ARF Flite Streak engine mount

Hi, I got my Flite Streak Arf in the mail the other day. I put it together in about 5 hours with a LA 25. But when I went to start it with the starter my fuselage broke by the leading edge of the wing before I even flew it. It must be really week. I braced it up with hinge material. Anybody have this problem or have advice?
Joco

Did you use an electric starter or flip by hand?
I have not yet built mine and am also interested in the responses.
It sounds like there might not have been enough epoxy on the leading edge of the wing. ???

I think the lightness of the Streak Arf may have a downside in that the fuse (which is hollow in some areas) could be weak, especially if you hit a loaded up (fuel) engine with an electric starter. The kit Flite Streak has (or had) a wooden canopy, just about at that location which might have helped.

I used an electric starter when I started it. It didn't break much, just made it that I could wiggle it easily. I cut some of the covering off on the fuselage and braced it up and put cloth and CA over it. I touched it up with paint. I like the idea with the wodden canopy. That would add a little more strenght to the fuselage. The plastic one doesn't do anything. I will make one up tonight, and hopefully I can fly it tomorrow if things work out!
joco

Did the fuselage actually break, or just break loose from the wing?

I finalized the demolition of my Ringmaster Jr. this way a couple of years ago. It had lived a hard life, including being speared on the flight line buy a much larger bully of a trainer, but that’s another story. I am sure it’s engine was either a little cold, or a little dry, or a little hydro locked and I just snapped the nose right off that baby at the first bump of the starter. Had not tried to hand start it, just primed.

My FS ARF is powered with a TT .25 GP. I try to start it by hand because:
I can feel the “bump” if it’s set right, good plug, battery, etc.
I can feel that it’s got fuel, without being hydro locked.
It helps me learn the engine and get better at starting it.

It usually starts with one or two flips when it’s cool and I follow my work in progress procedure i.e. 4 rotations with venturi covered to prime, 8 flips to get the fuel around, hook up the glow plug, try a couple of back flips just to practice that method, go for the front flips. So far it will usually start right up.

However, when it’s hot all bets are off. I usually try to start with no prime and that sometimes works. If I prime at all I think I risk cooling things off and then compression is not so good until it gets a little cooler all over. This is the time I am most likely to reach for the starter and it usually works within just a second or so. If I am grinding away something else is not right.

I think all my profile noses (with the possible exception of my cedar and hardwood Ukey with recommended ply doublers) could suffer this same fate. The nose of the ARF FS is pretty hollow from what I can tell (I’m sure I’ll confirm this at some unfortunate point in the future) and might not take much of just the right kind of snap/twist to cause some harm.

What I’ve learned, mostly from reading here,

It is certainly possible to break front end of an ARF Flite Streak with an improperly used starter. Quite a lot of force is involved, if starter does not accurately engage spinner--or worse if there is no spinner, just a washer and prop nut--all sorts of bad things may happen.

For what it's worth, there have been plenty of full-bodied Stunt planes likely to be damaged by an electric starter. The unmolested Oriental is one, no plywood doublers at all in original design. McClave still builds his this way and just about freaks every time I offer him use of my starter.

In any case, I see nothing in design of ARF Flite Streak which would make it more likely to be damaged with use of a starter than most any other profile out there.

My first FS was literally skipped off hard ground at bottom of an outside loop--pilot error on my part. Nose of fuselage was broken to the point where a simple twist of the wrist would have removed it completely. I wicked thin CA in every crack I could find, held all in alignment, flew it that way for months. Virtually all starts with electric starter. Larry Cunningham was really concerned about "my boys" being hurt, but never happened.

Finally it started to get wobbly. Digging away perimeter of fuselage down to motor bearers and back almost to high point of wing, I epoxied in scraps of 3/16" CF rod from a Tom Morris control system.

One thing I have found helpful in minimizing the risk of damage when using an electric starter on a profile is making sure you hold it properly.

I always try and grab it by the fuse just behind the engine, usually around the tank. That way you are supporting it my the mounts/doublers and keeping the twisting moment associated with the starting procedure from being applied all the way back at the wing / fuse intersection. It is a little awkward, but lets you control the plane better.
Make sure you helper ( the guy with the starter in my case - I like to hold the plane and adjust the needle ) knows that it just takes a quick bump on the spinner, less than 1 sec. If it doesn't start right up, back off and find out what is wrong.