I think Tony had the 540T at one time. This thing was beast, white and purple with rc-help decals.
Tony still owns this plane lmao
540 or 540T ( tandem ) either way, besides the slightly longer canopy they are pretty close to the same style... but it's the Great Planes version and not an E-Flight as I said earlier, still its more of a sport flyer version vs a 3D as the ones from 3DHS which is what the OP was talking about
It is actually a 3D plane, I just don't have the skill set to fly it like it needs to fly.
to the OP, no matter if you go with the 3DHS 48" or the GP 540T that's 49.5", they will both be a load of fun. I love my Edge from GreatPlanes and it's one of the most stable planes there is. Check out the RcHelpDotCom channel for videos on this plane.
As I stated earlier, I have wanted to fly Randy's plane from 3DHS just for comparison to mine as well as comparing his 41" to my 40" Fliton planes.
Either way you go, you will be very happy. If it were up to me to do it again, I would go for the 48" 3DHS Edge 540 over the GreatPlanes. As Randy said and I may have confused you above, it is more of a pattern/sport flier but can do some pretty good 3D. However I think the 3DHS planes of equal power and size will out perform the GP 540T.
GreatPlanes makes all kinds of planes but the majority (I think) is mostly trainers and the like. Whereas 3DHS is strictly (I think) 3D planes. They live and breathe 3D planes and their designs prove that fact.
My next plane will be a 74" (I think) 30cc 3DHS Edge 540. But that is a while down the road.
Hope I didn't confuse you too much with this ramble lol.