Flite Streak Stooge Launch?

[Paul Raley]

Is it possible to launch a single wheel Flite Streak from grass with a stooge?  Forty years ago we always hand launched our Flite Streaks.  I am thinking that some bolt on aluminum two wheel landing gear may be a better option for me now since I mostly fly alone.  I have had a Flite Streak ARF kit sitting around for years now but reading old posts about the magic combination of this with the OS 20 FP has me interested in putting in together.  TIA

[Colin McRae]

Is it possible to launch a single wheel Flite Streak from grass with a stooge?  Forty years ago we always hand launched our Flite Streaks.  I am thinking that some bolt on aluminum two wheel landing gear may be a better option for me now since I mostly fly alone.  I have had a Flite Streak ARF kit sitting around for years now but reading old posts about the magic combination of this with the OS 20 FP has me interested in putting in together.  TIA

I've never liked a single center wheel design. Always tore up the outer wing tip covering or worse on simple landings.

Brodak sells both aluminum and wire gear for profile models. Or you can make your own using 1/8" music wire.

[Paul Raley]

I've never liked a single center wheel design. Always tore up the outer wing tip covering or worse on simple landings.

Brodak sells both aluminum and wire gear for profile models. Or you can make your own using 1/8" music wire.

Thanks Colin!

[dave siegler]

I used the single wheel for years.  I put a paper towel roll under the inboard wing and step back once it starts moving.  I have had great luck with the sinegl wheel gear on rough crassy fields

 

[Paul Raley]

I used the single wheel for years.  I put a paper towel roll under the inboard wing and step back once it starts moving.  I have had great luck with the sinegl wheel gear on rough crassy fields

 

Thanks Dave!  That is good to know.  So just put an empty (?) paper towel roll under the outside wing tip?  Is the roll parallel to the fuselage? 

[jerry v]

Single wheel, full up elevator, release stooge, step back, and even T-square will go!

Jerry

[Colin McRae]

I also fly alone quite a bit of the time.

2-wheel gear on my Streak. Plus, I have similar gear on both a Brodak Shark 402 and SIG Skyray 35, both kits originally designed for a single center wheel.

Just use 2 wheels and then don't worry about it. There are plenty of other things to worry about. Don't add landing gear to the list.

[Joseph Lijoi]

Is it possible to launch a single wheel Flite Streak from grass with a stooge?  Forty years ago we always hand launched our Flite Streaks.  I am thinking that some bolt on aluminum two wheel landing gear may be a better option for me now since I mostly fly alone.  I have had a Flite Streak ARF kit sitting around for years now but reading old posts about the magic combination of this with the OS 20 FP has me interested in putting in together.  TIA

I have never messed with a single wheel and a stooge. It didn't seem reliable. I have used the landing gear from the Brodak 38 Special. It's a prefect fit. It is expensive though. 


https://brodak.com/control-line-parts/landing-gear-1/38-special-landing-gear.html

[Colin McRae]

I have never messed with a single wheel and a stooge. It didn't seem reliable. I have used the landing gear from the Brodak 38 Special. It's a prefect fit. It is expensive though. 


https://brodak.com/control-line-parts/landing-gear-1/38-special-landing-gear.html

That's a nice one.

Brodak also makes a more generic one for any profile model that uses 2 mounting bolts. (Not sure why it is a little more expensive.)

https://brodak.com/control-line-parts/landing-gear-1/landing-gear/aluminum-landing-gear/2-piece-landing-gear-for-profile-planes.html

[Ken Culbertson]

That's a nice one.

Brodak also makes a more generic one for any profile model that uses 2 mounting bolts. (Not sure why it is a little more expensive.)

https://brodak.com/control-line-parts/landing-gear-1/landing-gear/aluminum-landing-gear/2-piece-landing-gear-for-profile-planes.html

Wow, does that price include shipping, installation and training? 

Ken

[john e. holliday]

I have used single wheel gear on many planes.  I usually put shop towel or rag on out board wing tip so it will slide off when plane moves.  Remember to step back as you release the stooge.  If grass is too rough I use a strip of carpet.  It takes thought and patience to do it successfully.

[dave siegler]

Thanks Dave!  That is good to know.  So just put an empty (?) paper towel roll under the outside wing tip?  Is the roll parallel to the fuselage?

No put a full roll under the inboard wing to keep it up for the first 2 feet.  then step back.

[Colin McRae]

I have used single wheel gear on many planes.  I usually put shop towel or rag on out board wing tip so it will slide off when plane moves.  Remember to step back as you release the stooge.  If grass is too rough I use a strip of carpet.  It takes thought and patience to do it successfully.

Let's not all forget that planes also need to land.

The minor wing tip damage to my past single wheel models occurred on the landing when the outer wing tip eventually drops and drags. Takeoffs were fine.

[Paul Raley]

No put a full roll under the inboard wing to keep it up for the first 2 feet.  then step back.

Ah...I understand.  Thanks!

[Ken Culbertson]

That would help.  The biggest problem over grass letting the lines hit the grass and pull the nose in before you get tension.  That is true of most everything but with the All American it is doubly important.  Backing up and back like you were avoiding a vortex is all it takes.  We mostly hand launched everything back then.  It works for that too.

I am guessing back in the day when this plane was king you got originality points for takeoff!  I was 16 and I learned the difference between walking around a circle with a plane on a string and *FLYING* on the AA.  It will always have a place in my memories.

Ken

[Joseph Lijoi]

That's a nice one.

Brodak also makes a more generic one for any profile model that uses 2 mounting bolts. (Not sure why it is a little more expensive.)

https://brodak.com/control-line-parts/landing-gear-1/landing-gear/aluminum-landing-gear/2-piece-landing-gear-for-profile-planes.html

The landing gear that you suggest is somewhat bigger than the one used on the 38 Special. I have them both. The one that you suggest is good. it seems intended for Twister sized profiles and up. The 38 Special gear is smaller and better proportioned to a Flite Streak.

[Dave_Trible]

Usually a Flite Streak will hop off the ground in about six inches- or the first clump of grass it hits.   Just hold your handle up about head high to launch and keep the lines off the ground.   The other suggestions about laying something on the outboard wing or to prop up the inboard wing are good.    Once it starts moving you shouldn't have any problems.   Be sure the wind is at your back.  With the engine,  tank and tip weight all outboard the airplane should want to naturally fall outward anyway.  If it doesn't then the wheel needs to be placed a bit more inboard.   The idea of the single wheel was to save weight and drag.   To some extent adding more stuff hanging from the bottom will change the vertical CG.   If you are using a muffler that too aggravates  that situation.   In flying this might cause the airplane to go lighter on the lines for inside loops.   

Dave

[Tim Wescott]

Not Flight Streaks, but in the late 70's I was flying various single-LG 1/2-A powered planes off of dirt (there was glass there, but it was mostly dirt).

If the grass is too thick, get a cheap throw rug to take off from.  Six feet long ought to do it, and you can take it with you when you leave the field.

[bob whitney]

single wheels rule. RAD

[John Park]

I'm mainly a 'lone hand' flier, using a stooge release and taking off from not-terribly-short grass.  I can get by with a single-wheel U/C on models of the Flite Streak type, but prefer a two-wheel drop-off 'dolly' made of piano wire, which plugs into a couple of brass tubes let into the fuselage - thanks to the engine's vibration, it will always drop off cleanly as soon as the model's airborne.  Landing U/C-less on grass isn't a problem for me, as my models of this type are always nylon- or Polyspan-covered.  I use fairly large-diameter wheels, simply cut from 1/8" ply and painted fluorescent pink so that the dolly's easy to find in the grass.  Another advantage is that you don't have to make a new dolly for every model of the same general size.  I don't remember where I got the idea from (presumably AeroModeller magazine), but I've been using these gizmos since 1960, and never had a problem.

[Brad LaPointe]

For no wheels we use old guys with beer bellies!

Brad