New Flite Streak Thread

I am probably the last one to get an ARF Flite Streak in the air; however, I finally flew mine last night. Spent the first couple of flights getting tank height and engine break in accomplished, but still did some lazy manuevers. The Veco 19BB is more than enough engine for this model. It handles verticles and overheads just like a 35.

Used 60' .015 lines, will probably change to .012 lines. Tip weight was adequate, but there does seem to be a very slight wing warp. Will try to fix by shrinking the kote tighter on one side.

I am very pleased with this model and can't wait for my Noblers to arrive. Also anxiously waiting to see what else Top Flite will offer. Hope Sig follows suit.

Hi Louis,

do you have a warp. or do you need wingtip weight? Does the airplane fly wingtip high in both directions? both of the Flitestreaks I have seen fly needed wingtip weight.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-24-03 AT 09:24 AM (CDT)
 
Wingtip high upright, wingtip low inverted. Classic indication of a warp. I plan to tighten the kote on the inboard bottom first to see if this helps. Of course with flapped planes you just tweak the flaps a little till the plane flies tip level upright and inverted.

The tip weight is just fine, although I am going to switch to .012 lines to reduce drag. For those who do have a tip weight problem, try going down a size in lines, especially if you are using .018 lines; however, make sure you are using the minimum thickness required for your engine size.

Louis
Millington Barnstormers Fun-Fly, Septermber 27th.

>The tip weight is just fine, although I am going to switch
>to .012 lines to reduce drag. For those who do have a tip
>weight problem, try going down a size in lines, especially
>if you are using .018 lines; however, make sure you are
>using the minimum thickness required for your engine size.

Speaking of, what are the current line size requirments? The latest AMA rules book I have is '94-'95. It still says engines .0511-.1525 require minimum .012" stranded lines. Engines .1526-.4028 require .015" stranded as minimum.

Have they changed? Unless they have, for a .19 engine you have to use .015's.

Oops, forget to specify single strand.

Are these on the market now. Thanks Mike Krizan

>Are these on the market now. Thanks Mike Krizan

The ARF Streak has already come & gone, at least the first batch that Great Planes ordered from its supplier. I assume that's the "these" to which you referred.

.
Kiwi

What kind of tank did you use and what tank height ended up working well with the Veco 19? I've got a Veco 19 I'll probably put on an ARF Streak also.

Elwyn,

I used a GRW Short Nose 2 1/2 ounce tank. I mount all my profile tanks on a slotted piece of 1/8 ply so I can adjust it up and down. I get my best run with the pickup about 3/8" below centerline.

I was really surprised by the power of the Veco. I have been wanting to try this engine for some time. No power or tension problems with this motor. Try it, you will like it.

What kind of prop and RPM are you getting out of your Veco? Mine seemed a little anemic so I switched to an Enya 19 which does fine. I'm getting around 11.7 to 12K with a APC 9-4. On 53 foot line it turns about a 4.3 sec lap.

Mine's arrived here on the UK £66 and no duty!!!

What have others done to allow larger crankcases to be accomodated?

Tony

Tony Elmore

I enlarged mine with a smooth wood rasp, then covered with black monokote.

Does anyone know for sure what the stock tank capacity on the FliteStreak is? I am using a .25LA, and the stock tank works perfectly with it, but with such a small tank,I am already worried about running out of fuel by the time I have taken off. I have a 21/2 oz. square wedge tank that will fit, but wonder if I will gain anything by installing it.

The stock tank is 1.5 ounces. Just right for a .15 Diesel, but not a .25 glow. I have built a 3.25 ounce tank, and it is a bit much with the current venturi I am using on my OS 25 fp and 10x4 prop. About 2.75 ounces would be enough (I think). Better to have a bit large tank and under-fill, than to consistently run out!

Design Dude,

Tanks for the ARF Flite Streaks look to be a minor problem. Just as they were when this design was first kitted. This last weekend I tried one of those old Veco "profile" tanks, a 3.5-ounce number shortened about .250 and plumbed for uni-flo. While I did fly with this tank, what I really did was to prove they didn't work well back then. And they still don't.

A friend was using a rather square and boxy Brodak tank of some sort. Standard venting. We think his main problem is a low-time Magnum 25, so no claims are made as to whether this tank works or not.

However, I think the answer to this problem is pretty simple: Mount whatever tank you want on the inboard side of the fuselage. Lots more room to work with.

While I think there is (barely) enough room for a cheapie Sullivan SS-4 tank or maybe the RST-4, I discovered a spare 3-ounce Tettra tank in my growing supply of four-stroke junk. Fits perfectly. I am expecting superb runs.

As you have have more than a passing knowledge of relaxed-bladder in a hard shell types of tanks, thought I would remind you of this option.

When we were using this sort of setup in Slow Combat (reference: Cheater Slow) the only problem we had was setting the motor off lean enough; our tanks being positioned inboard of the engine tended to cause the engine to go a little rich in flight. This seems to be a good deal for Stunt as one simply cannot set the motor so lean it cooks itself in the air. At least that's my guess...

And don't be telling me about your home-brew relaxed-bladder tanks. Mine cost about 25% of what the entire ARF cost. And I'm proud of that. As I am the Central Hobbies CF pushrod.

> Does anyone know for sure what the stock tank capacity on
>the FliteStreak is? I am using a .25LA, and the stock tank
>works perfectly with it, but with such a small tank,I am
>already worried about running out of fuel by the time I have
>taken off. I have a 21/2 oz. square wedge tank that will
>fit, but wonder if I will gain anything by installing it.

Gang,

FWIW, there is room to fit a GRW 300 S (3 oz) or even a 350 S
(3.5 oz) on the ARF Flite Streak. Mine are standard vent (300 S) and uniflow (350 S) respectively. Just checked both...

>Gang,
>
>FWIW, there is room to fit a GRW 300 S (3 oz) or even a 350
>S 3.5 oz) on the ARF Flite Streak. Mine are standard vent
>(300 S) and uniflow (350 S) respectively. Just checked both...

I was told recently by a reliable source GRW is not currently producing tanks.

Don't know the status of GRW, but I can tell you this morning I asked Vanessa at SIG Mfg. to do a stock check on the 3.25-ounce Slow Combat tank. (Presumably a chicken-hopper tank, judging by description and price.) She said "We have a handful of those tanks." I ordered a couple, so I'm covered and the rest of you can fight it out over whatever remains.

>
>I was told recently by a reliable source GRW is not
>currently producing tanks.

Not so! We just recieved our order of 24 of the tanks. They are no longer made by the two gals that previously made them. We sell the 3.25 oz. CH model and warehouse them in our Eastern location, as most of the guys in GX combat use them in that area.

Joe

Mine came in this past Thursday... So now I can add my $.02. Just like so many others have observed: It looks good for the job it was intended for, and the CG comments w.r.t. beginners. The instructions stress the imporance of CG but what is shown is probably too far aft for beginners.

The only real concern I have is that on mine the motor mounts are very soft. You can easily press a fingernail into them. They appear to be possibly basswood or something similiar. Based on other comments on the forum I'd guess there is a wide variety of wood used in the motor mounts. Some hard and some not so hard. However the objective is to return to flight after a 20 year hiatus, so the only mod I made is to install conventional landing gear.

Now all I need is good weather that coincides with time off from work...

Big Country Joe,

My, my, we toss around the word "warehouse" a bit casually, don't we? How big, exactly, does a warehouse have to be in order to dedicate a (small) shelf to two dozen 3.25-ounce tanks?

And how's about some more information? I've got my tanks coming, what about the rest of the guys, seeing as how your warehouse is stacked to the rafters with the things. Also, what are the dimensions of these tanks? Will they actually fit into the space provided on an ARF Flite Streak?

P.S. How's the hand? Typing still (I hope) a major pain?

Hofacker,

I don't think there is any difference at all in the motor mount material between individual examples of the Flite Streaks. One can dent the mounts in both of mine with a thumb nail. And yet the front end is solid, probably due mostly to doublers and triplers.

An easy fix if you're concerned is to drill through the fuselage at each bolt location, installing lengths of 1/4" or 3/8" dowel. Get 'em flush on both sides of the fuselage, drill again for mounting bolts. No problem...