Old Sourdough

For those of you who have been out of Control Line flying for awhile, there are some new items available that may be interesting to you. The following links might be worth checking out. These items seem, in this day and age, to be very reasonably priced and worth the money if the type of model (RTF and ARF) is your cup of tea.

First, for the ½a fans is the Hyper Viper. No information available at the link yet, but the designer, Mike Pratt, a very competent stunt flyer and designer (SIG Magnum, among others) says the plane flies the AMA pattern fairly well. Mike always has been careful to be very conservative when describing his CL designs and their performance capabilities, so I would tend to think this one would at least get an "old hand" back in the saddle fairly fast.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDUT1&P=0

(edit) (Sorry, no direct link to Manufacturer for the above is available. Web site has not been updated an quite awhile and there was no info available there as of the last time I checked two weeks ago.)


You should already know the next two well, if you've been around control line at all. If you don't know them, ask here. I'll bet a lot of folks here can answer any questions you have.

http://www.top-flite.com/airplanes/topa1000.html

http://www.top-flite.com/airplanes/topa1005.html

They are already out and being flown. There have been numerous reviews, pictures and suggested modifications for them posted at other forums concerned primarily with Control Line flying. I have seen both and they look good. The "N" really should have the bell crank and lead outs replaced, but that's no big deal nor large expense.

Enjoy.

Paul

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Paul:

Your links are broken. Will you patch them? Or wouldd you like me to try?

What the heck.

Here's the Nobler c/l ARF:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDUM0&P=7

And here's the Slight Freak. I mean Flite Streak, of course:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDVF3&P=7

And the Cox Hyper Viper:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDUT1&P=7

If you would rather go to Top Flite instead of Tower here they are:
http://www.top-flite.com/

The Slight Freak and Nobler are on the home page.

Bill.

Elwyn

My ARF Flite Streak has become one of my favorite ships. I had a 70's vintage Enya 19 that had been collecting dust for a number of years and it turned out to be a great match for this plane. I'm getting around a 4.4 second lap on 55 foot .015 lines with no landing gear. The nose is built out of somewhat softer wood than usual so I mounted the engine on a plastic pad and there are aluminium pads with lock nuts on the opposite side of the fuselage. The engine mounting bolts tended to loosen up a bit early on possibly due to some crushing of the light ply doublers. There was also a little warp in the wing that I couldn't get out by heating and twisting but a trim tab on the outboard wing staightened things out. Even with these few quirks it's turnd out to be a great flyer and well worth the 60 bucks. Probably the most tedious chore was trimming away a narrow strip of monocote in the center of the wing where it attaches the fuselage and trying to avoid cutting into the wood sheeting. The only changes I made to the plane were to install solid leadouts and replace the elevator horn with a heavier duty one.

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Elwyn:

A little trick on the film coverings, and trimming back for gluing.

Mark the lines you want to cut to, then using a #11 blade or similar, ***** the covering between the lines. Holding the cutting edge away from the wood, make a slit all the way around. Then go back and just pull each side away from the wood.

Sometimes you can even save a flap of the original covering to iron back down, covering the glue joint.

Bill.

dennis

My Feedback: (90)

Really the best way to remove the covering is to use a wood burning tool with an 11 Exacto in it. You need no pressure to cut and your lines will be straight. If you don't have that tool then a small chisel tip in a 15 watt soldering iron will do the job almost as well.
Dennis

Old Sourdough

Bill,

You fixed those links before I had a chance. Thanks. I don't know why they didn't work initially. They worked for me immediately after I posted them. In the initial post, I did the html color trick and made the links blue. When I got here tonight, I noticed that they were no longer blue even though the code was still intact. When I removed that code, the links started working for me again.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Strange.

Paul

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Don't kow Paul. I didn't edit your post at all, just decided it was easier to post then myself.

And if I had gone into your post you would have seen the "Edited by..." line.

So I have no idea what happened to your colors.

But I'm not the only moderator in this forum. Did you notice an "Edited by..." line before you went back in? Jim (W8TY) might have fixed them. But I would think he'd have pinged you to say he had done it. Or put a line in the post, at least saying what he had done.

Bill.

Elwyn

One of our clubmembers mentioned the hot blade method also. Actually he said he had purchased a special hot knife for the purpose. If I get another ARF Streak I'll probably go with this method. Shouldn't be any danger in scoring the center section sheeting this way.

Bud Morrison

My Feedback: (8)

Ive had a Cox Hyper Viper on backorder for 3 months now. Every month the availability changes to mid the following month. The way its going Im gonna need skis for it by the time I get one!

littlefly

Allright "TigerKitty":

That's two strikes on ya now!
Better watch it...
Got some help here!
HAW!!!

littlefly

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Littlefly:

Huh???

Explanation, please sir.

Bill.

littlefly

Your "Slight Freak" crack, of course!
Hey, just yankin' yer chain..
I flew control line combat for years with those..
K@B Torpedo 35, Fox 35, Fox 36X and Fox 40BB pressurized..
5 man combat..Yea, watch yours and 4 other sets of 7strand 70 ft Sullivan .018 stainless on Jim Walker U-Reelys. Best way to burn a gallon of Superfuel on Sunday afternoon!

littlefly

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Littlefly:

Back in the "Old days" we had two factions - mine flew Ringmasters, the others flew their Slight Freaks. They, of course, said we were flying "StringBas***ds."

But my favorite was the "Barnstormer" with a (shudder) four-bolt headed Fox 35 engine.

Airplane, fuel, battery, a pocket full of head gaskets, and a screwdriver to pop the head off. Maybe a spare Top Flite 10x6 prop.

Bill.

slingblade

My Feedback: (1)

They are taking PRE-orders for Brodak's new Strega .60 size on windy's site. You should go check it out.........That plane looks FUN. I was thinking of getting one and stuffing a ys 63-4 cycle in it. See if it will screw me into the ground with 60' lines........hmmmmmm maybe the jett bse sounds pretty good though. Anyway, enough daydreaming...... you should go check it out!!!!!

Kyle Entzel

Hey, What size/length lines does one use on the Flite Streak? just wonderin'.
Thanks,
Kyle

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Nut:

The Slight Freak will be happy with 60' 0.018" braided wires. You might be happier with 70' but the 60' lines are a good all round length. At 70' you could have fun on a windy day.

Bill.

Elwyn

I'm using 55 foot / .015's with a loop scavenged .19. I've heard of a few flyers using .012's although if you were flying one in an aerobatic contest you would have to use .015's to be legal. With a modern .25 you might want to go to 60 feet to keep the lap speeds reasonable. If you hang a honkin' modern 35 on the nose you might want to go to .018's.

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Elwyn:

A 0.19 engine? I wasn't considering anything smaller that a 0.29, to me the standard engine for that plane is a 0.35 size.

I don't think it would do well at all with a 0.19 and 70' 0.018" braided wires, to say the least.

And I always preferred braided wires except for contest flying. 0.012" would be great staying with solids.

Bill.

Elwyn

The ARF Flight Streak is light enough that a modern schnurle ported .15 would probably be enough oomph to do a decent pattern. A lot of flyers like their Streaks a little speedier though which is probably more in line with it's original purpose. I agree 70 foot lines wouldn't work well a .19. I'm flying on 55 foot lines and getting a 4.4 second lap which is a little quick for flying the pattern but not not horribly fast.

gcb

Actually, although the original Flite Streak was designed by George Aldrich for the then new Fox .35 combat special, it was flown successfully with baffle .19s. A modern schnuerle .15 with 52' x .012's should do it justice as a stunt trainer.
The power of a modern .25 is about that of most .35's back then. I think a .25 would be a good match if you want it to honk.
Your mileage may vary.

George

dennis

My Feedback: (90)

My first one has an OS20FP in on .015X58' lines. This combination is keeping up with all the old 35 iron. In some cases it's faster. Believe me don't ovepower it, it isn't needed.
Elwyn beat me to using the Enya 19 it's a drop in meaning the mounts don't need any work to fit. A Veco 19 also is a good fit. I have a few Enyas 19's dying for a chance to run so it's going into the 2nd one. This will actually be the slow one.
I'm finishing up an ARF Nobler power is a TT36 with tongue muffler and GP aluminum spinner so far the balance is good for me,not too nose heavy. I.m using the stock tank as the other TT36's that I've used are real fuel misers and I dont anticipate any problems with it.
By the way has anyone used the 3 bladed prop that Horizon sells with their Alpha motor. I've used one an OS40FP and of course it's quieter and seems to have good tension above 45 degrees.Plane is my utility Buster but I will say that the corners look better with it. They also make a neat spinner for it but it's too big for most of our stuff. However it really looks good on my Brodak Zero. I'll have to see how it works, first flights comming up after the hurricane passes through.
Another prop that seems to be overlooked is the Thunder Tigre series of resin props. Interesting in that they are all half sizes in pitch or diameter. The only other series that did that was the Bolly clubman props .They were good too but never heard of anyone using them. Obviously these are for sport, doubt that the competition flyer would find what they are looking for here. Thay have one really redeaming feature. They are extremely attractively priced. The Horizon 3 bladed is $4.95. Dennis

Clean

Up to and including .409 you get to run on .015's, over requires the .018's.
That streak is light and floats well, mine is running a 25 LA on an 9x6 prop and it gets around quick on it.

I had fuel foaming problems with the LA 25 on a 9x4, it would just hit the right rpm and the fuel would go regardless, unless I mounted the tank on the inboard side of the plane. Just really strange, but switching to the 9x6 dropped the rpm out of the foaming region and the plane flys great. Probably if I'd mounted my engine an 1/8 further forward or back I wouldn't have these problems, but that's my usual luck, and I've had the same problem on several airplanes. Heck, my RC Combat planes running on Norvel 25's really had problems on the 9x4, including spinning the dang spinners apart constantly in straight and level flight. Man those things boogie on the mouse can.

gcb

I believe I read that GMA's Flite Streak had a shorter nose than the Top Flite kit (which I assume the ARF is modeled after), so moving the engine back might help with vibration. A couple of other fixes would be the popular extra "cheek" sheeting on the inboard side to absorb the vibes and a new (to me) idea that appeared in Stunt News is to add a 1/8" plywood gusset between the fuselage and the wing LE.
I think the gusset would be excellent for a ship that is already built.

George

Kiwi

Slow Combat planes have sometimes needed an added gusset for the past 30 years or so that I can recall seeing those used. George's first two Streaks, one of which he had kept for about 25 years hanging in his shop rafters, had a LONGER nose. He used a BH Fox Combat Special, which he said was the worst vibrating engine he'd ever had any experience with, and thought the shorter nose would be less prone to falling into any wasteful harmonics . .

Before going into production, he drew up a plan for the kit to have the nose length that it ended up having (about 5 1/8" from LE to tip of the nose - amounting to an inch less than the pair of prototypes). The only major departure from George's plan he ever referred to was the pretty routed out LE/TE assembly (seems to me the spar arrangement actually did differ some, but he never remarked on that aspect that I recall).

Regarding the engine choices, at just less than 400 squares, the original TF kit-based Streak was easily capable of 70 mph with a 36X running from a suction fuel tank (faster on a well-tuned one, of course). It now will easily fly FASTER than that using any one of several different examples of modern 25's. I have some Cox Conquest 15's, one of which I may mount on an ARF Streak, and expect it to zip along at a very good clip - probably in the 65 mph range.


Kiwi

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Elwyn

One of our clubmembers has a kit-built Flite Streak with an OS25FP. He got off a little lean today and he was doing 75-77 MPH which is a 3.4 second lap on 60 foot eyelet to spinner lines.