Author Topic: Flite Streak vs Lightning Streak (Read 7365 times)

Mark Misegadis · « **on:** November 03, 2011, 09:56:46 AM »

What are the differences on these two planes?

I have never seen a Lightning Streak in person. I have only seen the ARF of the Flite Streak in person. In photos on the Brodak site they appear to be based off of the same plane with the lighting streak void of a FS rudder that begs for a set of 59 Caddy tail lights. IMO

Brodaks site also says" The original Flite Streak is an exact reproduction of the original version as George Aldrich produced it in the 1950's.

Is this true or have there been changes to the Leading Edge of the wing etc like pretty much everything else.

Mark

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #1 on:** November 03, 2011, 10:24:50 AM »

For stunt I'd go with the Lightening Streak. I had a kit of it and passed it on to a beginner who had a blast with it. It's sort if a civilized Flite Streak, comes with 2 wheeled gear and possibly a longer nose. Flite Streaks are great airplanes but as has been mentioned elsewhere are more combat than stunt oriented. My guess is that there are LE changes but they are for the better.

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #2 on:** November 03, 2011, 11:43:08 AM »

I've built the Jr Flitestreak and the big Flitestreak from Brodak kits. They are exactly as George designed them. I have George's proof sheets of the Brodak plans.

proparc · « **Reply #3 on:** November 03, 2011, 12:04:36 PM »

Listen to Jim, he knows what he is talking about-trust me.

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #4 on:** November 03, 2011, 12:23:19 PM »

Quote from: Pete Cunha on November 03, 2011, 10:24:50 AM

It's sort if a civilized Flite Streak, comes with 2 wheeled gear and possibly a longer nose.

Hey Pete, Does the Brodak version of the Flite Streak also just have a single wheel nose gear?

Mark

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #5 on:** November 03, 2011, 12:24:55 PM »

Quote from: Jim Thomerson on November 03, 2011, 11:43:08 AM

I've built the Jr Flitestreak and the big Flitestreak from Brodak kits. They are exactly as George designed them. I have George's proof sheets of the Brodak plans.

Great to hear this as I have been looking at one. Do you know if the LS is a modified FS? Are the Wings the same?

Mark

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #6 on:** November 03, 2011, 12:54:31 PM »

Yes...just like George designed it. Now, I'm going to hand this thread over to Jim who knows waaaay more about OTS and Flite Streaks than I ever will.

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #7 on:** November 03, 2011, 08:14:56 PM »

For me the single wheel gear works great, nice smooth takeoffs and greased landings. Notice that team racers and rat racers, where good ground handling is a must, generally have single wheel gear.

Allen Brickhaus · « **Reply #8 on:** November 04, 2011, 08:49:25 AM »

That and the Olympic by Bob Gialdini held my respect and guided me in many of my models.

Allen

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #9 on:** November 04, 2011, 01:59:31 PM »

Quote from: Jim Thomerson on November 03, 2011, 08:14:56 PM

For me the single wheel gear works great, nice smooth takeoffs and greased landings. Notice that team racers and rat racers, where good ground handling is a must, generally have single wheel gear.

So the Flite Streak has always been kitted as a plane with a single wheel gear then I take it

Quote from: Mark Misegadis on November 03, 2011, 12:24:55 PM

Do you know if the Lightning Streak is a modified Flite Streak? Are the Wings the same?

Mark

Not sure that anyone has answered this just yet. They look the same from photos but I wasnt sure if they were?

Mark

George · « **Reply #10 on:** November 04, 2011, 04:04:46 PM »

If I understand correctly, when Brodak released the Lightning Streak, Top Flite still owned the rights to the Flite Streak. When Brodak acquired the rights to make the Flite Streak, George Aldrich insisted that it be made the way he designed it...which included the split LE. Top Flite had made a few changes to fit their production methods.

George

dave siegler · « **Reply #11 on:** November 04, 2011, 04:06:26 PM »

The same wing except the Lightning streak has 2 spars and square LE and a sheet TE.
The tail surfaces are not the curved ones that the flite streak. Elevator is a little wider.

So really not any functional changes.

Same airplane, Lightning Streak is a little easier to build structure and no curved lines on the tail.
2 wheeled gear in the kit.

The flite streak looks a lot better IMHO.

Dennis Moritz · « **Reply #12 on:** November 04, 2011, 06:44:19 PM »

I've always found the split leading edge of the original Flite Streaks a pain. As well as the hollowed top flight version. Problem is with the dagger nose ribs. Impossible, at least for me, to get the noses to match exactly with recessed section of the front. Some ribs fit, some don't, trimming them to fit is the same as trimming a table leg to keep a table from rocking. Multiplied by 5 or 10 times. Every conventional Flite Streak I've seen, when opened due to a crash, show some ribs in the recess tight, some only touching the top or the bottom. The Broakak Streek uses a conventional leading edge made from a 1/2" square stick. Easy enough to get all the ribs glued with little extra clearance. Much better joint. Perhaps the split leading edge or hollowed version is inherently stronger. But the challenge of fitting the rib fronts cancels out any possible advantage. At least as far as I'm concerned. Also, it's interesting to note, that the wing construction of the Brodak Lightning Streak is identical to the Top Flight ARF. Top Flite apparently abandoned the George Aldrich construction when modifying the plane to be an ARF.

I lengthened the nose of my last streak one inch plus and the tail 2 inches plus. Managed to mount a 3.75 ounce chicken hopper on the extended nose. Plenty of fuel for a pattern when using a Tower 40. The flying seems smoother, but, at least in this Streak, one that uses an ARF wing, the corners are not as sharp as a good flying flapped profile. Kind of porky, surprisingly so, at 36 ounces. I cut the profile fues from scratch and used !/8" five ply for the sandwich. The fues wood was definitely not chosen for contest lightness. Guess that's a big reason the combo came in heavy. My first priority, at least for nose section, was rigidity, solidness. Since ARF Streaks were problematic in the past. Their light built up bodies and almost hollow nose tending to set up bad profile vibes. Any engine larger than a 25 was also likely to rip free after a few flights.

I vote for Lightning Streak. Use swallow tail stab and rudder and you should be good to go in the PAMPA Classic class. Since the outlines of both planes would match. I've seen many an ARF Streak compete in Classic without a penalty.

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #13 on:** November 07, 2011, 03:05:50 PM »

Lightning Streak – Brodak Design and not a repop of a Vintage plane?
Leading Edge - Square Stock
Double Spar
Sheet Trailing Edge
Rib Profile – ?

Flite Streak (Are there other versions?)

GA Original
Leading Edge - Split
Single Spar
Sheet Trailing Edge
Rib Profile – All compare to this as it’s the 1st

Original Top Flite Kits
Leading Edge - Square Stock
Single Spar
Sheet Trailing Edge
Rib Profile – Same as GA Flite Streak?

Top Flite Flite Streak ARF
Leading Edge - Square Stock
Double Spar
Sheet Trailing Edge
Rib Profile – ?

Brodak Flite Streak
Leading Edge - Square Stock
Single Spar
Sheet Trailing Edge
Rib Profile –

Does someone want to confirm/correct the specs above?

Mark

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #14 on:** November 07, 2011, 03:38:01 PM »

NOTE: From the Brodak Site

Flite Streak Description:
The original Flite Streak is an exact reproduction of the original version as George Aldrich produced it in the 1950's. This kit is part of the "Nostalgia Series" developed by Brodak.

Lightning Streak Description:
This design incorporates many years of building and flying control-line airplanes. High-quality, well-engineered design that's an easy-to-build kit with easy-to-follow instructions that are fully illustrated. Ideal for either combat or stunt flying

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #15 on:** November 07, 2011, 04:50:30 PM »

The Lightning Streak it was originally kitted by Control Line Classics. Probably released as a Flite Streak pretender since at the time Top Flite had rights to the real Flite Streak. Enough differences to qualify as a seperate design.

Chad Hill · « **Reply #16 on:** November 07, 2011, 07:54:57 PM »

Are the airfoils the same? Anybody have the NACA number for it?

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #17 on:** November 08, 2011, 08:36:13 AM »

I'm unaware of the Brodak Flite Streak as posted as the last example by Mark above.

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #18 on:** November 08, 2011, 09:46:29 AM »

Quote from: Jim Thomerson on November 08, 2011, 08:36:13 AM

I'm unaware of the Brodak Flite Streak as posted as the last example by Mark above.

Hi Jim,
I really don’t have a clue and that is why I am asking the question.

I just put that together as a template/summary to get it all nailed down in one place. If you’re the Flite Streak expert please correct that information.

Mark

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #19 on:** November 08, 2011, 10:52:15 AM »

The Top Flite Flite Streak kits had carved leading and trailing edges, and, I think, two spars. So far as I know, the only Flite Streaks sold by Brodak are the original GMA design with built up V-shaped leading edge, built up full depth spar, and sheeted trailing edge.

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #20 on:** November 08, 2011, 11:24:36 AM »

Hi Jim

"Carved" Do you mean machined for the leading and trailing edges.

Mark

Andrew Hathaway · « **Reply #21 on:** November 08, 2011, 12:22:42 PM »

The Top Flite kit used a single piece of balsa, which was milled to become the leading and trailing edges of the wing. The back sides were milled for lightening, and the slots were cut for the ribs. Right out of the box, the leading and trailing edges were still one piece, and had to be cut apart and finish sanded. The spars were also notched, so the entire wing kind of keys together.

The way to build that style leading edge from scratch, is with pointed ribs and two strips of 3/16 x 1" balsa. One strip is glued to the bottom of the pointed ribs, carved/sanded to match the other side of the point, and the second strip is glued to the ribs and first strip. Finally the works is carved and sanded to become the rounded leading edge. Top Flite's method just saved the builder time and effort. The ARF uses a square strip for the leading edge, most likely because it's really fast, cheap, and light.

Steve Hines · « **Reply #22 on:** November 09, 2011, 08:01:39 PM »

This is a lighting streak with a combat streak fuse, first two next two pic is a flight streak. Lighting has cap stips and a smaller leading edge, if I did it again I think I would sheet the leading edge.

Steve

Mark Misegadis · « **Reply #23 on:** November 09, 2011, 08:06:57 PM »

Andrew, Steve, Great information.

Is the overall end result of the airfoil profile the same on all the streaks?

Mark

Steve Hines · « **Reply #24 on:** November 09, 2011, 09:07:02 PM »

Yes the wing and tails would go on both. I was going to use the other tail and wing on the combat streak, so I could fly it in a older class. Samantha wanted that tail on the one she build, so now I have somethig new. I tryed for days to get the pics smaller so I could post them. Hate to say I spent hours trying to get something smaller.

Steve

Dennis Moritz · « **Reply #25 on:** November 09, 2011, 10:21:18 PM »

Here's a stretched Streak. ARF wing, very similar to a Brodak Steak wing, added about 1" to nose and 2" to the back fues. Tail feathers were re-cut using hard 3/16". Haven't had any problem about flying this in Classic events. Told the judges what I did. They said o.k. Had a good sense of humor. The judge at the NATs said, you built this Flite Streak from a kit. I said, it has an ARF wing, I cut the fues and the tail. The Judge repeated himself and said, you built this Flite Streak from a kit. And I said, I used an ARF wing... 9 points. Like I said, judge had a good sense of humor.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #26 on:** November 11, 2011, 05:39:29 AM »

Yeah, some judges are hard nosed.

Thanks for the pics of the Streaks. Now I don't have to dig mine out.