Baby Flite Streak build thread

Rusty..there's no probably...it works great..believe me. Just purchased another Vintage Cox Motor Rusty..It going in next months engine of the month. My Mark Tee Dee .15 this month is getting beat up!! I just purchased a Conquest with the original Box..real beauty..I would post a Pic but that would be sabotaging your thread!

RknRusty wrote:... with 60 minute epoxy glue for fuel proofing the wood. I;ll probably thin it a bit first so it soaks in.

What do you use to thin epoxy glue? I'm assuming that it's 2 pack epoxy.

dinsdale wrote:

RknRusty wrote:... with 60 minute epoxy glue for fuel proofing the wood. I;ll probably thin it a bit first so it soaks in.

What do you use to thin epoxy glue? I'm assuming that it's 2 pack epoxy.

Any alcohol spirit.
Knock up the 2 pack then stir in your Scotch, Meths or whatever you've got to hand.
I usually use 15 min, 5 min is a little too fast, 30 min has too much time to drip.

Hello Rusty, I can assure you that you'll have absolutely no problem using that Tee Dee. There would be absolutely no need for a .09. In fact I don't even think that would even work. Problems with a streak is the short nose. This is a real problem on the full size versions. Many guys mount their tanks inboard due to the short nose. You would need a bigger tank which is more weight. The reason for the short nose is due to how George designed the plane. Short nose, thick airfoil, long tail. These moments are legendary in the world of control line. A Tee Dee .09 weighs in about 2.78 ounces. The Tee Dee .049 weighs 1.48 ounces. That's almost another .049. Realizing the difference of weight would require that much more weight in the tail. Remember the fly swatter tail effect that broke mine off. This would happen even easier with more tail weight. The other problem with having a heavy nose is that it takes much more to rotate that mass. Turning would be greatly affected. WIngloading is relative to square inches and weight of model. You have more than enough horsepower to drive that model fast and hard. Looking at the Baby Ringmaster, it has the same sq inch wing as your streak. The problem with the Ringmaster airfoil is that it's thinner and has to fly faster. A slow flying RIngmaster slides through the turns and stalls. The Baby Ringmaster though flies just fine using a Black Widow . The .09 isn't really going to swing any more rpm's than a .049. What it can do is swing a bigger prop. A bigger prop is harder to turn as well. Once again you have more mass out there with a larger gyroscopic affect. A Tee Dee with a rubber ducky black 5 x 3 will give you the rpm's and enough drive to see that plane through the maneuvers. If in the event you feel the engine is loading through the maneuvers, trim a 1/8" of each tip and go fly again until you get it. I use Cox rubber ducky props on Clycons and Profi's and have turned them up to 34K rpm's. The prop trimming is a technique we use to hit the desired speed and rpm were looking for. We do balance after trimming. Ken

Good for pointing out the specs on the .09, Ken. Though it should be obvious it's hard to imagine it's twice the metal of an .051. I remember staring in disbelief at the diminutive size of MFD's .020 Pee Wee. All I have ever seen in real life is .049s. So all of what you point out makes good sense. The little TD .051 is a demon, I expect it'll do the job nicely. I just got a new starter spring from Bernie, I hope I can cram it in there without filing and sanding. I want that nose as strong as possible.

It's been raining for 36 hours now and the humidity is 98%. I hate to open up the shop and expose my bare balsa skeleton to the dampness for fear of warping. I can't stay away though, so I'll probably slip in and shut the door while i work on it tonight. I need to go to Lowes and see if I can match some Rustoleum enamel to my Insignia Blue and Rocket Tube Red. I'll take a swatch of the two Monokotes with me, but I don't know if they can custom mix Rustoleum. I thought that was dark blue on the forward portion, but I finally found out it's black. It's okay, I like the dark Navy blue better anyway. It looks awesome with the flap extensions glued onto the wings, really sleek and raptor-like.

I'm going to use the Hobbylite compound I bought for the minor fillets I need. Maybe next time I'll use all the stuff y'all have recommended. No offense, I filed your ideas away for future reference.

Rusty, no offense taken. I've used that material you have and loved the sandability of it. I've had paint adhesion problems using straight epoxy for fillets when using dope. Switching to microballoons not only saves weight but gives the paint something to grip onto. It does take practice to allow it to lay correctly. I have taped them to get it straight but I was always left with a ridge. This material will not feather down. As I've learned through the years is to not apply several coats of clear dope to the fillets. This is especially true if using Sig Supecoat as it will form bubbles which don't begin to show their appearance until your in color then blisters form. Prior to coating I rough the fillets to open the spheres in the material and clean thoroughly with acetone. I use one very thinned brushed coat on the fillet prior to going to color. I wasn't aware of the toxicity of this material as Lew pointed out. I use the white powdery version. All in all when you really think of the toxicity of everything we use, I try not to dwell on it. However when spraying dope I certainly take the precautions. I've never had any paint related issues with that lite fillet material you have. Like I said many that I know have drizzled thin ca on it after it was sanded to seal it and make it hard as it can be soft. I've experienced cracking around radius's with that material but only on .35 size models. I certainly don't think a .049 is going to shake like a Fox.35. I've also never used Rustoleum as a finish. A fellow club member does this all the time and his models really turn out beautifully. He did say you get much better results when doing light misted coats. Funny that you mentioned that you weren't aware of the actual color. If you look at my plane in the picture, I painted it wrong. I had to laugh actually. I painted red where the black was supposed to be. I didn't notice it until a few days later when I wanted to put the wing decal on and was looking at the picture on the box. Ken

I've been using Rustoleum since forever. I spray their gray automotive primer first and the first coat of color covers it completely. After painting I use Lustrekote(from Monokote) fuelproof clear gloss and have never had fuel penetrate it at all. They say the Rustoleum dark colors aren't as fuelproof, but the Lustrekote should take care of that. I lightly coat the decals with Lustrekote too. Put it on too quickly and they will bubble up.

Rusty , this is good to know. My father used Lusterkote one time and liked it. It just became hard to find around here. He didn't want to have to mail order. I recall the smell being more laquer like. I always thought Rustoleum was a enamel. I didn't think they were compatible. Seeing this is how you paint these models I want to give that a try. I really dislike dragging all my spray equipment out and cleaning it. A simple spray bomb would certainly make things easy. Thanks, Ken

LustreCoat in my opinion is not the best paint out there but your trapped and lassoed after you buy the Monokote..that's the problem!! I've had some really bad things happen with LustreCoat but I won't go there. Sometimes I think paint runs are my fault but when it occurs over & over there's something wrong with the product. I had to say it!!

Rusty, while were on the subject of streaks, I've been doing a little something with all of my current builds. I've been making bladder compartments for the majority of my planes. My large streak that is pictured here has now been revamped and can hold 4oz's in the bladder compartment. I made the compartment using a flourescent light bulb protector tube. I was able to cut the ribs off in front of the spars then I was able to cut holes in them and assembled it all at the same time. I roughed the tube up which is why it appears white in color and used epoxy to hold it in. With this large compartment and all that fuel, I don't use tip weight in the outboard wing. I don't think I'm getting 5 minutes to a flight but it certainly is a wild ride at about 120 mph. Unfortunately, that engine has ripped the nose off of the plane more than once. The beams are doweled through the leading edge now. This design though can be introduced to 1/2A models as well. I was thinking small rocket tube about 3/4" diameter. This would also take glue well. I want to do this to Combat Kitten I built. The Kitten has a tank in the wing now. I feel that even if you build for a tank, this would give you the option of using both. Certainly something to think about. Ken

Looks great until I seen that Flyers Logo...That wrecked the pictures real fast!!!

That's ok Lew, I'm not a sports fan and this plane was given to me. I believe the logo is covering a hole. Ken

shawn cook wrote:I always thought Rustoleum was a enamel.

I thought that Rustoleum was a single pack epoxy. Does anyone know for sure?

dinsdale wrote:

shawn cook wrote:I always thought Rustoleum was a enamel.

I thought that Rustoleum was a single pack epoxy. Does anyone know for sure?

http://www.rona.ca/shop/rust-oleum_paint_shop
Rust Oleum Has Sooo Many products!!

ZACATTACK wrote: LustreCoat in my opinion is not the best paint out there but your trapped and lassoed after you buy the Monokote..that's the problem!! I've had some really bad things happen with LustreCoat but I won't go there. Sometimes I think paint runs are my fault but when it occurs over & over there's something wrong with the product. I had to say it!!

I'm not trapped or lassoed. I have never used any Lustrekote colors, so I don't have an opinion on them. If you don't rush the Rustoleum colored paint and let it off-gas first, then the Lustrekote clearcoat makes it pretty much impenetrable to glow fuel. I clean my planes thoroughly at least within a day of flying, so I don't know if it holds up to long term soaking in exhaust smut.

shawn cook wrote:...This design though can be introduced to 1/2A models as well. I was thinking small rocket tube about 3/4" diameter. This would also take glue well. I want to do this to Combat Kitten I built. The Kitten has a tank in the wing now. I feel that even if you build for a tank, this would give you the option of using both. Certainly something to think about. Ken

I would love to have a bladder in the wing. I looked at it this afternoon but got sidetracked and didn't take any measurements, But I'm not sure there's room for it in the Baby. I'll pump up a bladder and measure the OD so I know what kind of space I need.
I could hang a no pressure balloon where the tank goes. That's better than a wedge and holds more too.
Here's what my balloon tanks look like:

I've never used a balloon tank. I think it would be cool. There is a fellow Minnesota Modeller who sells very cool kits. His name is Ray and he goes into detail how he uses the balloon within a 35mm film canister. I know my idea would work with the rocket tube. You had posted on another thread of your bladder set up. The tubing your using for the bladder is thin walled latex I believe. Was this purchased from Texas Timers? That's the stuff to use though. I found that squeezing every drop out at the end of the flying session gives you a lot of longevity with that material. It starts to develop an embolism after a while though. On my example shown on my streak I have just the hole on the top to insert the bladder. The bladder tubing I use for that engine was a wall thickness of almost 3/16" thick and I really have to squeeze to fill it. On 1/2A's I make a hole on the bottom for drainage if it pops. I just checked my prints on the Baby Flitestreak, I also have here 1" model rocket tube. This looks like it would fit in front of the center spar through the w-2 ribs. It would just make it. I feel 3/4" rocket tube would be much better so that hydraulic pressure doesn't blow the ribs out of the model. Ken

All balsa details finished, mistakes corrected and ready for spackling filler to be applied. After sanding the filler tomorrow it's time for painting and covering. I'm not sure in which order that will be done. Still sweating the idea of getting the colors on the wings without screwing it up. I have a plan for the Monokote. Cut out the three color patterns plus some overhang to work with and iron them together on a glass surface. Then put them on the wings. If that fails, I'll keep trying different methods until I have only enough left to cover it with white and paint the other colors on.

cool plane did you cut the wood yourself?

cjuliano wrote:cool plane did you cut the wood yourself?

No, CJ, I would love to be one of the guys that takes the plans, goes out and chops down a balsa tree and builds a plane like this, but I must admit, that's outside my capabilities. The only plane I have scratch built is a Li'l Satan, which is a very simple small plane. It is my favorite flier though, so it was a worthwhile accomplishment. My skill set lies with engines, large and small, and flying my control line planes. If I was healthier and more energetic, I may tell a different story. But as it is,my hobby takes enough time away from my wife and other facts of life. I've done three kits, one scratch, and a rebuild in the past year. This is the most complex plane I've built, and so far the closest to perfect job yet. Of course I'll never smash it and ugly it up.

I got the fillets done, tiny as they are, and filled all the grain tonight. One more hour or so of sanding and I can paint and apply the Monokote. I expect to start that tomorrow.

Never used Monokote before. Boy does it stink of solvent! The temperatures for glue activation and shrinking are higher and much closer together than Ultracote. I think it's more difficult to handle too. But small wrinkles might be a bit more forgiving when you hit it with the gun. Here are the bottoms. Ignore that read smear, It will be gone next time you see it. That was me experimenting with applying the other colors. I need to go over to the kindergarten across the street and audit a class on cutting and pasting.


I did the bottom two perfectly, so I had more confidence when I did the first top coat. Damned if I didn't botch a corner wingtip. Not too bad, just a little wrinkle.


She's going to be flying very soon.

Rusty, it looks great. I think your wingtip looks great. If you remember, I was telling you about the Flite Streak tips. These are pretty complex going from wide to narrow at the tip. All the material bunches up and this can only be done wrinkle free by pulling the covering around the curve using a heat gun simultaneously. Before you apply the additional colors cleaning with alcohol is a good practice. I use denatured as it evaporates quickly but isopropyl will work. Try not to touch those areas with your hands. A neat trick that works pretty well is to use Windex to install the additional colors. You use only enough Windex on the trim pieces your going to install. This can allow for the pieces to be slid into place and the Windex will activate the adhesive left over night. You must squeegee out all the air. When putting Monokote over Monokote there's a tendency for the underlying layer to bubble up from heat. The air gets trapped and in the event you try ironing it down the bubble becomes larger and larger. This can become a problem where the transition from fixed flap is attached to the trailing edge. This is where I seem to have difficulty not keeping the covering firmly attached into this crease. When you do apply the trim pieces, I would use the lowest setting possible to get it to adhere rather than iron with more heat. This is why the Windex method is preferred as it doesn't generate those bubbles. I haven't quite perfected the Windex method like this fellow has in his Monokote 301 video https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Monokote+301 Looks great though. Ken

shawn cook wrote: ...... A neat trick that works pretty well is to use Windex to install the additional colors. You use only enough Windex on the trim pieces your going to install. This can allow for the pieces to be slid into place and the Windex will activate the adhesive left over night. You must squeegee out all the air.

I've used Windex for some time and it does work pretty well. I have also used it with the sticky adhesive trim sheets. It allows me to move the trim around before it gets stuck into a spaghetti shaped mess.

The downside to Windex is when you have trim that comes to a point. Over time, since the adhesive does not stick as well as when heat activated, the points will tend curl. I usually will paint the seams with clear dope after cleaning the surface --- once sealed, they tend to stay down.