The Zivko Edge 540

"The Edge 540 meets or exceeds the performance
of any other aerobatic airplane in the world!"

The Edge 540 is undoubtedly one of the most popular aerobatic RC airplanes, ranging from small 3D profiles versions to giant Scale ARF's. Like most RC Pilots, I'm sure you're familiar with this airplane. Unfortunately many RC pilots own and fly these planes without a true appreciation for the aircraft and its history.

Knowing the history of an airplane truly does enhance the experience of flying its RC counterpart. If you already have a radio controlled Edge or are interested in one, this page will give you a little background on how this awesome bird came into existence,

Bill Zivko

Bill Zivko is the man responsible for creating the Edge 540. He started his career as an aircraft mechanic in Wisconsin. By the late 1960's he was working along side Jim Bede designing the Bede BD-5J Microjets. It was here that Bill and Leo Loudenslager became good friends. Leo just happened to be the pilot of the infamous BD-5J Bud Light Jet.

Bill also came to know Burt Rutan while working with the Bede Jets. You know Burt Rutan right? The guy with the big sideburns? He's the founder of Scale Composites. Their SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 by being the first privately owned aircraft to send a civilian to space twice within a 14 day period. I knew you would remember, kinda hard to forget those sideburns...

Beachcraft Starship

In the early 80's the Beech Aircraft Corporation called upon Burt Rutan's expertise in composite aircraft design to manufacture prototypes for the Beachcraft Starship. The Starship was to be one of the first civilian aircrafts to utilize lightweight composite airframes. Burt Rutan was the perfect man for the job. He founded Scale Composites and hired his good friend Bill Zivko to run the shop!

What's a composite material?

Zivko Aeronautics Inc.

Bill Zivko learned quite a bit about composite materials at his time with Scale Composites. In 1987 Bill and his wife started their own engineering company for designing and manufacturing composite components and aircraft for government agencies and the private sector.

Zivko makes composite parts for just about every aspect of aviation you can think of ranging from instrumentation pods to UAV's. Zivko gained quite a reputation for their high quality and attention to detail of their products.

Edge ZA-1 Wing

Bill developed an interest for Unlimited Aerobatics through some of the pilots he became friends with throughout his career. One of those friends was Leo Loudenslager. Leo won the U.S. Nationals in the Unlimited class 7 times and along with being the world champion with is infamous Lazer-200.

The Lazer-200 caught the attention of the world in the mid 1970's and became more or less the "foundation" that most modern aerobatic airplanes evolved from. Unlimited aerobatics is very competitive so others quickly took the concept of the Lazer and improved upon it. By the early 1990's the top dogs such as Sukhoi Su-26 and Extra 300 were powerful lightweight composite airplanes that could withstand some major G's. The good o'le Lazer was yesterday's news.

By this time Zivko had acquired some very talented engineers. With input from his pilot friends, Bill worked with his engineers to develop the Edge ZA-1 composite wing for the Lazer. This much lighter and extremely stronger composite wing turned the Lazer into a new animal!

The Edge ZA-1 wing was so successful that Zivko started making the necessary parts for pilots to buy the airplane with the new wing. Zivko called this new bird the Edge 360. Although the Zivko Edge 360 was a giant improvement over of the Lazer, it still didn't have what it took to compete with the big dogs.

Edge 540

Bill and his crew decided it was about time to remind the rest of the world exactly where airplanes come from! Zivko carefully studied the competition and built upon their strengths and abandoned their weaknesses.

The Zivko engineers used the knowledge and experience with composite materials they gained from previous projects to design a new fuselage.

By utilizing composite materials to minimize weight while increasing structural integrity, they managed to design an airplane with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio than any other aerobatic airplane in existence.

In 1993 the "Edge 540" was born and quickly gained the respect of its peers by claiming 1st place at contests around the world. The Edge 540 is one of only 2 airplanes currently flown in the Red Bull Air Race circuit, and the only plane to ever win the Red Bull Air Race World Series. The Zivko Edge 540 is now recognized as one of the best, if not the best, aerobatic airplanes in the world known for its exceptional aerobatics and precision maneuvers.

The 540T is a two place(seat) training version of the aircraft that became available in 1999.

Edge 540 RC Airplanes

I know your dying to find out where to pick one of these up right? Because of the enormous popularity of this monumental aircraft, it is available an just about any form ranging from parkflyers Edge 540 's to huge IMAA legal birds!

Below are a few of the most popular and well known quality ARF's that I definitely recommend taking a look at.

Great Planes Performance Series

Must See Video of the Performance Series!

Are you looking for a superior quality edge 540 ARF at a very modest price? Whether you're looking for a compact size electric or a huge IMAA legal model, Great Plane's Performance Series Edge 540's are top of the line!

27% Edge 540
The gpma1414 27% Edge is IMAA legal with a 78" wingspan. This Edge 540 RC airplane makes it extremely easy to choose between a 1.60 glow engine, 43cc Gas engine and yes, even a brushless outrunner motor. The manual gives detailed directions for the installation of all three.

This plane is fully capable of any maneuver you can think of, yes that includes 3D! It comes with all the hardware you need and only takes about 20 hours assemble. Each aileron and elevator half has its own servo. You can set the rudder up as either a "pull-pull" or direct linkage on the tale.

Electrify Edge ARF
With a 41" wingspan and two piece removable wings, the gpma1550 Electrify Edge is easy to transport, even if you have a small car. It flies the same maneuvers just as well as its big brother described above, except it's small, cheaper, and only takes about 6 hours to put together.

All of the servos are externally mounted for quick response. One of my favorite features is this edge 540 cowl is held firmly in place with strong magnets. Not screw to mess with when you need to get to the motor.

Seagull Edge 540 ARF's If you're looking for a 46 or 60 size quality ARF for a very modest price you should consider Seagull. To be honest, you probably won't notice a substantial difference in performance between this affordable model and some of the more higher prices models of other brands. This bird can do it all including snap rolls, knife edges, and any 3D maneuver in the book. Its performance really does rival that of higher priced ARF’s of other brands. Made from high-quality balsa and plywood, this ARF is easy to assembly. It comes professionally covered with Hangar 9® UltraCote® covering. Its fiberglass cowl and wheel pants make it a really sharp looking plane. Trust me, you won't be disappointed with the plane. And if you are? Just send it to me, I'll gladly take it off your hands!

Kyosho Edge 540 50 ARF

Kyosho is a well respected Japanese RC airplane manufacturer that offers their Edge 540 50 at a surprisingly reasonable price. A lot of times Kyosho prices are at the top of this list, it's a pleasant change to see a Kyosho bird of this quality offered at a decent price.

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Designed for a 46-50 size 2-stroke or 52-63 4-stroke glow engine, this plane is also capable of unlimited sport and 3D aerobatics.

This plane is also very easy to assembly and has a very unique way of attaching the wings to the fuselage. Each wing is held to the fuselage by pins, the wings are then held to the fuse by a unique rubber belt.

This not only makes installing the wing easier, the fuselage is much stronger without having been cut out for the wing as most conventional RC airplanes.

I've only heard good things about this plane. Much like the Kyosho model, you can't beat it for the price!

Gotta Check eBay for Bargans!

There are tons of Edge-540 models in addition to the ones mentioned above. If you keep you're eye on eBay you will always find a steel. It's just a matter of patience... Check out what's available below!

Related Pages

• Types RC Aerobatics
• Pattern Flying
• Pattern Planes
• Scale Aerobatics - IMAC

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