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Meet the aircraft
Zivko's Edge 540 combines a compact low-wing airframe with a powerful piston engine for competition aerobatics. It later became closely associated with the Red Bull Air Race. The Edge 540T is a tandem-seat development.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗The right aircraft supports a display shared with her husband
Pemberton chose the Edge after reaching the point where her Pitts was limiting the aerobatics she wanted to develop. Its American manufacture had practical appeal, and she valued an aircraft that a smaller pilot could move around and maintain. Returning home from training in Germany renewed her appreciation of her own Edge’s power. Airshows also offered a way to share flying with other people, despite having only one seat.
EvanFly interview · July 2009. Single-seat Edge 540 airshow flying; the aircraft she used during a separate training visit to Germany was a different type.
EvanFly.com · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Alexander Coats · 5 min ·
Why We Fly - Zivko Edge 540
An Edge 540 pilot shares an aerobatic flight and reflects on why he enjoys it.
Real aircraft · Zivko Edge 540
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Zivko Edge 540
Zivko's Edge 540 combines a compact low-wing airframe with a powerful piston engine for competition aerobatics. It later became closely associated with the Red Bull Air Race. The Edge 540T is a tandem-seat development.
Race modifications and competition setups can differ between individual aircraft; the simulator product identifies its represented version and equipment.
Zivko Edge 540
Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
Development milestones
First flight: 1996
Wikipedia contributors · Zivko Edge 540 ↗Zivko Edge 540 · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1305158510
Pilot accounts
The right aircraft supports a display shared with her husband
Pemberton chose the Edge after reaching the point where her Pitts was limiting the aerobatics she wanted to develop. Its American manufacture had practical appeal, and she valued an aircraft that a smaller pilot could move around and maintain. Returning home from training in Germany renewed her appreciation of her own Edge’s power.
Airshows also offered a way to share flying with other people, despite having only one seat. In a developing display with her husband Rex, he flew his wingsuit while she circled behind in the aircraft. She described the appeal of bringing those two activities together for the audience. Her enthusiasm for the Edge belonged to both the flying itself and the performance they could create around it.
EvanFly interview · July 2009. Single-seat Edge 540 airshow flying; the aircraft she used during a separate training visit to Germany was a different type.
Read the full account · EvanFly.com ↗A close finish feels as exciting as the first win
Hall’s win at Cannes came after a closely fought final round in front of a large crowd on the French Riviera. He praised his Edge 540 and described the result as his strongest performance in it so far. The setting and the competition made the occasion feel as exciting as his first victory.
His comments also gave the other finalists their due. Matthias Dolderer finished very close behind, with Michael Goulian joining them on the podium, and Hall stressed that any of them could have won. The report captures the satisfaction of bringing a race together while recognising how little separated the successful run from another result. It records one particular weekend in the 2018 season.
David Tulis, AOPA · April 2018, relaying Hall’s post-race Red Bull interview. Cannes race in an Edge 540; this is separate from his earlier MXS-R career.
Read the full account · AOPA ↗A promising run ends with a call from race control
Goulian’s Budapest run was looking exceptionally quick when race control called him off the course. The instrument panel explained the interruption: a brief peak had exceeded the competition’s G limit. A flight that had seemed capable of a very strong result instead ended in disqualification.
He explained the difficulty through the vertical turn. A gentler pull gave away time, while too much effort could end the run altogether; increasing speed made the margin harder to manage. The team’s report preserved that frustration without disguising the result. They left Budapest looking towards the next round in Kazan, still trying to combine the aggression needed for a fast lap with the precision needed to finish it.
Goulian Aerosports · July 2017. Team 99 Edge 540 at Budapest; the reported race G-limit and penalty belong to that historical event, not general operating guidance.
Read the full account · Goulian Aerosports ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2024Edge 540
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Edge 540
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
MSFS 2020Zivko Edge540
LivToAir · Released
Zivko Edge540
LivToAir · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 20 ft 7 in (6.27 m) |
| Wingspan | 24 ft 4 in (7.42 m) |
| Height | 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
| Wing area | 98 sq ft (9.1 m² ) |
| Empty weight | 1,170 lb (531 kg) |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,800 lb (816 kg) |
| Powerplant | 1 × Lycoming AEIO-540-EXP (modified) 6-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 310 hp (230 kW) at 2700 rpm - rated power |
| Propellers | 3-bladed Hartzell HC-C3YR-4AX composite constant-speed propeller |
| Stall speed | 51 kn (59 mph, 94 km/h) (V SO ) at 1,550 lb (703 kg) |
| Rate of climb | 3,700 ft/min (19 m/s) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Pilot account
The right aircraft supports a display shared with her husbandEvanFly interview · July 2009. Single-seat Edge 540 airshow flying; the aircraft she used during a separate training visit to Germany was a different type.
Pemberton chose the Edge after reaching the point where her Pitts was limiting the aerobatics she wanted to develop. Its American manufacture had practical appeal, and she valued an aircraft that a smaller pilot could move around and maintain. Returning home from training in Germany renewed her appreciation of her own Edge’s power. Airshows also offered a way to share flying with other people, despite having only one seat.
Melissa Pemberton
EvanFly.com · Read the source ↗A close finish feels as exciting as the first winDavid Tulis, AOPA · April 2018, relaying Hall’s post-race Red Bull interview. Cannes race in an Edge 540; this is separate from his earlier MXS-R career.
Hall’s win at Cannes came after a closely fought final round in front of a large crowd on the French Riviera. He praised his Edge 540 and described the result as his strongest performance in it so far. The setting and the competition made the occasion feel as exciting as his first victory. His comments also gave the other finalists their due. Matthias Dolderer finished very close behind, with Michael Goulian joining them on the podium, and Hall stressed that any of them could have won.
Matt Hall
AOPA · Read the source ↗Developer documentation
Zivko Edge540 — product listingZivko Edge540 · MSFS 2020
Product listing captured 2026-09-30; edition scope from the reviewed catalogue
iniBuilds Store · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Zivko Edge 540Wikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 1305158510 · retrieved 2026-09-12Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftType designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Product
LivToAir Zivko Edge540 for MSFS – iniBuilds StoreiniBuilds Store · Product listing captured 2026-09-30; edition scope from the reviewed catalogueBuilt-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 2 profile choices
LivToAir Zivko Edge 540
LivToAir · Free and Pro · Revision 3 · Inherited starting point
MSFS 2020
LivToAir Zivko Edge 540: The chosen response supplies the aerobatic aircraft’s axis balance.
Zivko Edge 540
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
MSFS 2024
Zivko Edge 540: The chosen response supplies the aerobatic aircraft’s axis balance.
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