Re: Baby Flite Streak build thread

[crankbndr]

Wow, very nice. Those curves are extremely difficult, I tried them on mine and gave up, painted wing one color.
That was a quick build too, cant wait to hear about first flight.

[andrew]

[I showed the pics of my colors to RCG last night and my only reply was "Sorry."

I saw that --- it made no sense to me at all. It's looking good, buddy.

Anxiously awaiting another maiden story from "Rusty's Adventures in COXland"!!!

andrew

[RknRusty]

All set to maiden tomorrow provided the wind isn't too gusty. Finally there is no rain forecast. My pit crew is in town looking forward to helping me out in the field.

It balances about 1/8" aft of the plans because it doesn't have the wedge fuel tank. I used a 7/16" steel hex nut zip tied under the nose and that moved the CG to about the right spot, just forward of the front leadout. My question is: is it better to add a small weight closer to the front, or a heavier weight farther back where the fuel tank would have been? I'm concerned about the moment of inertia(which I'm not fully educated about). I don't want it to have trouble heaving the added weight on the nose up and over during a loop. I know weight is the enemy, but I also know there may be some strategy in its placement too.

Or, is an eighth of an inch even enough for a fairly skilled CL pilot to worry about? I know I can find the right combination by experimenting, I am mostly asking about this to learn something new about weight distribution vs. placement position.

I don't know how much it weighs. I was preparing to measure it when the balance broke loose from its hangar and dropped the plane tail first, breaking a quarter inch of the sharp tip off of the rudder. I was so [bleep], I quit messing with it. It's only cosmetic, so I cut it off smoothly and covered it with epoxy to be fixed later. I'm guessing around 8 ounces is the weight without fuel.

Thanks once again for answering my endless questions,
Rusty

[Cribbs74]

Seem's to me that 1/8" isn't all that much. Have you considered one of the larger balancing hubs? That with a rubber spinner may make things even up. Shouldn't add to much weight and would look "Period"

[RknRusty]

Seem's to me that 1/8" isn't all that much. Have you considered one of the larger balancing hubs? That with a rubber spinner may make things even up. Shouldn't add to much weight and would look "Period"

I thought about it. I do have one, but didn't want it to look Period. I'll take it in my flight box when I go out.
I'm thinking I should just leave it at 1/8" back and just fly the damn thing. It'll be a little more sensitive, but I'm sure It won't be uncontrollable. It's time for me to (you know) or get off the pot and get this show on the runway.

[mitchg95]

[quote="RknRusty"]

I'm thinking I should just leave it at 1/8" back and just fly the @#!*% thing. It'll be a little more sensitive, but I'm sure It won't be uncontrollable.

careful what you say rusty, It'll ne a little more sensitive, but im sure it won't be uncontrollable'' those are Famous Last Words

[RknRusty]

[quote="mitchg95"]

I'm thinking I should just leave it at 1/8" back and just fly the @#!*% thing. It'll be a little more sensitive, but I'm sure It won't be uncontrollable.

careful what you say rusty, It'll ne a little more sensitive, but im sure it won't be uncontrollable'' those are Famous Last Words

Yeah, I hear you Mitch. Your concern is duly noted.

Here's my new bladder containment.

[mitchg95]

[quote="RknRusty"]

I'm thinking I should just leave it at 1/8" back and just fly the @#!*% thing. It'll be a little more sensitive, but I'm sure It won't be uncontrollable.

careful what you say rusty, It'll ne a little more sensitive, but im sure it won't be uncontrollable'' those are Famous Last Words

Yeah, I hear you Mitch. Your concern is duly noted.

Here's my new bladder containment.

looks like a good bladder lol
the plane looks great and will make a great flyer , good luck with the maiden flight

[RknRusty]

Well, she's all covered with castor oil now. The Li'l Satan/RR1 got a windy workout too. Details pictures and video to follow later. Time for a couple of shot glasses of Jack Daniels now.

[RknRusty]

Why hasn't the Baby flown yet, you might ask. Well, if you read my latest weekend flying adventure, you know that as I was headed out to pick up the handle when the prop snatched the starter spring and wrapped it up into steel chitlins. Not a big problem, you say, so what's Rusty's problem, he's all talk and no action.

Well,here's the scoop. When I got it home, I removed the spring and replaced the destroyed prop. Fueled it up and made sure I could flip crank it with my gnarled fingers. All that went fine, so I promised I would be back the next day or so. Then I got to looking closer and really didn't like the way the spacer washers on the engine mount were pressing into the wood, causing the screws to loosen, galling the wood and threatening to let fuel get into it.

I had to do what I should have done originally. But forgive me, it's my first beam mount. I cut 4 aluminum strips and bored holes so I could place them between the engine and the wood on the outboard side, and between the nuts and the wood on the inboard side. I had used graphite for this on the inboard side but it was cracking. My first experience with graphite too. I thought it was stronger. All that was a PITA with my crude tools, but it's mounted and secure now. It won't come loose or gall the wood.

Then there was the fuel system. It worked fine, but it was over-thought and too complicated. It looked like a sophmore engineering student over designed it. So after trying different combinations, I have seriously simplified it, made it more dependable and easy to do a 5 minute bladder change in the field.

I didn't take pictures of the plumbing because my phone was dead, but here is the newly shimmed and mounted engine.




I finally got a rough measurement of the weight. The whole thing with an empty tank is somewhere around 7.5 ounces. That's rough, but should be within a half ounce. I may add a 7/16" hex nut right under the nose to bring the nose down a bit, but I think the weight is still okay. The plans don't say what it should weigh. I'd be interested if anyone knows.

It's ready to fuel up and fly. I'll try to get out Saturday morning before any chores are foisted upon me. Maybe, depending how I feel, I could do it tomorrow evening around 7:00pm. I don't think there is anything I can do to make it better. Everything I have decided was half-assed is now tightened up. The fuel supply, the elevator throw, it's all good. As you can see in the picture it does have a spring starter. It has a lot more prop clearance and will not get snagged.

So, for the last time... Stay tuned.

[Ken Cook]

Hi Rusty, your plane is looking good. The Streak is a great flying plane. In fact it truly is one of my favorites in all sizes. I see you balanced according to plan using the hex nut. I'm glad you went that route. Streaks need very little elevator moments to work real effectively. They can get real tweaky if they're on the tail heavy end of things.

One nice thing about the Tee Dee is the deep backplate on the engine. I take the small square lead weights and file the corners off. A traditional 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/8 lead weight weighs about 7 grams. Filing of the corners, you can make the weight fit inside the backplate. Just a dab of epoxy on the outside will hold it in if all is clean. The epoxy isn't permanent and will come off. You have a clean and inconspicuous way to hide your weight. I see the needle is sticking up over the top of the fuse. Certainly take caution here as to not come in on a inverted landing. The needle is going to bend which would really !@#$ me off, or the carb body could break when the needle valve assembly rips out. I cut them and solder a washer on the needle as a finger grip. I either file a v -groove in the washer or drill a small hole on the outer perimeter of the washer as a reference. A hard flip over landing could very possibly do the same. I show an example of this in the Off Topic section under AP.061 Retrofit, it's the same needle. In addition I believe your all up flying weight is spot on. The original Top Flite kit wouldn't build as light as that. Good luck, Ken

[RknRusty]

I was thinking of putting the needle pointing down. I usually cock it back so if it does strike the ground it doesn't have much room to bend, and the venturi loosens. It's worked for me on the Stuntman, though I have bent one. I have a few spare needles in my box. They're $5 each from Texas Timers. Thanks for the advice. I hope soon to be giving advice on the Streak rather than needing it. I wish I had thought od filling the backplate with lead while the engine was off. That's a great idea.

[fit90]

I think the only thing that could make that little beauty any better would be some well earned castor slime. It looks great and I am looking forward to the maiden report and hopefully a video. Good luck with it.

Bob

[fit90]

Well? I see you are here when you should be out flying.

[RknRusty]

It flies! Three flights. The first, even with the added nose weight was not balanced well enough. It was FFFFFFast! And squirrelly, so I added a hunka hunka heavy ass weight after I landed it. About that landing... it was premature. I belly flopped it at full speed. Got a long crack in the rear fuse from the tail end running the full length of the rudder. I filled it with CA, made sure it was straight and it was invisible after that. Damn. It seemed strong and worked fine on the subsequent flights, but after cleaning and inspecting, I can see it needs some more repair.

The second started off beautifully, definitely heavier, it almost took a wheel bounce off the sidewalk before I got it up in the air. It flew fine... for a half a lap until it ate the spring again. It glided gracefully, farther than the powered flight. I landed softly in the grass... except for the nose over. Dang church! They should mow that lawn before I fly. Never again will I put a spring on it. I flip started it just fine for the next flight without the spring.

So for the third and best flight, I think the balance is fine now but the controls are too sensitive. I will move the control rod back to the lowest hole for the next time I fly it. But it was controllable and I got it leveled off and tuned my reflexes getting used to it. Planes all fly so differently from each other, especially when you like 'em fast. My wife watched and said I can probably safely add 5' more to my radius. I think I'll rig a new handle with 40' on it. Anyway, it would be lame if I didn't at least do some loops, so I pulled up and kazoom it flipped a faster smaller loop than the Satan and kept the lines guitar string tight. It has a significant pull. A lap or to later I did another one and it gave me a good grin, I was off to the races. Next on the list was a figure 8. No, next on the list the engine started burping. Aw man. Shoulda put more gas in it. It ran dry before the fun light went out. So I took the opportunity to fly it a little during its wonderful glide. I set it down softly enough, with the obligatory nose over. Damned if I'm flying over pavement though.

I was now soaking wet, hot. So I packed it in and headed home.
This is a good plane. The only time I remember backing up was on the final glide in a cross wind. I think it'll be a good dependable flyer. Can't beat that TD for simple elegant reliability. I can see a new tail assembly sometime in its hopefully distant future.

Movies will follow later.

[microflitedude]

That's awesome! Why is it eating the spring?

[fit90]

Awesome! Sorry to hear about the crack in the fuse and the spring eating. Now you not only have a good flyer, you have one with character. Amen to every plane flying differently. It is that way with R/C too.

Glad to hear it went well and ended with a smile. Your next cold one will taste that much better.

Bob

[RknRusty]

That's awesome! Why is it eating the spring?

Hungry, I guess. The Stuntman has had one since I first put a Tee Dee on it. Screw it, I can live without one. Now that I know the Tee Dee, I can live without it.

Awesome! Sorry to hear about the crack in the fuse and the spring eating. Now you not only have a good flyer, you have one with character. Amen to every plane flying differently. It is that way with R/C too.

Glad to hear it went well and ended with a smile. Your next cold one will taste that much better.

Bob

Yeah, I was disappointed in cracking it, but nothing broke off and it's a clean crack, so It will be easy to fix. I'll probably do it tonight. I can't stand the thought of it sitting out there broken. After I adjust the control rod, it should be a pleasure to fly. I'm glad my stooge isn't an inch shorter. I might give it full up when I pull it free next time.
And that cold one... it did taste good. It was a Coke. Followed by a shot of tequila.

The movie is uploading now. It says 123 minutes right now at 5:05edt.

[dckrsn]

Thanks for another fine flying thread Rusty.
Now I'm watching the clock for the video.
I love vicariously sitting across the street watching,
as a lot of forum members do I'm sure.

Bob

[Ken Cook]

Rusty, I broke mine in the same spot. My plane though had a fair amount of time on it. Nonetheless I always had to baby the plane due to the wings being silkspan. The Streak always rode up front with us. Glad to hear it was a success. Everything about a Streak is different when compared to other models. They have a good turning rate and certainly speed along nicely. Ken

[fit90]

Just finished watching the video. That plane is a real a real performer! It looked like you had a tiger by the tail on the first flight. By the third flight you were pretty well stuffing the cat's ass in the bag. Great show and thanks for sharing another great story and video with us.

Bob

[RknRusty]

Yeah, that first flight was like flying a wild pig. I was actually getting dizzy. That's one fast mother.
Here's the video. Boy those flights seem a lot longer when you're hanging on. Next time I should have it tamed and will run a full tank of gas. And give it some proper treatment for your viewing pleasure.



EDIT ONE YEAR LATER:
I can't stand the sight of that inept flying, so here's the same Streak under better control:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiAl56Z3bb4

[crankbndr]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

[dckrsn]

Thanks Rusty.
Great on many levels.
Made my Saturday night!
Bob

[RknRusty]

Thanks Rusty.
Great on many levels.
Made my Saturday night!
Bob

I hope one of those levels was seeing someone else pancake a plane at high speed.

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