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The Flite
Streak has had a hard life. The tail feathers have been broken off a
couple of times, and the outboard wing sheared off at least once. The
sheeting on the wing along the fuselage has to be replaced in 3 of 4 spots. |
I had to cut
into the sheeting over the bellcrank to install new leadouts. The old
ones had rotted and broke with only a few pounds of pressure. It's a
common problem I've had for several of my smaller planes. |
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Ready
for silkspan and dope. Note the original weignt in the wingtip in the foreground. |
My Flite
Streak from a 3/4 view. Yes, that's a bit of a wrinkle in the
covering near the leading edge at the wingtip in the foreground.
(March 10, 2002) |
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Above and
right, my Flite Streak as it looks before color dope is applied. It
looks a little rough, with the old dope finish being covered by clear
and sanded. (March 10, 2002) |
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MARCH
10, 2002. The wing has been recovered and doped with
several coats of Sig Lite Coat dope. The wing tips are still a
problem for me, but they aren't terrible. The covering job would be
better if it was a newly constructed ship. It'll do as-is for one
30-plus years old.
I'm surprised at
how heavy the Streak has gotten as I've added covering and dope. It
has several layers on it from the past, not to mention heavy glues
and epoxies from a variety of repairs. It won't be as nimble as it
was when I flew it 30 years ago.
I'm ready to color
dope the Flite Streak now. I'm looking at the same paint scheme (for
nostalgia's sake). The red will be Sig Waco Red, which is a brighter
one than was originally used.
MARCH
2, 2002. I spent quite a bit of time massaging the
airframe with sanding sealer and sandpaper. It's not perfect, but it
will be smoother than it was.
I had to remount
the firewall, as it was loose and the holes were stripped out. I
installed blind nuts and epoxied the new firewall in place.
I covered the
wings with medium silkspan today. I toyed with the notion of using
some other color scheme, but I'm probably going to stick with red and
white, though the red will probably be a brighter Sig Waco Red.
Before bed, I'll go spray the silkspan with water so it'll shrink.
DEC.
4, 2001. The problem with getting my old Flite Streak
back in shape has been the sheeting on the center section of the
wing. Because of the fuselage being so well attached, I've had to
piece the missing sheeting together and glue it. Not an easy task,
and it has been difficult to do it so it looks nice. I've wondered
about scrapping the plane and building a newer 1/2A Flite Streak kit,
but it's hard to forget the great flights with this one.
The tail assembly
has been repaired, and once I replace the last sheeting that's
missing the wing will be covered. |
My Top Flite Flite Streak, powered by my most powerful motor at that
time, a Cox Golden Bee, was one of the most acrobatic control-line
planes I've ever flown of any size. I had a blast flying this little
plane; it even survived an aerial attack by a Nighthawk.
The ship was given to me by a much older friend of my
family who flew R/C.
I'll re-utilize this color scheme, but drop the German
crosses. Many of my models carry WWII emblems, including swastikas,
though today they would probably be classified as hate crimes. |
