jw_loves_pt19

As a Christmas present, my parents gave me it!!! Im am beaming happy now. Just cant wait till its spring!

I do have one frustration though! The nylon control line is a pain in the rear to untangle/wind up/store.[:@]Is there any good substitutes for it?? I hope there is, beacause I getting very frusterated!

gcb

jw,

Congratulations, enjoy your PT-19.

There are several options you have in the way of lines:
-Use the lines you have
-Use Spyderwire or equivalent fishing line
-Use .008x35' or .012x35' steel lines

The steel wire is best and supplies less drag, BUT it is harder to handle and kinks easily (causes breakage).
The monofilament is excellent but is harder to handle than Dacron or Nylon.
Which leaves the lines you already have. I would suggest sticking with them until you learn to handle lines properly, then perhaps try something else. Handling lines may be frustrating at first, but is a VERY necessary task. If there is a CL site near you, get some of the other flyers to teach you how to handle lines. Almost any flyer woul be willing to teach you.

Good luck with it,

George

Fix-it

My Feedback: (3)

A couple of suggestions on lines.

1. Set the plane up so you can unhook the line from the airplane. You can do this by making "leadouts" - short lines from the bellcrank through the wingtip and a couple inches past the tip. Make loops on the end - make them exactly the same length.

2. Make you line with loops on the ends, then get a pair of small clips to attach the lines to the leadouts. If there are no Control Line suppliers near you send me you snail mail address via e-mail and I will send you a couple sets for free. On a 1/2A Cox plane you can get by with small fishing "snap-swivels" available at any K-mart, Wally world, etc with fishing supplies.

3. Find some kind of round spool to roll you lines up on. When you wind them around the Cox handle it puts a bunch of twists in them, eventually they get all knotted up if you are not careful. A Fishing Leader spool from Bass Pro works great, mount it to a 5' piece of dowel or broom stick with a screw/washer through the middle, make sure it can spin but not wobble. Using the spool start by un-hooking the lines at the plane, hook them to the reel- then roll the lines onto the reel by spinning it with you finger as you walk toward the handle. When you get to the handle slip a rubber band around the spool to keep the line on it, then rubber band the spool/handle to the outbaord wing of the plane.

If you do this your lines stay in good shape, dont get twisted up, and are protected on the reel between flying sessions. If you get a set of steel .008" x 35' lines they come on a reel you can store them on. in fact- since it is Christmas- I'll give you a set - just let me know where to mail them.

Good luck- and keep flying.

Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year to All!

Bill Heher
Orlando FL
[email protected]

jw_loves_pt19

Bill, I emailed my address to you.

V. Sharp

One more suggestion on the PT-19 -- when you use .012 X 35' lines, we always glued a 1/4 ounce weight under the outboard wingtip to counter. Have helped with at least a dozen of these trainers - it is one of the few ready to flies that really flies! And after you become a pro, you can squeeze a loop out of one!

Happy flying!

jw_loves_pt19

I just looked, there is already a weight on the outboard side of the wing.

I did get some high-quality lead-out lines installed. . I have fineshed breaking-in the 049 in the meantime. Now just have to wait for Bill's lines to come

V. Sharp

OOPS!! jw -- I haven't seen one of the PT-19's in several years -- didn't know that they had added wingtip weight! Glad they did -- it needed it.

Your best bet is to find a buddy that can fly controlline, and learn with .008 or .012 stranded 35' lines -- they give you the best "feel" of the plane. Expensive, though. ENJOY!

Clean

When you use the Spyder Wire, make sure to get type that IS NOT monofliment, you want the Fusion wire 14lb test. This will take the place of the white stuff that comes with the PT-19. Storing it on a reel like the cables that you are getting sent is a good idea and will make a set last a long time. When using the Spyder Wire, tie one end to the plane, thread the line through the control handle and walk the handle out to the center of the circle and walk the reel back to the plane. Tie the end to the plane again and lock neutral into your handle. I believe the 1/2A handle from Cox is designed to wind the lines up on it and thats fine, but if you have a line reel you can feed the lines out of the handle into the reel and wind them up.

You get many sets of flying lines per 7 bucks of spyder wire, you only get one set with the purchase of .008 cables at 12-15 bucks? Everything is live and learn, but most of it is pretty fun. Keep us updated.