Is the Flite Streak ARF extremely light

Just put my Flite Streak ARF on the digital weight scale.
It came out 750 grams ( ca 26 OZ ) less tail weigh with an OS .25 LA.
I am just now assembling a flapped twin boomer with approximately the same wingspan/area . 43 " , 410 sq" for the same engine.
This one seems to end up at about 900 grams or ca 31 OZ.
So my question is :
Is the Flite Streak extremely light, or am i building too heavy for the wing area and engine combination.

My Streak weighs 25 oz with a 25 LA. The Streak is very light.

I have not flown mine yet, so i cannot judge the power of the engine.
(been 'out of business' for quite a few years)
but another 5-6 oz with same wing area and some more tail area should still be a good match for the .25 i suppose.
The wing is a scaled down Trivial Pursuit with fairly 'thick' airfoils.

Im planning on putting a Magnum .15 on my Flite Streak Arf

My ARF Flite Streak is 20.5 oz with a Norvel .15, a light motor. No additional tail weight required.

Norvald,

The 25 LA should have no problem at all pulling 31 oz. It's a little hard to compare an FS ARF with a flapped twin boomer. Flapped planes can carry more weight than unflapped.

I am interested in twin boomers. From what you say, yours sounds like an original design. Is the nose a profile-type with exposed side-mounted engine, or a built-up nose with enclosed engine?

LAST EDITED ON Feb-04-04 AT 03:53 AM (CDT)
 
It has a built up nose, as well as built up booms.
Yes , it is sort of my own design.
Wing and moments are from a scaled down (from 60" to 43") Trivial Pursuit. The nose is shortened 1/2".
Otherwise very simplistic and straightforward.
It will be looking much like the Carousel that i posted a picture of
in the post titled "OS LA .25 (and .46)" except it will have a more 'square' look and jet like tailfins.
It is meant as a test design. If it works out well, i will make a similar ca 55" version for the OS .46 LA.
I will have some pictures in a week or so.

If you are looking for plans for twin boomers, try to get hold of the plans for 'La Donna' by Jack Sheeks. I know they are available, but cannot remember where.
Jack is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Modellers, so maybe they can help.
La Donna was my last model back in the late 1960's. Nice looking and flew well (until the up rudder line broke).
It should be easily adapted to 'modern' measurements.

>My ARF Flite Streak is 20.5 oz with a Norvel .15, a light
>motor. No additional tail weight required.
>
>Floyd

I have a Norvel .25 here I was also thinking about putting on the flight streak. But since I now got the magnum .15 I'm gonna put in on a milling machine diet and put it on the Flite Streak and I was considering putting the Norvel .25 in my Nobler Arf. Its a toss up between the Norvel .25 and a OS .25FX that I'm machining a venturi for. I'm leaning twards the OS .25FX though just because I've never seen one in a control line plane or with a fixed venturi and I do have a sweet macs muffler for it.

Floyd,
Please check your private messages.
thanks,
Roger V.

There have been several threads about the FS ARF in the last 6 to 8 months. The reported weights are in the low to mid 20 oz range so your plane is actually on the heavy end of the reported weights. It is light because the fuselage is hollow and there is little sheeting on the wing. My FS from a kit weighed about 28 oz with a 7oz Fox 35, my ARF with a 6oz PAW 19 weighed 21 1/2 oz both with landing gear.

The balance point should be between the leading edge and the spar, not the 3 1/4" shown in the instructions.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-04-04 AT 04:02 AM (CDT)
 
Yes, i know mine is on the heavy end.
After reading several posts on this forum, i put on 2 strips of 1/16" ply along the top and bottom of the fuselage from the front and way back past the traling edge, and covered them with light fibre glass. I also put in a carbon fibre tube pushrod. I heard some frightening stories about the nose breaking up in flight, so considering the engine size, i found i could afford the extra weight.

Yes, i know mine is on the heavy end.
After reading several posts on this forum, i put on 2 strips of 1/16" ply along the top and bottom of the fuselage from the front and way back past the traling edge, and covered them with light fibre glass. I also put in a carbon fibre tube pushrod. I heard some frightening stories about the nose breaking up in flight, so considering the engine size, i found i could afford the extra weight.
Norvald Olsvold

Norvald,

Excuse me for being direct, but you wasted your time--while needlessly increasing the weight of the model--by adding plywood reinforcements.

As to the front end failing in flight, while it is a stretch I suppose something like that might happen if using a banger such as a Fox 35 *and* allowing the mounting bolts to loosen.

My first ARF FS went in--skipped, actually--inverted and the nose was broken to the extent that a minor twist of the hand could have removed it completely. I pushed it back together, hit it with thin CA, been flying it that way with no further repair work. Seems as solid as when new, although looking for vibrations when setting the needle is hardly the best test. (O.S. 25FP for power; probably too much power, Mike Conner having scored a couple 20FPs for me last weekend.)

As the mounting bolts can in fact loosen, simply drill holes for same oversize, insert hardwood dowel, glue with thin CA, whack dowels off flush, re-drill for bolts to attach motor.

Your model is not so heavy as to be easily noticed in flight. These ARF Flite Streaks are decently light, to the point where bunches of us ought be ashamed at our own handiwork, so they can easily pack some extra ounces.

The stiff pushrod is a good idea, I used scraps of Tom Morris-supplied 3/16" CF tube for the pushrods on my ARF FSs.

You're going to have fun with this model! But should you ever have a crash where just another couple inches altitude would have kept the thing out of the ground, you remember my comments about the reinforcements.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-04-04 AT 03:20 PM (CDT)
 
Thanks for the comment. I'll try your advice on the bolting.
Let's see what comes out of the first flight's.
Anyway it is meant as a trainer. Need to get the feeling back in my hand after 30+ years. Got my Brodak Cardinal with a OS .46 LA (nice weight on that one) just waiting for me to master the art of CL flying.

BTW.. I see references to 'CA glue' in many posts.
Beeing a Norwegian i do not know what kind of glue that is.

CA also known as CyA, and "Super glue" is Cyanoacrylate Glue . Common brands in the US are ZAP, Jet. It comes in thin (water like), medium (light syrup) and thick variations. I am sure it is common in Europe too.

Hope that helps.

>BTW.. I see references to 'CA glue' in many posts.

CA is an acronym for Cyano Acrylate.
In the US, we commonly say superglue.
It's widely available in many varieties.
Here's a pointer to website that talks about it:
http://www.modelresearchlabs.com/CA%20glue.htm

LAST EDITED ON Feb-04-04 AT 03:30 PM (CDT)
 
Sir Dirt-

I hope you have a solid steel "cup" for when you start that thing....

BTW.. I see references to 'CA glue' in many posts.
Beeing a Norwegian i do not know what kind of glue that is.

Norvald Olsvold

Norvald,

CA glue is nothing more than that clear expensive glue you use to instantly glue your fingers together. Cyanoacrylate is, I believe, the full word, although I am not using a spell checker. Even if it would know the word...

The phrasing of your question, "Being Norwegian..." is most humorous.

Just outside Seattle there is a city called Ballard. It is known for being the city of choice for a great many Norwegians and Swedes.

During our Fourth of July celebration it is a well-known fact that the Swedes throw firecrackers at the Norwegians. The Norwegians pick them up, light them, and throw them back.

Larry,

My repairs are so much better than you may assume. No need for a cup. I have even used electric starters on the repaired model, but mostly as a test of the repair.

OK Yes we have superglue . Very expensive. Come in 3 gram tubes.

You say: "Swedes throw firecrackers at the Norwegians. The Norwegians pick them up, light them, and throw them back."

The Swedes also smiles when there is lightning, as the believe they are beeing photographed.

>OK Yes we have superglue . Very expensive. Come in 3 gram
>tubes.
>
>You say: "Swedes throw firecrackers at the Norwegians. The
>Norwegians pick them up, light them, and throw them back."
>
>The Swedes also smiles when there is lightning, as the
>believe they are beeing photographed.
>
>
>Norvald Olsvold

Norvald,

The term "very expensive" does not apply to the great many varieties of CA/Superglue to which we have access in the U.S.

On the other hand, should you be lusting after this glue, feel left out in the cold somehow, a literal fact, no doubt, a great many of us have discovered how quickly CA glue adds to the weight of a model. And use it very sparingly, if at all. Unless repairing an ARF Flite Streak, of course.

As to Swedes smiling when lightning flashes, I knew better than to post the initial joke.

Besides, it is generally told with the Swedes lighting the firecrackers and throwing them back...

Do keep an eye on the mounting beams in your Flite Streak. The wood is soft enough that one can squish it into the motor cutout when tightening the screws holding the motor in. Minor problem, easy fix.

>Just outside Seattle there is a city called Ballard. It is
>known for being the city of choice for a great many
>Norwegians and Swedes.

Uff-Duh! Actually, I had a grandfather who once lived in Ballard. John Keister's Almost Live bunch once sported a skit about driving instructors from Ballard.

I'm even proud to be an alum from a well know Norveegian school sowd of Tacoma.

Enuff wid dem Norveegian jokes. Prolly why I mooved to meenesota. Yah sure, youbetcha!

>>Just outside Seattle there is a city called Ballard. It is
>>known for being the city of choice for a great many
>>Norwegians and Swedes.
>
>Uff-Duh! Actually, I had a grandfather who once lived in
>Ballard. John Keister's Almost Live bunch once sported a
>skit about driving instructors from Ballard.
>
>I'm even proud to be an alum from a well know Norveegian
>school sowd of Tacoma.
>
>Enuff wid dem Norveegian jokes. Prolly why I mooved to
>meenesota. Yah sure, youbetcha!

As I recall, the two most salient points in the Almost Live (now totally dead) vignette was to always drive no faster than 20 mph--especially in 35- and 45-mph zones--and to leave the left turn signal on constantly.

Some of us who have driven to Ballard in order to buy System 3 epoxy and supplies were confused at this point in the show as it appeared to be a documentary, not humor.