Airborne Edge Trike Feedback please

[Bubbleboy]

Hi all....I am looking at a second hand 1997 Airborne Edge Trike fitted with a Rotax 582 engine. This is an older model obviously and I was wondering if an Edge owner can give me some honest feedback on what this model was like. Did it have any peculiarities or bugs I should be looking for? What service life do the wings have. It has done approx 460 hours. The engine is well past its 300 hour rebuild and Bert Flood have advised me a new engine is $5300. What is a rebuild on a Rotax 582 worth? I want to work out what it would cost to get this legally in the air so I can work out if the chap is asking a reasonable price.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Scotty i_dunno

 

 

[bushpilot]

Hey Scotty - Better to make the Redback seller out there an offer...

 

 

[Guest MundooTriker]

I don't think AirBorne are still supporting the "Edge" wings. I looked into it before buying my trike.

 

Check direct, but I think you will find Airborne recommend upgrading to Streak II.

 

So you could be looking at new engine plus wing. From my info, approx $16k-$18k.

 

Airborne also recommend mast replacement at 400 or 500hrs.

 

An old trike could be a bit expensive to bring up to std.

 

Might actually be cheaper to pay a bit more for a model with lower hours.

 

What ever you do, get it checked by LAME or an instructor that has your safety at heart, so your butt comes back to earth at a survivable rate of knots;).

 

All the best

 

Andrew

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

582 overhaul, done IAW the rotax manual is likely to cost around $4k-$5k mark if you are paying someone to do it. In retrospect, having shelled out that amount for a bluehead overhaul I would not repeat that process, rather I would buy new and sell the old motor. In my case the overhaul process ended up needing oversized pistons and rings and as such the amount of future overhauls becomes restricted. With a new engine that becomes someone elses problem. (In my case the overhaul process was not smooth and needed to be redone, so it was abnormal, the cost, however did not reflect that)

 

BTW, I think the overhaul hours is 400 not 300, unless the earlier grey head 582's had a reduced tbo. However 400 or 300, its one of the reasons that I personally will not ever buy another 2 stroke. 300hours on a trike is not a lot of time. 5yrs or so max (if you are doing the amount of hrs that you really need to do to be on top of the game) ...

 

Just out of interest an edge trike (and by that I presume you are talking the gold anodised aluminium frame and nose wheel that doesnt have a trailing link/ drum brake assembly) then the age of these is such that if you divide the engine hrs by age in yrs you might end up arriving at a number that will reinforce the need for an engine teardown, especially if you realistically allow for 2-3 yrs at 50hrs per year and then spread the rest across the remaining yrs.

 

Andy

 

 

[Barefootpilot]

Hey guys just a reminder that the TBO's on the rotax's are recommended and alot of people will run them well over this (I've heard of over 1000 hrs) with no problems. Its a little different if you are buying the aircraft second hand and don't know how it has been treated but well looked after they can run well over the 300 hr TBO. I am not saying ignore the TBO but if you do buy it you could probaly get someone in the know to take the heads off have a look and give you an idea if it would require a full rebuild.

 

I am no expert on Rotaxs (or much else for that fact!) but there are alot of people out there running the 582's TOSG (Tony) has flown many an hour behind 582's so he would be a good starting point.

 

Adam

 

 

[Guest roadk99]

Hi Scotty. I dont reply much but if its worth nowing the trike i am learning on is a 582 blue head. And it has done 800 hrs.The owner says it is due for an over haul. it hasnt been worked on at all. just serviced.reguarly.

 

 

[skeptic36]

Hi all,

 

An instructor once told me if I turned up with an Edge Executive wing he wouldn't teach me ( he kinda coughed and mumbled something about them not being stablethumb_down )

 

Regards Bill

 

 

[Bubbleboy]

Thanks a bundle guys...I knew I could find out what I wanted to know. The Trike is on Ebay at the moment and he wants around $10000 which after knowing all this, is way too much to say the least. Im in no rush to buy so will keep a look out and see what comes up..

 

Chris....im kicking myself I didnt have the funds at hand to buy yours...lol :hittinghead:

 

What are the differences between the Grey Rotax 582 and the Blue head model?

 

Scotty :thumb_up:

 

 

[Bob1957]

check out my 1993pegasus XL-R trike on ebay it might be cheaper alternative but needs work to get it up to flying standards.

 

 

[Bob1957]

also the wing keel on the pegasus wing is TBO at 500 hrs the rest is about double that ie Leading edge etc.