Flite Streak ARF alternate engine choices?

While the OS 25-LA seems to be the engine of choice for the Top Flight Flite Streak ARF, just out of curiousity, has any one tried it with either an out-of-box stock Fox 35 (any vibration problem with the soft motor mounts?) or an OS 40-LA (listed as the upper displacement range in Top Flite's advertising - is this overkill?)

Thanks,

Darryl

MAAC 41841

In my opinion LA 40 is over kill and way too heavy! (LA 25 would probably do it). Fly's great with Thunder Tiger 25. Box stock Fox 35 would be plenty of power.

I'm planning a Norvel .15, although an OS .20 will be a "drop-in". I had thought of a Veco .19, but that would require removal of some of the "meat" on the motor mounts...something I'm not real anxious to do.

See Ya

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-03 AT 11:30 AM (CST)
 
>I'm planning a Norvel .15, although an OS .20 will be a
>"drop-in". I had thought of a Veco .19, but that would
>require removal of some of the "meat" on the motor
>mounts...something I'm not real anxious to do.
>
>See Ya
>
>Peabody

I'm running one with an OS20FP it's more then enough power. Keeps up with a Fox 35 Shoestring and Buster.Why put a vibrator on this plane.
Second one has an Enya 19 flies almost as fast and is easy on fuel.
Veco 19 and enya 19 have the same bearer space, they are both drop in fits. Dennis

Mine has an Indian replica PAW .19 turning a Zinger 10x5 prop. Seems to be just a bit too slow on 58' of .015 cable, but OK on 60' of .012 solid line. I may try a 10x6, as that engine will turn a MAS 10x6 at 8600, only 280 rpm down from the 10x5. That should actually net out to a 16% speed increase.

When I was a kid, about middle school age, I had several kit built Flite Streaks over a period of two or three years. All of mine were Monokote covered and built with what ever wood came in the kit and powered with Fox 35's, a Fox 25 and a Fox 19. None of my Flite Streaks used landing gear of any kind or a muffler. My dad and brother would hand launch for me and I would belly land the Streak in the grass. The best one, believe it or not, was the one powered by the Fox 19 and I got the longest flight times out of it. I never weighed any of the Flite Streaks but the ones with the 35's were always a little nose heavy. The one with the Fox 19 turned smoother and flew better and the 19 had plenty of power. Take all of this with a grain of salt because it very well may be that the one with the Fox 19 was the lightest and the straigtest of the bunch. I really have no idea why it flew better than the others. Back in those days I only had one set of lines I used for about five years on every airplane I built and the thought of replacing heavy wood or going easy on the glue to save weight while building never entered my mind. The kids and I have two flite streaks hanging in the garage one built from a kit and the other is an ARF. The kit built streak has a Fox 35 in the nose and the ARF is powered by an LA 25. The ARF with the LA 25 is the best of the two by far.

I will admit to having a selfish reason to encourage as many people as possible to bolt a hammering Fox 35 to the front of their ARF Flite Streaks. I've got a side bet with a friend, my view being the front end is strong enough for this sort of abuse.

Yes, the engine bearers are soft, but it's the doubler and triplers in which I place most of my faith.

Remembering how much trash all of us used to bring to the field, my money says the ARF FS, soft bearers and all, is a lot stronger than we realize. It is *certainly* stronger than the original FS kits assembled over a two- or three-day period, with Ambroid and/or Elmer's Glue-All and to the standards of the day.

Regardless of this, Fox 35s and even O.S. 25FPs bring a little too much power to the party. Personally, I have come to regret giving Jerry Eichten's kid a new O.S. 20FP won at a Salem, Oregon contest. ("A 20? What would I possibly need this thing for? Jerry, heads up!")

The guys bolting on good 15s might very well end up with the best-flying models come next spring. If they force themselves to use stock mufflers they'll probably run better, balance with little added lead, be quite pleasant to be around.

>
>The guys bolting on good 15s might very well end up with the
>best-flying models come next spring. If they force
>themselves to use stock mufflers they'll probably run
>better, balance with little added lead, be quite pleasant to
>be around.
>
>Dan

Dan,

Hmmmmmm...

Would you advocate something as mild as an OS LA 15? I have an LA 25 NIB for the purpose, and now you have me wondering...

To put it another way, would an OS LA series qualify as a "good" 15?

Happy Ho!

Andy:

Try the .15....my bet is that it will be fine. They seem to work well and reflect horsepower in racing....

See Ya

Going to put a Saito 30 4S on mine. Will let you know in the spring how it holds up, or doesn't.
Jerry

Andy,

As it is a lot easier to tame a motor than to pump it up--plus I have no idea if the 15LA is appropriate--I'd go with the 25LA.

What I think is the Hot Tip (subject to instant revision, as always): Get a GRW 3.25-ounce chicken-hopper tank, SIG has always had them in stock so they seem to be a good source. Mount tank nearly touching wing leading edge. Mount 25LA nearly touching tank. (I had to remove some material from doublers and triplers to do this, plus it gives you the chance to see fuselage really is quite hollow inside.)

Mounting motor as far back as possible--rarely an option with a Flite Streak, made possible here with the very compact GRW tank--allows one to use stock muffler. Balance point will come out very close to my currently preferred 1.9" back from LE.

While it took me a long time to agree with the assertion, O.S. engines really do seem to run best with a stock muffler in place.

My comment concerning "good" 15s being the best powerplants for a CL Stunt application is no more than a guess, although based upon seeing some really formidable OTS models--mostly Ringmasters--from Emil Kovac, all of which we Killer. And powered by 15s...

My ARF has a PAW .19 plain bearing turning a top flite 10x5power point, on 60ft .015 lines lap times are @ 5-5.1. Had a 10x6 on it didn't exit maneuvers as cleanly as with the 10x5.

The streaks I've had with the fox 35 with a reworked crank flew very well, after I replaced the 1/8 stab with 1/4. The one I bought with a G21-35 Tigre was real overpowered and noseheavy.

The Norvel 15 is supposed to be extremely smooth and powerful, it would probably be a good choice for the FS ARF.

>The Norvel 15 is supposed to be extremely smooth and
>powerful, it would probably be a good choice for the FS ARF.

Which Norvel? I have the BigMig 15 on a U-Key 15. Had some running issues first but it's settle down to a nice running engine and powers the U-Key with ooomph. Oh yeah, using a MA black 8-4 prop.

Biggest issue with the U-Key 15 is it also has a short nose which makes tank mounting difficult. I have my BigMig mounted forward and using a DuBro 2oz plastic clunk tank on uniflow. It seems to run better on std venting however.

I had a .25 in mine and it was flying like a combat ship. The engine develops A LOT more power than needed. I bet that anything .20 or lower will be just perfect.

Another problem with powerfull motors is the prop diameter. Landing gear barely has enough clearance for 9 inch prop. Take offs on grass is an adventure in itself.

The ARF Streak is very light so most smaller motors will pull it just fine. Find a motor that will be happy spinning 8 inch prop and you will have a winner combination.

>The ARF Streak is very light so most smaller motors will
>pull it just fine. Find a motor that will be happy spinning
>8 inch prop and you will have a winner combination.

I've got a sweet old OS Max III 15 RC from the '70s, whith a very quiet muffler. It would of course need a fixed venturi setup to replace the RC carb. Oh Leonard...

Here in the NW, Gerald Schamp has a Ringmaster using, of all things, an O.S. 26 four-stroke for power.

Sitting in the pits it looks like a really stupid idea.

Bouncing in for a landing confirms that, yup, that's a Ringmaster.

In between it flies amazingly well. No, no, not as in, "Well, for an old crock powered by Pond Scum it's not as bad as I would have thought," instead it is impressive enough to consider duplicating.

So, would anybody with the good sense to be on this site consider fitting such an engine to an ARF Flite Streak? I honestly think it might be an outstanding combination, especially if one ignores the widespread advice to just use a normal hard tank, going instead for plastic clunker.

My current FS is an orignal TF but flys great with a Fox 35. The only downside is getting a big enough tank in for long runs. My favorite motor for this bird is a Fox 25 baffle (4 bolt backplate). It runs smoother and gets longer runs. I wouldn't go under the 25 Fox for power if flying on 60'x .015 lines.

If you slap on a .15, you could run .012 lines.

Bill Smith was flying his last summer with the LA 25. Flew like a combat plane - wicked fast. I would be tempted to try the LA 15. Run a 2.5 ounce tank and .012 lines. Might be just right.

Ron King

With the un-restricted OS 25 a 9x6 prop and 15% nitro, mine was clocked at 84mph. Well under 4 second laps! Fastest pattern I ever did.

Ended up restricting the venturi to .218 (2 layers of K&S tube) and a 10x4 prop on 10% Nitro. Very nice!

Mine flies fine with an Oliver Tiger .15 diesel & 9X4 prop, more fun than the LA25 it had before & larger tank not needed.
Cheers, Dave

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-03 AT 09:05 PM (CST)
 
Mine has a Norvel AME 15 and its more than enough power. It fits the same holes as an OS 20 or 25.

I have it flying pretty good with a heavier Tornado 8 X 4 prop on 56 ft. x .012 lines. C.G. came out perfect with this engine (~ 18%) which I mounting as far forward as possible. Total flying weight came out to 21 oz.

It a real fun flyer.

did you modify the landing gear? Doesn't look like a single wheel.

Yes, that single stock gear only lasted only 4 flights. Lands much nicer now.

What's your opinion of the muffler on the AME .15? Is the spring clip mounting arrangement secure and reliable?
Thanks for your help.
Derek Moran

LAST EDITED ON Dec-21-03 AT 00:46 AM (CST)
 
No, that is the major fault on all Norvel engines. No matter what you do and how tight you make the spring, it never tight enough.

Eventually either the flange on the engine exhaust will wear out or the fitting on the muffler will get bigger.

I put some high temp silicon on the muffler before install. Seem to help for a while. You have to re-clean the muffler and reapply after a few flight.

If anybody has a better ideas, please let me know?

I am using a Fox15bb (the latest version). It flies fine (a little fast) on 60 foot 015 lines. Ran out of summer! Will try some ~60foot 012 come this spring. Plenty light--I posted its total weight (forgot right now) on some previous FliteStreak link (maybe the Review Forum).