Arf Streak

[ken Kubushefski]

First of all in advance thanks for a great forum. Built a ARF streak mostly stock. la 25 , tank that came with kit, stock la muffler. Added 3/32'' dual l/g with foam tires. Also a double from the front to back of the fuselage on both sides. If remember 1/16'' ply epoxied on. Now on a home made jig Trying to get a 1 1/2'' cg with no fuel in tank, The jig is a 2x4 with 3/8 dowels drilled 1'' apart in 1/2'' increments.
  I don't have a scale but to get thing to half a_ _ balance i used a 4 way fox wrench as a weight. also leans to the outboard side. Is it scrap now? I've read so much about these arfs not even making 1 circle. Any help would be appreciated. Also can a ez just handle be used ? First attempt to fly after many years  thanks  Ken

[Alan Hahn]

You want to balance just past the leading edge---at least at first. I didn't get where exactly you are balancing.
Also you want the wing heavier on the outside (away from leadouts). There is built-in weight on the outboard wingtip.

added---you should do a search on this in the Arf forum. Also there is info on SSW forum.

[Ralph Wenzel (d)]

In your list of modifications, I don't see "Replacing the leadouts". If you don't do this, you will regret it!

[Garf]

So far my leadouts are holding up fine.

[Alan Hahn]

I am not sure what the stock tank is these days, but the original metal tank had rust issues, and as I recall, few people used them.

I put a Fox15BB on mine with a 2oz tank. I fly on 52 foot 0.012 lines and it is a nice sport flying plane. I could probably increase the line length a bit to slow it down more. I usually fly it once or twice a year (haven't done it this year though).

[Garf]

I love it="so far".

I'll let you know if they fail.

[ken Kubushefski]

thanks for the info. The balance I was trying to achieve was about 1 1/2 from the leading edge of the wing. It just seems it would take too much weight on the nose? Also where do you put the weight?  Ken

[Larrys4227]

I've got a couple of smashed/repaired FS's that are good beaters, so I'll give ya some tips that work for me. Get the CG halfway between the LE and spar. (Not sure how far back it is in inches, but good spot for me). Use a 9x5 prop around 10.2K RPM on 60ft lines and use narrow line spacing at the handle. Pushrod set at the furthest spot out on the elevator. Get rid of that tank at your earliest opportunity and put in a 2oz Sullivan clunk tank. Setup as I've described should get you about 5 minutes of flight time.

Sounds like theres already tip weight in the outboard wing - good. If ya need to add weight to the nose, put it wherever ya can.  You can add some weight simply by putting on a solid aluminum spinner nut. Additional weight I epoxy to the underside of the fuse, underneath the motor. One of my FS's has 2.5oz of added nose weight because of a blunder in one of my repairs.  Flies great tho, and is used as a trainer plane. Very docile.

For now, dont worry about the leadouts .... just fly it, and keep an eye on them. (I've got hundreds of flights on mine with no problems.) If this were a plane with hours & hours of building/finishing, then YES replace the leadouts, but its a 60.00 ARF to get a retread back in the air.  Go for it .... !!

Hope this has helped, and let us know how you make out.

FlySafe!  Larry (Larrys4227)