Not Your Father's Flite Streak

[Leonard Rennick]

Flite Streak wing that morphfed into an 80% P-Force or a Jr Force, as Mike Pratt and I named it several years ago. MonoKote over silkspan all trim is MonoKote while paint is KlassKote. Power is FP25, weight came in at 30oz, first flight to come Sunday.

Leonard

[Crist Rigotti]

Nice.

[Tim Wescott]

I like your tank mount.

[Howard Rush]

That's pretty cool.  We look forward to hearing how it flies.

[builditright]

thats pretty slick looking,

and where'd you get the gear?

[Leonard Rennick]

Walter,

The gear is from Steve Wilk (Elimator Props).

Leonard

[afml]

GREAT WORK Leonard!

Really like the outboard "scoop"!
How much longer is the fuselage from the original P-Force?

Keep us informed of the flight performance!

"Tight lines!"

Wes

[Paul Taylor]

Very nicely done.
So what's it called? A Flite Force?

[Mike Mulligan]

Very nicely done.
So what's it called? A Flite Force?

Maybe a P-streak....   

On second thought, ummm... No.

[Steve Helmick]

I'd vote for "Morph Force" (pronounced "MorForce"), but it's already been named the "Jr. Force", per the original post. It does look kewl, and I like the morphcolors and morphgraphics...  Steve

[john e. holliday]

As has been stated already, that is nice.

[wwwarbird]

 Neato! Should be a great flying little plane.

[Leonard Rennick]

Flying results were great, three minor tweeks. Lower the fuel tank, add a half oz of weight to the rear, and seal the OS needle valve, which I should have done before.

As for the the question about the fuselage being longer than a P-Force, it's shorter than the P-Force, it's about 80% the size of the P-Force. This is the second one of these I've built, had too after rekitting the first one. The first one was built using a combat Cat wing and flew pretty good, but the Flite Steak wing is much better, as Mike suggested it would be.

Leonard

[Larry Price]

Flying results were great, three minor tweeks. Lower the fuel tank, add a half oz of weight to the rear, and seal the OS needle valve, which I should have done before.
Leonard

Can you explain "seal the OS needle valve"? Thanks

[jim gilmore]

Can you show a better detail on how the fuel tank is mounted ?

[Leonard Rennick]

OS needle valves tend to leak at the junction between the needle and the spray bar the simple solution is to add a small piece of fuel tubing.  Place the piece of tubing on the spray bar and then screw the needle into it. Before I sealed the needle I had to open it 5 1/2 turns after it was sealed only 3 turns.

As for the fuel tank mount it's a piece of plywood, with added pieces of plywood glued to it for the mounting tabs. Then I glue a piece of mouse pad to the tabs and slot the tabs for adjustment. I then make a balsa wedge to angle the tank out about an 1/8 in, I use silicone glue to mount the tank and zip ties just for insurance.

[Kim Mortimore]

Leonard,

I haven't heard about OS needle valves leaking.  How long is the piece of fuel tubing you use to seal it?

Also, how would you say the shorter rear fuselage affects flight performance?

Thanks,
Kim

[Derek Moran]

Leonard,
Please explain how you finished the silkspan prior to applying the MonoKote.  I assume you wanted a smooth, taut surface that was somewhat porous.
Thanks!
Derek

[Leonard Rennick]

Derek,

The piece of tubing is about 3/16 long. On suction I have not found a problem with the OS needle assembly, but as soon as you add some pressure all bets are off. As for the silkspan I stole the process from John Miller. Apply the silkspan as normal but put only two coats of dope over the open bays, as you said it needs to be porous.. If you can't find John's article on the process I'll send you a copy. My advice would be to stay away from the new MonoKote it just takes a ton of heat to shrink. You noticed I didn't follow my own advice as I really liked that wine MonoKote. Ultrakote is the way to go. I've been able to cover a large combat wing 600 inches with just one piece on each side and no wrinkles.

Leonard