ELEC EXPERTS FLITE STREAK ???

Hi all
what setup would you electric experts, pioneers,
recommend for a ARF Flite Streak ??

Less motor n batteries than what we have seen up to now?

Thanks Len, best forum on the net

Vincent,

I wish I could provide THE answer, but all of my efforts have been on larger aircraft.

The one problem with electrics we cannot avoid is the weight. The motor, ESC, timer, and batteries put together weigh more than the glow setup you are replacing. You need a wing that can handle the weight effectively and I'm afraid the Flite Streak wing is too small for my setup.

I started with an Oriental (550 squares), moved up to the Cardinal (579 squares), am now flying a Roadrunner (595 squares), and just started building a new Alouette (650 square inches wing area). Each of these moves has given me better performance with the same motor and electric components.

I'm hoping Igor or some of the people who have worked with the smaller setups will jump in here and help, but you are basically going to need 150 watts per pound to fly a reasonable stunt pattern.

I am a member of the "High voltage Low current" Fan Club, but strapping four big Li-Po cells on a small Flite Streak wing may be asking too much. You could probably get away with a 3 cell pack.

Figure a minimum of 400 watts needed to fly and you're looking at 36 amps from your 11.1 volt 3 cell pack. Frank Carlisle has flown his electric Smoothie on a 3 cell Polyquest pack (3700mah?). You may have to fly on shorter lines, but it's certainly possible.

One of the neat things about electrics is you can take the same motor and drive it easier or harder as necessary. My AXI 2826/10 will easily replace a good 40 or 46 and possibly something much stronger as I learn to push it harder. Thus, you can buy that one motor and let it grow with you.

Ron King

Hi Vincent and Ron,

Perhaps I can help answer your question. I converted a Flight Streak ARF to electric last year and the plane flys extremely well. At the John Kilsdonk Memorial last Sept I had about 10 -12 other u/c modelers fly it and they all offered very positive comments. In fact all were extremely impressed when famed local stunt flyer Bob McDonald did continous square 8's with the electric Streak. I developed the powertrain configuration to provide a "inexpensive" way to get into electric stunt.

Yes, Ron is correct in his comments reference weight. The Streak does not have the wing area to lift an AXI 2826 and 4 cell battery. The configuration I used was a Typhoon 2912/10 coupled to a 3 cell Thunderpower 2100 lipo battery. Total ready to fly weight is 26 ozs. To get the watts up I utilize a 12/6 APC electric prop. Motor pulls slightly under 30 amps which results in 190 watts/pound in...assuming 80% motor efficiency this results in 150 watts/pound at the prop.

As memtioned above, performance is very good at this power output for this size plane.

Modificatons to the Streak are minimal and took about 1 hour extra during assembly. I've included some pictures which should help clarify the powertrain configuration installation.

I hope all the above information helps answer your question ...best...Richard Sawicki

Frank Carlisle
proud member of R.C.C.D.

Just be glad LIPO's are available. Try it with Ni-cads.

Bruce

Thank you Richard

That looks terrific

A great looking plane just one question what type of timer and esc did you use?
Regards
Robert Bolton

Hi Bob,

On the Flight Streak I utilized a Castle Creations 35 speed control unit...valcroed to the right side of the nose. This was coupled to a Zigras timer which I purchased from Windy. The timer is located on the left side of the body between 2 stripes of valcro so it is easily accessible. The battery is valcroed to the bottom of the body and also secured with 2 straps which slide in slots made between the wing and the lower body. If you have any other questions please let me know.

Rick Sawicki

Thanks for that deffinately a good set up! I have noticed that most people use the castle creations esc's does anybody use any other brands? Just a curiosity

Cheers
Robert

I'm sure they do, but the Castle units are easier to set up, IMHO.

You can get the Castle Link software to set the unit up with your PC. Most other ESCs require you to use an RC transmitter.

Ron King