Ugly back yard fun...........
 

With the clock ticking on the Design Contest, I've got to get my entry's power plant figured out before the plane itself can be drawn.
With just enough space in my back yard to fly control line, it's handy for testing engines that might be likely candidates for the Contest Plane.
It's also just great fun to fly C/L once in awhile.
I forget what the grey plane was built for originally. With a Hayes 2 oz tank just recently fitted and the Norvel .074 / 7 x 3 prop it weighs 10.8 ozs dry. I "maidened" this combo today and the engine pulls the 42 foot, 30# test Spiderline nice and tight...tight enough to make my arthritic shoulder start barking 3 minutes or so into the flight. I'll try to film and upload some action later on.
The other plane [with the clear covering] weighs 8.8 ozs with an early Norvel [Stels] .049 and Hayes 1 oz tank. The prop is a Driskill combat type. This engine is too feeble to turn a Cox 5 x 3, but it does OK with the Driskill prop.
This combo flies OK on 35 feet of 15# Spiderline, but the engine is too tired to be useful for any RC projects. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2100315http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2100316http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2100317http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2100318

It's nice of the US & Canadian mints to produce 3g balancing weights in such vast quantities for only $0.01 each - way better deal than the lead weights from DuBro.

My recent foray back into a bit of CL - a Flite Streak with a TT40 - quickly taught me not to put so much fuel in the tank while running the engine flat out. "c'mon quit, please... quit.. now?... aggghhhh... ow! Jeez c'mon quit already!!!!#$^$%......".

A TT.40 on a Flite Streak would be like hanging onto a rottweiler..!
Figure that 4 ozs of fuel is enough to do 2 1/2 minutes at 18000 rpm and 100+ mph. That's a lot of hanging on to do with 50 pounds of pull.
An old TV show called "That's Incredible" showed a guy flying C/L with a lawn mower engine equipped plane. I never saw the episode, but did spend some time trying to find it. According to what I heard, he was in a full body harness that was tethered to the ground.

Oh yes, President Lincoln would be quite honored to know that his likeness has been epoxied to 1000's of control line outboard wing panels.

Yep.. 10-5 prop, 15% fuel, throttle wired open. I think it has a 3.5 oz tank, but considering I had hardly flown CL for 20 years+ that was plenty long enough! Actually had some fun with it - I finally dorked it up a bit by using too much elevator throw and cutting small figure eights. Flite Streaks get awful slow awful quick when you tighten them up too much. 45 minutes of repairs it would be back up. Should make a foamie POS and fly that instead to get the cobwebs out.

Yep...the Invisible line into a stall with some control line models comes with very little warning.
Money well spent is to get a Wakkerman ARF .15 or .35 sized plane if you would like to experience one of the best combat designs ever.
They are "Eyes Off The Plane" stable, but ready to jump when you crack the whip.
With a 8 x 6 or 9 x 6 on your TT.40 you would be doing 2 second laps on 60 foot lines.
For sport flying with this much power you can move up to 70 foot lines and that really opens up the hemisphere. It gives you much more time to enjoy watching the plane.

I keep getting 404 errors going to the Wakkerman site, who do you go to for these?

It used to be George Cleveland. If not so any more, then I'd check either FORA [since they sell .049 .15 and .36 engines], or the MACA website.
Rich Lopez [the AMA magazine columnist] knows for sure.
The NW Sky Raiders site "Flying Lines" might also have some clues.
I'll spend some time checking and will get back to you.

Now and then I've had the urge to get one of those prefab combat models. Maybe it's time. Need a 1/2A too.

After poking around, here are some leads.
http://yuvenko.narod.ru/index.htm
http://www.clubtamaran.com/combate.htm

Mejzlik Modellbau used to list several ARFS but I couldn't find any at his website tonight.

Beliaev was another well known name before Wakkerman took over...just a name to drop on you at this point.
I've still got a "generic" Russian plane from way back when Their FAI team made a "Barn Storming Tour" of US contests. This would have been shortly after the USSR dissolved. They brought over a lot of home built equipment to help pay for their trip.
Even though they don't fly .36 size combat competitively, they built the best planes..!
For 1/2A , Larry's LiteHawk is a good one with a hot TD, Norvel or better.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2100486

http://aerohobby.ca/store/index.php?...products_id=70 This guy is in Toronto. Pretty good guy to deal with. He wants orders of 10 or more models, but would likely sell one or two if you pick them up. He normally has a bunch because he flies them too. Carries the Fora stuff too. Even the .049 .06

Aspeed...that is as close to a control line combat Super Market as you are going to get.!

Before the internet my Super Market was Bear MFG. No ARFs, but he had all of the hard to find stuff to build and hook them up with.

I just realized I had already registered on his site - and completely forgot about it. Well, thanks for the reminder!

Model price is pretty reasonable too. I want a 1/2A, and a slow, and...

https://youtu.be/ZOLrjuK2YL4 Like I threatened to do earlier, here is some "home movies" that you must sit through until the engine quits.
It at least gives the viewer a taste of the commotion that an "Old School" 1/2A combat flyer saw. Add another plane and it was plenty hectic.
Once the Cyclon came out, flying on these 35 foot lines was ridiculous and the quality of the matches suffered, so the lines were lengthened to 42 feet.
The video quality seems better than the last time I used the camera. This is the first attempt at filming a flight since I opened up the optical chamber and cleaned the lenses on both sides. It still isn't the same as shooting RC, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

That's great, love the footage!

You can sure hear the engine load down in the turns compared to straight flight. No wing loading - dig the feathery float at landing.

Thank goodness for the modern [light load] propellor, because this engine is too weak to run with just a Cox 5 x 3.
30 years ago the normal sized 1/2A combat plane [if you dig through the plans on Barry Baxter's site] was only 24 inches or so. I'd like to go back in time and try this 36 incher in competition to see if "following the herd" was wise or not. The extra span might have picked off more streamers without reducing the number of opportunities too much.
Around 1988 or so is when Larry had his HalfLite design featured in a 2 part article in Model Aviation [if I remember correctly].
this design was a little bit larger than most, 100% foam with wood spars and maple mount beams. Larry devoted quite a lot of room in his article to show how to make the TD .049 really run.
The only major detail missing from his engine prep back then was lightening the piston.

More ugly back yard fun today...!
Warning, this video runs pretty long..might contain boring scenes, viewer discretion advised.
The engine just keeps getting more power as the tank empties out.
2 oz Hayes tank, 7 x 3 APC and muffler pressure.
42 foot Spiderlines 30 pound test
Wing has about 200 sq inches and what looks like a 12% airfoil. https://youtu.be/sXiu-rVmrP8

What's the stooge set-up details? Looks like you're using wheelbarrow handlebars as launch rails.

You need a 4oz tank - that flight was too short..

Here is the STOOGE.........http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102070http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102071http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102072
It could be done much nicer than this, but this one took 2 minutes to build out of scrap that was handy.
The nylon nose wheel block is the key component. A plane that has wheels is much easier to STOOGE if you spike the stooge to the ground.
MJD, believe it or not the AMA used to have Control Line Endurance as an official event. I never saw it flown and I never talked to anyone who ever saw it flown, either. It sounds almost as exciting as piloting a RC submarine...!

CL endurance.. sounds exciting.

My wife is retiring from teaching (this is relevant) and that means retirement dinners. I just got home from one, it's 11:30pm. 245 teachers came up for their little award (biggest school board around).. OMGZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

I think I'd rather go to the dinner than fly CL endurance.

2 jobs I wouldn't want to have in this day and age.......
1. police officer
2. teacher
It takes just the right kind of person to be able to hang in there with both of these careers. I wouldn't last a week in either one, might even end up behind bars.
Too bad you can't rent "Google Glasses" to help pass the time at some of those ceremonies.

I've had to go to the odd one of these over the years as friends/colleagues of hers retired. Up until 2007 the answer was a fondness for Rusty Nails..

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102243

The deal was I drive there, she drives home..

Sorry, I thought Google was a brand of scotch. You mean these?

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102244

Yep, I think those are the "Internet Glasses" I've heard of.
Those would be too expensive for me, I would opt for those 99 cent specs that they used to sell on the back pages of comic books.
Not the X-ray goggles, but the ones that have wide open and alert eyes painted on the "lenses". The idea was to allow bored elementary school students to take naps during class without the teacher knowing. My teachers were ALL much too smart for that "old trick".

This never worked either.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2102295