Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Hi. I 'm looking for the plans the Phil Kraft's Slik-Fly. It was in the 1969 RCM. If anyone has any info or plans they would part with let me know. Thanks, Jim

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I just did a search at rcmmagazine.com and didn't find any reference to a Slik-Fly by Phil Kraft. Are you maybe thinking about the Kwik-Fli?

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Jeide,

Slik-Fli was published in the Brit magazine RCM&E in November 1969. I don't think it was ever published in the USA and certainly not in RCM.

I have a pdf scan of the article/plan (not full size) from the magazine if that would be of interest.

See also [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3939486/anchors_3939486/mpage_1/key_slik/anchor/tm.htm#3939486[/link]

Ray

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Jim,
I know the model you are looking for. It was published in the UK magazine RCM&E in November 1969 (pictured below).
You can get the plan from a group calling themselves X-List plans. There wb page is http://www.xlistplans.demon.co.uk/. The plan is located on page 5 of the following Pdf doc. It's not easy to find but it is there costing £14.50 Plan Number RC1035 http://www.xlistplans.demon.co.uk/NEW_XLIST.pdf

Good luck, if I can be of any help, I visit the US regularly from the UK.

John

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Thanks John. I found it. I'm going to contact them a see if I can still get a copy. I want to build something different for Vintage pattern over the winter. Jim

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

A bit clearer perhaps ( but not much) If you want to build something different why not try Kraft's Fire-Fli.

Ray

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

there is a original slik fly for sale on the popular auction site. looks pretty good.

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Hi Ray. I'm not familar with the Fire-Fli. Do you have any details? Thanks, Jim

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Jim,

PM me your e-mail address and I will send you a pdf scan of the Fire Fli (& Slik Fli) articles.

As per John's post above, the Fire Fli plans are also still available from X-List as RC 1127 at £14.50 ($30) plus p&P.

Picture shows Fire Fli as flown at the 1971 World Champs at Doylestown USA.

Ray

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

AWESOME . . I remember looking at this when I was a kid . . rolled out "butchers paper" and drew the plan out full size (couldn't afford to build or fly it then though [:o] ). . To me, then, it was just the BEST looking plane ever . .

Have to say . . 30+ years later, it's STILL a great looking pattern plane. Make it a "tail dragger", invert the motor and add a cowl, and it doesn't look much different from the current F3A planes . . way ahead of it's time I think . . I'm sure it would fly the F07 schedule quite well [8D]

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I am just wondering what type of success did Phil Kraft have with this plane. It is really a good looking plane. I would like to know more if anyone knows more history.

turbo

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

He didn't match his success with the KF series.

I saw it at Kraft in Vista (450 W. California Ave. if memory serves me correctly) and I saw him fly it in competition-----it was as good or better than any of the competition of the day.

Bill Winters and others called it "Kraft's Balsa Log". It was so named in good humor.
Dan Lutz built it, just as he did many others for Phil.

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I think we may be at cross purposes here. My fault for introducing the Fire Fli into a Slik Fli thread!

Turbo is enquiring about the Slik Fli I think and the "balsa log" is the Fire Fli. It was nicknamed this because the fuselage was carved from a hollowed out solid block of balsa! The idea, I believe, was to use it as a mold for an ABS? fuselage for a possible kit. The kit was never produced.

Ray

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Thanks for the info.. Sorry if I took the thread off topic.

turbo

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

The airplane is not a Fire Fli, It's a Super Fli. Two were built, yes by Dan Lutz, and they were the airplanes that Phil flew to third place at the Doylstown, PA internats. No plans were published to my knowlwedge as all that Dan had to go by was the profile of the fuselage that Phil sketched out. The fuselages were carved out of two balsa blocks tack glued together. They were carved and sanded to shape, including the vertical fin. The blocks were then spit apart and hollowed out, one bulkhead and the firewall were then installed and the halves glued back together. Wings and stab were foam cores covered with 1/16" balsa. All of which was provided by Frank Garcher of Midwest, the balsa. people
There were plans to make a kit with a molded fuselage. Several were made in a rotational mold out of some kind of orange poly plastic, but at the time there were no adhesives that would adequately adhere to the stuff. However, two were completed and finished with the plastic fuselages but because of the adhesive problem, the project was dropped. Both airplanes were destroyed while Phil was trying to figure out how to recover from flat spins as he almost found himself in one while flying his full size Super Fli aerobatic monoplane. By the way, he did finally figure it out.
One of the plastic fuselages ended up in Japan and Oki tried to copy it and make some kits for the Japanese market. He didn't succeed either.
They had Kraft electric retracts and Webra Blackhead engines.

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Not you Turbo - it was me who took your thread off topic for which I apologise.

Kraft's 1971 W/C entry was called Fire Fli and, as has already been mentioned, it was published in RCM&E April1972. The Super Fli was a model of Phil's full size aircraft so I guess he would have used this for flat spin investigation. As you can see below they were very different designs.

Ray

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

3 days and no response from X plans on my question about shipping charges for several plansets.

Anybody have any contact with them lately. The Slik-Fli would be a great Senior Pattern ride!

Dave "pattern guy from long ago" Rigotti

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I e-mailed them also with no response. I may try to blow up the 1/6 scale plan.

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Just got an email from them today and placed an order for the Slik-Fli via email. Seems they were on a Holiday and are alive and well.

Dave Rigotti

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

12/5/07 rec'd Slik-Fli planset.

Dave Rigotti

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Dave,
FYI the AMA museum can get you a copy of the RCM&E construction article of you like. If you build the Slick-Fli, let me know how it turns out. I bought the plan a year ago or so but haven't started it yet.
Craug

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I'll start construction sometime after the middle of February. I have a copy of the article. Thanks for the offer.

I'm going to increase the tail moment by 2", drop the wing a 1/2" and raise the stab by 3/8". Forget the flaps too!. Havent decided on an engine yet. Most likely a 2 cycle of 50ish displacement. I'll guide her with my trusty DX7.
Stay tuned....

Dave Rigotti

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Still awaitnin my plans to arrive for this model but untill then can anyone say how the coupled flaps were acheived, No computer radios then, not even from the man himself so did it use another servo and push/pull the aileron servo mechanicaly to acheive this?
Has anyone that has recently built this used two seperate servos in the wings as we normaly do these days and if so does the weight being further out  add significantly to the roll intertia although that would be hard to say I guess without a head to head comparison?

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

Hi,

Remember one in our RC club back in the 1970th was building a Slik-Fli. He moved to another town later and was sadly killed in an aircraft accident so I do not know if it was finished or not. But it is a very nice plane. I have very clear memories when that person in our club built it. Was a lot of sanding and his table was covered withbalsa dust as the Slik-Fli build progressed. I remember one of the last thing he made on the plane was a mould for the canopy. I just ordered a plan so I have it if I would like to build it.

/Bo

RE: Slik-Fly By Phil Kraft.
 

I assume you mean X-plans in the UK. I ordered mine a few days ago but they have not arrived. I chased them up today as the last time there was a delay (when I ordered the Flea-fly) they refunded my money as they said they never had one. Later after a few forum messages on Modelflying they came up saying it was the wrong number. I paid again and dult received them. This was twice as expensive but it is such a gorgeous plane Ijust had to have one. Much better than the current F3A planes - well that what I think.