Designed by the legendary George Aldrich and drawn by Dave Braun, the Original Junior Flite Streak is an exact reproduction of George's designs of the 1950's.
The Original Junior Flite Streak, part of Brodak's Nostalgia Series, reflects the same sensitivity and maneuverability as the Original Flite Streak. This classic kit features Brodak's precision engineering, quality materials, and attention to detail.
The Flite Streak Series
Brodak is pleased to release the four "Flite Streak" airplanes designed by the legendary George Aldrich. These include the Original Flite Streak, Junior Flite Streak, Baby Flite Streak, and the Flite Streak Trainer and they are exact reproductions of the original version of the Flite Streaks, produced exactly as George Aldrich designed them in the 1950's. They are part o the "Nostalgia Series" developed by Brodak.
The first Flite Streak drawings, George Aldrich said, were done in the fall of 1956. He recalls, "The drawings for the Nobler were finished and the tooling was in process. Syd Axelrod asked me what I wanted to do next, and I said that I wanted to develop a design that would fly better than the Ringmaster, which was the top-selling kit of the day."
George built his first Flite Streak with the wing located in a different position, took the airplane to a field where they flew free flight, hand-launched the airplane and flew it once. Then, he says, "I went home and redrew the plans, moving the wing forward one inch in the fuselage". He mailed the new plans to Syd Axelrod, then built the new version, which turned out to be the design that was produced.
"The longer nose of the prototype had more room for a tank, but I could see that it would have vibration problems, and form a bad hinge point at the wing leading edge," he noted. "All of the other features worked as planned, and the airfoil has proven itself on several other designs since".
George Aldrich notes, "All of the Streaks can be balanced to give characteristics that suit the flyer. The farther forward the balance point is, the less sensitive the airplane will be. If you balance the airplane as shown on the plans, the design is very maneuverable and will perform nearly anything the flyer wants to do".
Because the Flite Streaks are much more sensitive than most models, George suggests moving the balance point up to the front of the leading edge and adjusting for minimum control movement as you get used to the Flite Streak's maneuverability. He adds that he likes to fly the Original Flite Streak with smaller than usual diesels, including both .15 and .19. He says that, with the engine offset a full 15 degrees, which allows you to fly in nearly any wind condition, he's flown with 52 feet lines in a wind of 45 knots, with no line tension problems.
