Hi Guys,
Does anyone still fly the Electro streak? I`m building an old kit that I had laying around and want to use a brushless motor and lipo`s . Any suggestions on what motor and battery ? My old ES used a brushed Magnitic Mayhem and 8 cells and was a great flyer, too bad the glue joint broke holding the wing bolt in the fuse while doing a loop. The fuse came down like a missile and destroyed the fuse, motor and esc. Now I`m re-building and what to use a brushless set-up. Any suggestions would be great>
Regards,
Frank

I built one from plans at 22oz it is a great flyer. I lightened up the design considerably. My power system is a Mega 16/15/6 turning an APCE 8X6 on a 3S 2100 LiPo.

If you are building it stock, a 22/20/3 turning an 8X6 on a 3S 4200 LiPo will do great. Use a Castle Phx 45 esc.

You lost a wing that way too eh? Me too, and on my first flight. The fuse was demolished, but the wings and tail survived, so I built another fuse and it flew great. Coming from R/E electrics, poly sailplanes, etc the Electro Streak was a trip! Wow- this plane goes EXACTLY where I point it.

My setup was milk-toast 6 cell/ goldfire motor with a tornado 8-6, using the Futaba integrated speed controller/receiver. I flew the wheels off of that plane. I think at last count it was over 500 flights and was still useable, though worse for wear, when I gave it away a year ago.

I still plan on building another one. I have the plans, and its such a basic kit that the sky's the limit for modifications. I think lighter weight is KEY. Feathermerchants at 22 ounces should go like crazy and land rather easily. Mine was 34 ounces and was a touch hot on landing, but I learned how to judge the speed and altitude and scrub off some speed before the 50 foot slide.

A year after my maiden crash, a guy who used to swat golf balls around at the same school yard that I flew at and eyed the Electro Streak and asked "Is that the same one you crashed?". He had seem me spear it into the mud a year before.

All in all, a well designed, simple kit. Cant understand why Great Planes dropped it, but I guess people want ARFs more.

I bought a used kit that had the first few steps on the fuse done. I plan on building it and this will be my first balsa build. I have a friend at work that has a couple completed versions and loves them. I'm going to try with the GoldFire in there and maybe use my 3 cell 1350mAh battery. Hopefully I don't fry the goldfire. I was told to maybe use a 6x4 prop instead. Not trying to hijack the thread but I figured since he seemed to get an answer on using brushless I'd ask my question. :-)

Thanks!
Azeiku

I had two of the ARF's. The first was powered with the Magnetic Meyhem and was lost when I let it get directly overhead in the sun. Came straight in and destroyed everything electronic. Hitec made me a nice deal to replace everything except the motor and ESC. The second one lasted longer and was powered the same as the first. I lost that one when I tried to fly with a depleted battery. Flying speed bled fast and it fell out of the sky. Wing and fuselage destroyed. It's tough to try to repair a fiberglas fuselage. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I have another in the box in the cellar and another Magnetic Meyhem.

First, to the poster above, i dont think its been discontinued as you said unless you mean the kit, cause i just bought the arf in december.

Now i just finished building it and its ready to go but i am worried about flying it as is due to the heavy brushed 550 motor it comes with and my 2000mah 8.4v battery which is quite heavy. plus the existing speed control was just heating up testing it indoors. so i guess i am wondering if its safe to fly out of the box with the crappy brushed motor and esc or if i am better off buying a brushless lipo setup? I dont have much money to spend on it but dont want to waste money on crap. i checked out the motors listed above but its the speed controls that get expensive, that mega engine is only about $110 but the speed control is like $160. any other ideas of suitable inexpensive brushless setups that might be able to do the trick?

The plane is heavy with a NiCd or NiMH battery. I flew both of mine with the included ESC's and had no problems. I agree, though, they aren't much. You quote $160 for a better ESC. Wow! What kind are you talking about? I use Castle brushless ESC's and you shouldn't need more then a 35AMP controller for a brushless set-up and they are under $100. Electrifly (Tower)has nice ESC's, the Silver series, and they are well under a $100. For a brushless motor, I don't know what to recommend. I'd probably use the 2814 Series AXI, or 2820. These are outrunners and I love AXI motors. There are other less expensive ones, but I have problems figuring out the equivalents. The othe brushless I use are the EFlite outrunners from Horizon. If you stay with the brushed motor, Electrifly (Tower)has 35 and 55AMp controllers that can be used with LiPos for under $60.

mr mulligan, thanks for the info. yes, i realizxed those prices were way high, i dont know where i got that from. i didnt know you can replace the canned in runner with an outrunner.... a guy at the field said you could actually replace it with an outrunner and the actual motor would go behind the firewall?? i didnt know that was possible in this plane cause the tiny space in the nose and terrible mounting conditions on the firewall...

i was thinking of getting the axi 2820/10 and jeti advanced esc or the castle phx esc, 30 amp. 30 amp would be ok right? then what lipo woiuld be best without breaking the bank? i am going to need a charger and balancer too cause i have neither. i also am not clear on what the wire winds do, or rather how they affect my purchase, i figure this plane i would want lower wire winds for faster speed and smaller prop on this plane?

thanks again.

I think a 30 amp ESC is a bit short for that motor. I'd go with a Castle Phoenix 45 or one of their new Thunderbirds, the 54. The Thunderbirds are less expensive even in that size. It doesn't hurt to have a larger than recommended ESC. Sometimes it's preferable. I have a Super Dimona, a 95in. motorglider with a 2820/10 and I have an 11x7 APC electric prop on it. That's because of prop clearance. The guys at Hobby Lobby recommended a 12x6E prop. My batteries are Polyquest 3700mah 3cell packs. They're a bit pricey at $114 but they are on sale at that price. Look around. For a charger, I have 2. One is an Astro 109 with the updated chip and the other is an FMA Cellpro 4. My favorite is the Cellpro. It's a balancing charger that sells for around $70 and charges and balances the pack. It does this through the balancing tap and adapters are available for the different packs since there is no standard for balancing taps. One adapter will charge Polyquest and Thunder Power, there's another for Apogee and so on. Adapters sell for about $10 each. The charger works beautifully and is available at fmadirect.com. The newest version also charges A123 batteries.

As to wire winds, I'm not knowledgable. I do know that outrunners are torque monsters and usually use large props. They do not turn at real high speeds. With the 600 motor I used, the Magnetic Meyhem, I used an 8x4 folding prop.