The one-third-scale version flies with more momentum than the smaller 25 Percent in this same pack — paradoxically, that extra inertia makes 3D maneuvers easier to read at altitude because you have time to see what the airplane is doing. Use it for big competition-style figures: vertical rolling circles, knife-edge passes the length of the runway, slow harriers, and the classic torque roll. Pairs well with open aerobatic-box landscapes that suit a giant-scale presentation. A natural step up from the Edge 540 25 Percent, and the right choice when you want the Edge 540 character with extra mass under your sticks.