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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/8/2007 5:45:30 PM   
clscale-RCU


 

Posts: 426
Joined: 2/25/2003
From: Wichita, KS, USA
Status: offline 		I built a simple design from a 10" x 12" steel plate, about 5/8" thick that weighs about 14 lbs total. 4 Rubber feet and a 1/8" diameter wire pin to release the model. I also used a nose gear steering block and bolted that to the steel plate. Using some primer and paint I had in the garage I painted the unit to keep in looking nice and to eliminate the rust. This plate can be put down on any surface and hold any model up with a .60 or smaller.




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< Message edited by clscale-RCU -- 10/8/2007 5:47:04 PM >

_____________________________

Fred Cronenwett
Float flying and scale

(in reply to Elwyn)
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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 1:27:10 AM   
lukesp



Posts: 396
Joined: 4/24/2006
From: BrisbaneQueensland, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		Now see, I knew if I posted pictures of my crappy unit it would draw others out of the woodwork. Very nice job the both of you. I might just replace mine with a Cronenwett model. Functional.

(in reply to clscale-RCU)
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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 4:28:37 AM   
Hossfly



Posts: 3934
Joined: 12/3/2001
From: New Caney, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: jcervantes11

Hi all I've been flying ucontrol since i was young like age 10 or so. I am now 25. Has anybody found
a way to fly a u control by urself? I have a cox viper and i flown it with help to hold it down. Is there
a way to fly by you're self with out any human help? Maybe some type device? Show me you're devices.



Man! I see all this fancy stuff and I know I did it all wrong. I simply used some coat-hanger wire, grabbed the pliers, bent a double loop with a couple legs poking down as far as I could stick it in the ground. Then used a piece about 6-8" long, tied a string to it and rolled the string out to the handle.
With a string loop on the tail wheel for taildraggers, or a long loop around the fuse just forward of the stab for trike-gears, I flew hundreds of stunt practice flights over some 20 years from hi-school to well grown, without any problems. Easy to build in 5-10 minutes and never need to have to worry where you put it after last flying session.
I even used such on the ramps between B-47 Bombers when I was sitting on alert, from Hunter AFB, GA to Morroco to 3 different bases in Spain. Flying over the ramps required initial set-up just on the edge. It worked for me.

_____________________________

H. Cain AMA L-93

T Roosevelt "..the man who really counts in the world is the doer, NOT the mere critic, the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, NOT the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done."

(in reply to jcervantes11)
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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 9:03:09 AM   
Lou Crane


 

Posts: 263
Joined: 5/11/2006
From: Sierra Vista, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Luke,

In the USA magazines I remember from the early 1950's, the other method was usually ilustrated to show what I'll try to describe as follows:

Place a heavy pail, paint can or similar halfway from the flier's handle to the model's location at the end of the lines. Bring the model to where you'll stand while flying, with the lines passing around the "can" - be careful to place the model and the handle on the correct sides of the anchor - for most of us, that is model to the right, handle to the left, lines not crossing from handle to anchor or back to the model.

Allegedly, you can start the model and launch (from the correct side of the anchor), keeping the lines taut enough to clear snags and ground hazards. It supposedly will roll on the half radius (anchor to model) and you can - again allegedly - control it as it flies out to full line length... I expect this would work better on smooth paving, and if you can delay liftoff until the lines are, or nearly are, straight at full length.

I've never tried it, and don't plan to. I know one or two old-timers who have, or claim to have done this and lived to tell of it. I'd much prefer to use a substantial and sturdy stooge, mechanical or human...

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\BEST\LOU
Lou Crane, Sierra Vista, AZ

(in reply to lukesp)
       Post #: 29

RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 9:06:02 AM   
Lou Crane


 

Posts: 263
Joined: 5/11/2006
From: Sierra Vista, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Rock,

Elwyn won't need a prop unless he puts an engine in it...

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\BEST\LOU
Lou Crane, Sierra Vista, AZ

(in reply to da Rock)
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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 9:32:53 AM   
lukesp



Posts: 396
Joined: 4/24/2006
From: BrisbaneQueensland, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

the other method was usually ilustrated to show what I'll try to describe


Lou, you clever clogs. That's it in a nutshell. It would have to be the most terrifying way to launch a CL model, however I intend to try it soon with a sacrficial model . I believe it to be highly possible, like anything else, but I know I will be defecating chickens when I do.

I have found an article similar to the one you described, I'll try to post it here.

(in reply to Lou Crane)
       Post #: 31

RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 9:46:56 AM   
lukesp



Posts: 396
Joined: 4/24/2006
From: BrisbaneQueensland, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		OK, here we go. It's called the tranfer orbit method.

I found this in an issue of Sport Modeller Jan 75, the article is called "The Better Mousetrap" . The pivot point for the lines is an empty line reel pinned to the ground with a large screwdriver or such. I would prefer to have the empty reel off the ground by six inches or so to avoid snagging the lines. Anyhow, the lines are placed in the reel grooves, you hold the handle in one hand and model in the other. The picture tells the rest.

I think the very first danger with this method is the fact you have a roaring Fox 35 or equivalent in front of you which you then have to get behind without letting it go and then pick up the handle the rightway up. it's a method that would need a cool head, not panic. that's why I like the stooge idea instead. I still think it is workable though.

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< Message edited by lukesp -- 10/9/2007 9:54:20 AM >

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RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/9/2007 4:52:32 PM   
Jim Thomerson



Posts: 2858
Joined: 10/9/2002
From: Austin, TX, USA
Status: offline 		I tried the clothes hanger bit as described above and didn't really like it. I went to various size nails with wire wrapped around them and made into the two loops. I have a small hammer to drive the nail in and lay down beside the nail so I can find it again in the grass. When you pull the stooge line, you want to throw the stooge line handle away so that you don't get the stooge line wrapped around your feet. (Been there, done that!)

(in reply to lukesp)
       Post #: 33

RE: a way to fly ucontrol by urself? - 10/10/2007 12:09:14 PM   
da Rock



Posts: 6980
Joined: 10/11/2005
From: western, NC, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: lukesp

OK, here we go. It's called the tranfer orbit method.

I found this in an issue of Sport Modeller Jan 75, the article is called "The Better Mousetrap" . The pivot point for the lines is an empty line reel pinned to the ground with a large screwdriver or such. I would prefer to have the empty reel off the ground by six inches or so to avoid snagging the lines. Anyhow, the lines are placed in the reel grooves, you hold the handle in one hand and model in the other. The picture tells the rest.

I think the very first danger with this method is the fact you have a roaring Fox 35 or equivalent in front of you which you then have to get behind without letting it go and then pick up the handle the rightway up. it's a method that would need a cool head, not panic. that's why I like the stooge idea instead. I still think it is workable though.



A couple of ideas about that method.

Placing the reel on the ground is a bad idea. Even on paved sites. Think about the times you've snagged a line when you had a launcher and how high they are on normal launches.
And if the lines are not tight enough to be well clear of the ground...........
Using just one spool is also a half-a way to do the deed. If you've got one empty reel you'll probably have two. Think about why two would be better. No friction instead of one line seeing a lot more than the other, etc.
Keeping line tension at the time of release is not easy at all. It gets easier as the plane moves off, but what you have to do then is different than what you had to do in the first seconds.
The skills needed for this method are crazy. But rat racer pilots already have most of them.

Has the method worked before? Yup. And I wouldn't ever do it again, even with two reels and a ground standoff setup. It worked for me all day, every launch. Never again even with mods.

And the time and effort to make a safely workable pivot (the screwdriver pinning a reel to the ground isn't safe and really isn't very workable for a lot of sites) would be about as much as making a primo stooge.

Buy two nosegear supports. Stick 'em to a platform. Bend a trigger. Stick it through with a spring. Go fly.

(in reply to lukesp)
       Post #: 34

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