Classic Designs > Classic Planes

VP Flite Streak or Sig Skyray 35 ?

(1/3) > >>

Chris Lambdin:
I’ve got an OS 20 FP sitting on the bench. Which one of these planes would you build for a stunt trainer?

Dan McEntee:
  If built straight with some attention to small details, they are both quite capable.   I'll continue to add, that the Flight Streak is the only one that is classic legal if you ever wanted to fly it in Classic competition. The Skyray .35 is no where near old enough.
  I'll add this also. If you are just starting out, there is no magic airplane, just the model that you may have on hand or have some sort of attraction to. One won't make you an expert stunt pilot overnight and neither will the other. They both will teach you to build straight and accurate, and along the way, you will learn to repair them both. Crashing is in your future, so get used to the idea. How much you crash is up to you. If I had to chose between the two on that basis along, I would suggest building the Shyray.35. The ones I crashed when they came out and the ones I see others crash, they just seem to be able to take the abuse better and repair easier. The kit can be cloned easily and airplanes produced pretty quickly depending on how much finish you put on them. They both can be modified  for better performance and such, but you are not ready for that. You just need to build the model, then learn how to fly it, then start learning the tricks and your skill and confidence builds.

  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

bill bischoff:
They both have the same airfoil (really!). The Skyray has a longer fuselage than the Flite Streak, so it will be smoother flying, and have more room for a fuel tank.

Joe Ed Pederson:
I've never built or flown a Flite Streak, but what I find aggravating about the Skyray .35 is that you end up throwing away all the plywood ribs, then have to make your own balsa ribs.

I added the wire landing gear from the Banshee/Twister kit to have a regular two wheel landing gear.  You can order the bent wire landing gear from Sig for $3.72 https://sigmfg.com/collections/sig-c-l-kit-parts.  Be careful in mounting this gear so that it doesn't interfere with mounting the fuel tank.   Because of how I how I mounted the wire gear I'm limited to a 2 ounce plastic clunk tank that gives about a 5 1/2 minute run on my FP .20.  Mine weighs 32 ounces which isn't real light nor real heavy.  It flies well when you set her to fly between 4.8 to 5.0 second laps

If you do use the Banshee/Twister wire landing gear, do as Dan McEntee suggested to me.  Put another brass tube over the 1/8" I.D. brass tube to strengthen the wire going through the fuselage.   The wire gear is two piece and the wire that goes into the fuselage comes bent a little less than 90 degrees so you'll need to but it in a vice and make it a 90 degree bend.  Even with the wire bent 90 degrees in order to get the wire to lay flat against the side of the fuselage, the inner 1/8" I.D.  brass tube will have to be a good deal shorter than the width of the fuselage and the outside tube will also be narrower than the width of the fuselage.

Plusses for the balsa rib wing Skyray .35

1.  It is tough.  I've crashed four times (I think) and have never damaged the wing.  I covered the entire fuselage with light fiberglass and Zap
Z-Poxy .  With the fiberglass I've had a couple of hairline vertical cracks in the fuselage right behind the wing, but nothing worse.  Thin CA was all that was needed.   I used the materials from the kit to make the fuselage and tail.   All crashes on grass, of course.
2.  It is simple to build.  I didn't even taper the fuselage because it was designed to balance with a Fox .35 and the FP .20 with a stock muffler is considerably heavier.  I still had to add a little tail weight.
3.  If you use spruce or bass wood for the spar, you can cover with Monokote/Ultracote.
4.  I left the wing tips square like the Twister which eliminated the need to build a wing tip box.  Just put a piece of ply with a blind nut on the last rib and bolt the lead on the outside of the square tip.
5.  It is hard to get emotionally attached to such a simple utilitarian model, which makes taking chances easier and crashes aren't the end of the world or the end of hundreds of hours of labor.
6.  With the control rod in the outer hole of the bellcrank and in the outer hole in the control horn, she is not skitish or twitchy. 

I bought a Brodak Shark 402, but haven't built it yet.  I bought it because I wouldn't have to throw some of the kit away and have to make my own set of ribs.  The only downside (to me) is that the kit has a single wheel landing gear.  I prefer two wheel landing gears.  The Shark 402 would be perfect for the FP .20.  It's wing has the same number of square inches as the Skyray .35.

Joe Ed Pederson

Dan McEntee:
   Hi Joe;
     No need to throw away those plywood ribs. They can used as is or used as templates first and then used in a model. They are light ply and with the spacing on the ribs, they don't add up to a lot of weight. They are light ply for a reason and that is to take the shock of a sudden meeting with the ground. If you have some ply ribs left over, weigh them in a stack just for a reference. Then weigh some of the same ribs cut from 1/8" or 3/16". The model is designed to fly, crash, survive maybe, and repaired easily. I like the classic look of the Flite Streak, and to get the same flavor from the Skyray .35, just add some tapered sheet balsa fixed flaps and there you are!  I'm in agreement with you on all the other mods, such as two wheel gear and such. It just makes life easier. Just keep doing what you are doing and move along at your own pace. I think you are doing OK.
  Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page