DPKII

My Feedback: (2)

I was talking with some of the guys at our RC field last weekend and brought up the subject of Control line and the fun we had flying them. I was surprised how many of the guys flew them back in the day. I am the youngest of the bunch (38) but as a kid I think I had every control liner Cox made. I would fly every evening that I could talk my brother into launching for me. It usually took some kind of bribe or threat! I only had a few of 35 size ships - profile P40 (Goldberg?), profile Shoeshtring, and a Sterling Flying Fool that is still hanging in Dad's barn. I didn't fly the 35 ships much as a kid because, being small, they really pulled me around and hurt my arm. Of course with the small 049 Cox ships I never did get to do any aerobatics other than a wingover. I did have a couple balsa 049 ships that would barely loop.

To make a long story short, we thought it would be fun to get back into control-liners again. I have a new framed up Sig Chipmunk, and my Dad has a old unbuilt Super Ringmaster. I was thinking of getting these going. What size/length of lines should I use? Who still makes/sells lines? I have a couple of sets of lines that I picked up at a swap meet that are made out of some type of yellow stranded material but do not know the length. What engine should I use? I have a new/old McCoy 35 and a couple early RC engines (I think McCoy29s)(blue head) with baffle exausts? Of course I have a few modern 46 rc engines. Should I use one of these or buy a modern control line engine?

I had planned to cover the Chipmunk with dope and silk (never could afford silk as a kid) but maybe iron on would be lighter and give me a better finish?

I figure if I get a control-liner going and bring it to the RC field, some of the old control line flyers will get jealous and build their own!

thanks,
David

carmatic1

the rest of the RC people will surely be fascinated by control lines, personally ive never seen anything thats flying, powered and tethered all at the same time, if you get the chance will you post pics?

uliner

My Feedback: (2)

The engines you talked about will work well enough. One thing to watch out for is the oil content in the fuel. The Old Fox and McCoy motors will not last on modern R/C at the hobby shop fuel. You will need 25% -29 oil at least some of it Castor. Modern RC fuels often has as little as 15% oil and it synthetic. Get the right stuff or add castor to the fuel you have.

That being said the New OS 25-40-46 motors (and their clones) work great!

Plastic RC clunk tanks work well too. As I kid I always had issues with the tin tanks.

There are several people that will make an intake for your R/C engine, to eliminate the carb.

Lines... You can't go wrong starting out with 60' x 0.015 lines. You can get lines (and most everythine else ) from Brodak, Sig or Lone Star Models. Tower has Lines too. If you use the Yellow Kevlar lines, you will not be happy. They are very draggy, braided stainless steel are still the way to go.

The Dallas area has a lot of C/L stunt and combat fliers.


Dave

ifr2lax

R/C Universe is great to support threads for modeling interests that are not R/C.

For CONTROL LINE go to http://www.clstunt.com/cgi-bin/dcfor...conf=DCConfID1

This is the "STUKA STUNT" c/l forum.

ALL the threads are C/L...of course, most of these guys do/or have done r/c, free flight, you name it...but the site is 99% c/l.

Pete

DPKII

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for all the help!

Uliner - good point on the caster content in the fuel. I had not thought of that. I run 15% caster/synthetic mix for all my RC stuff. My best bet may be to get one of the new OS engines.

With the OS LA engines, would the RC version work as well as the UC version if I just tied the carb open?

David

PipeMajor

My Feedback: (1)

It will work but not as well. The RC carb has the needle mounted further away from the crankshaft. That could cause some run problems - especially with an upright or inverted engine configuration. The rule of thumb is to have the centerline of the fuel tank slightly above the needle valve.

It is very easy to convert an OS LA (or older FP) engine to a true CL venturi. Tower Hobbies sells replacement parts. You'll need a venturi and a needle valve assembly.

gcb

David,
All of the information so far is good stuff.

If you use the new, old baffle engines remember that with iron/steel you also should give them a proper break-in.

If you opt for new, the LA .25 and .40 are available in the CL version at Tower. The .25 is often used as a substitute for a baffle .35 (it has a bit more power than the .35). Even with the ABN setup I would up the castor content a bit just because they have sleeve bearings, not BB.


carmatic1,
You should consider going to a local CL field and get someone to let you fly. Most clubs have a trainer. There is nothing like the feel of direct control, knowing that you are mostly flying at about five feet from the ground. Watch a stunt flyer do a wingover and pull out inverted, or an hourglass where the flyer is approaching the ground at a greater than 90 degrees and pull out to upright flight at five feet (well, between four and six). I'm not saying that it's better than RC, I'm saying it's different...and you can't REALLY understand until you try it.

George

ghost123uk

Seconded

Jim Thomerson

If one wishes to recruit CL fliers, the best place to start is the local RC field. RC fliers mostly fit into two categories. (1) Folks who flew CL when they were younger and have a certain amount of nostalgia for CL. (2) Folks who have no knowledge of CL and may well be impressed and fascinated by CL once they learn of it.

dmcmike

My Feedback: (14)

Yep, nothing like the ache in your arm after 4 or 5 flights with a Nobler. Just about pulls your arm off! Still got a green box nobler sitting somewhere out in the shop, a Flite streak with an old K&B Greenhead .29 hanging on the wall, but haven't flown it over 30 years. We've been talking at the field about the old Ukie days too, and have actually been threatening to pull 'em out some afternoon.

good luck with your adventure! and yeah, post some pics!