iflyg450

I am new to control line flying I have been flying 1/2a stuff brodak baby clow and pathfinder cox and norvel powered. Last week I put together a Sig shoestring and some outrunner I had laying around and used the eflite timer. IT WORKED GREAT! I was able to keep the plane slow giving other club members who have never tried control line a chance to have a go, they loved it know many of them are putting their own models together. None of them wanted a go at the TD 051 powered baby clow and 25ft line gee I wonder why? I have found that I take more control ine models to the field then R/C stuff.

build light

An added plus is that you don't have to carry a whole gallon of fuel everytime you go flying! Although many use a full size Field box, you really don't need one.
With fuel costs, you can do a lot more flying in the long run!

Robert

mikeainia

My Feedback: (1)

We have found that the electrics are MUCH less intimidating for a newbie or a possible RC convert than a glow engine - even if the glow is only a 1/2A. (By the way, a TD powered Clown on 25 foot lines would screw ME into the ground!).

You can set the electric for a very short flight and the pilot doesn't have time to get too dizzy or to have turbulence get things too out of shape. Plus, you can get a bunch of flights out of a single charge (come to think of it, that is how I learned to fly RC way back when - with an electric powered sailplane that I just launched and landed as many times as the battery would let me before it needed to be charged).

If the trainee is a true Newbie, he (or his parents) doesn't have to learn how to operate a glow engine, which is a whole separate learning curve from just learning to fly.

Congrats on your success -

iflyg450

Thank you, please understand that I would never go all electric. I picked up severl NIB norvel 061 C/L engines at an estate auction for less than 75.00 I tradede a guy some 3D planes I didn't want for 3 NIB TD 051 and 2 NIB TD 049 (sucker he made the offer thou) I might do an electric vector. I love flying the baby clown WHAT A BLAST!! I really should lenghten the line. An unrelated question ever use braided fishing line? Its very light, has no memory, and its cheap. If so how many lbs test should I use for 1/2a plane and 25 size?

mikeainia

My Feedback: (1)

Electrics and glows both have their place, as far as I'm concerned. We have at least half a dozen guys flying electrics on everything from 1/2A size (we call it 1/2e) up to '.46' size planes. I have an electric powered Navy Carrier plane that pulls over 75 amps during high speed flight and throttles down to where I can do 35 - 40 second laps. But I still like to "turn Nitro into noise" out at the field too.

I was mainly commenting on your finding that the electric has sparked an interest in some people who weren't interested in the glow powered stuff - and that we had similar findings.

Fishing line - use of Spectra line (a fused multi-filament line) has been done for 1/2A and tested for the larger planes. It is NOT legal for any AMA contest events, but for sport flying you can use it. (Be sure to read and follow the AMA Safety Code for Control Line if you are AMA and expect the insurance coverage!).

For 1/2A I have used Berkely Fireline, 20 lb. test. It is NOT cheaper than steel lines, but it flies as well as steel and is a LOT better than the dacron "1/2A" line that comes with 1/2A handles. For the 25 size, I don't have any reason to mess around with fishing line - I buy stranded wire in bulk spools of 1000 ft. in .012, .015, and .018 diameter, so don't really need to switch over.

Be advised that the act of tying a knot has been known to reduce the strength of the lines by over 1/2. The kite flyers have lots of experience with Spectra and they recommend a 'sheathing' covering where there are knots, but I don't know what they use to sheath it with. I have seen a couple of threads on this that recommend a "Palomar" knot, and if you google it, you'll find a lot of places that have instructions on how to tie a Palomar knot. I have had a set of Spiderwire Spectra that failed in flight when the plane (a 1/2A combat) got a little loose on the lines and then hit the end again, very hard. Yes, it broke at the knot, and yes it was a Palomar knot. So, word to the wise ......

509boatman55

If you have an Ace Hardware nearby, they carry a generic braided fishing line up to 50 lb strength. I do not know if it is Spectra fiber like Spiderwire and the rest, but it exhibits no stretch just like the high priced name brands. I only fly 1/2a(so far) and it seems to work just fine. A surgeons' Knot works well also. As far as sheathing; if you can find really tiny heat shrink tubing, that works great. Just be sure to shrink it slowly,with steam to avoid damaging the line strength. Knot strength is greatly improved if you are careful not to cross any loops over each other-parallel strands should not cross.[8D][8D]
I have just found my copy of "The Little Red Fishing Knot Book" by H. Nilsson-he recommends a double Palomar for superbraid lines. This consists of wrapping the loop twice around the standing line before looping it over your clip or connector.