Strykaas

Hello,

I'm just wondering why you R/C control line pilots do not move on to R/C controlled aircraft, which provide more realistic flight ?

David Cutler

Control line flying isn't really a 'poor man's RC' as you are implying. It's entirely different, using different skills and aims.

If you really want an exciting time, try control line combat. You spend all the time much closer to earth and the ground is just as hard as for RC!

-David C.

catdaddy2

I did "move on to RC" after several years I couldn't wait to move back to CL.

I found RC to be way to much like a video game. It just wasn't fun.
Started flying 75 and 80 mph CL combat.
60ft from the ground...now that is a rush! plus the feel of the plane is much better feedback than a transmitter.

regards,
catdaddy

downunder

It's a common misconception that RC is more like REAL flying. RC has all the feel of a simulator without the reset button whereas with CL you feel directly how the model is reacting to the wind and your control inputs. In other words, it puts you in the pilot's seat (but without the G forces, luckily). We routinely fly within a tenth of a second from total destruction with a slow moving stunt plane (13 times in every flight) and far less than that with a combat plane as Dave mentioned.

I fly both types and I can quite honestly say that I get far more sheer enjoyment flying CL. OK, I'll admit that CL is second nature to me and I'm a very average RC flier but I've yet to see an RC pilot who LOOKS like he's having fun. And isn't it all about having fun?

Bigiron13

Went there , Done that --- came back up to UC. I tried RC for several years (had a very goos tutor I might add). I had NO feel of what the plane was doing and there was NO rush of the low altitude maneuvering that I get with UC. My tutor said "I was moving UP" in model aviation, but I found that he had his controls reversed. I went inverted and came back UP to UC and will stay here.
Bigiron

Sport_Pilot

I fly both and prefer R/C. I like U/C for the feel and the thrill flying close to the ground. But if I fly it too much I get bored with just two dimensions after a while, even though I have never mastered it. If I just do U/C several times a year it stays exciting.

Course you can fly R.C close to the ground too! Without the feedback it is somewhat harder to do. Also it can get expensive after a while!

gcb

Sure you can get the same rush with RC. Just point your plane at the ground and pull out inverted at five feet after as close to a five foot radius as you can get.

Actually, models is models. You can get a rush by making a HL glider stay up a few seconds longer than before.

George

Sport_Pilot

It's intresting, but far from a rush.

NitroWoman

I don't know why some people think Controline is somehow inferior and it is such a step up to R/C. I fly both and I love both. They are equally rewarding but in different ways. I'm not going to repeat all the previous replies but I do agree with all of them. Go to the Nats sometime and wander over to the C/L combat circles. Take a look at the spectators and you will notice an awful lot of R/Cer's standing there with their mouths open in awe. Just remember, it's all good, and it's all fun.

R8893

My Feedback: (20)

I also fly both R/C and C/L. I have fun with both although in the last year I have had more fun with C/L because I have challenged myself to learn the complete stunt pattern. I did not push to improve my R/C flying this year. I wish I was good enough at modeling to fly free-flight! That is a real challenge for those of us who build and trim our own models. I've been doing C/L for over 40 years and R/C for 30. I'm more interested in the competition side of C/L and there are many more contests to attend within a reasonable driving distance(Scale and stunt). R/C better fulfills the social aspects of the hobby due to there being so many more participants. They are both all about airplanes; the expanded horizon gives more opportunity to have a good time.

Strykaas

Ok, I did not mean U/C was inferior to R/C. But I think these are two different things and moving in 3D is essential for me. Pattern flying, ... adds a lot to the thing. Managin more than ten channels on one single aircraft make it even more real... Seaplanes ...etc etc...
Even if I do not have any force feedback, I still quite understand what's going on in my aircraft, and that's very close to flying a real aircraft.

Not bashing U/C, definitely : just have fun !

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

At the "Brass Tacks" level, it's apples and oranges.

Some enjoy one, some enjoy the other, and a lot of us enjoy both.

The R/C'ers have to admit c/l doesn't need anywhere nearly so much space.

But then there are the "Park Fliers."

Bill.

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

Some of my fondest memories are from my U/C days, and that goes way back!! I flew stunt and combat and yes it was a rush big time. In combat I flew a Voodoo and they were new on the market, now that dates me, and the engine was a torpedo .35. The one person I could never beat was Jack Stafford, yes he was in U/C before R/C and he would show no mercy, ah the memories!!!!

Clean

When I finally got a job in High school, after which I had money to start flying something other than the Cox plastic jobbies and Free Flight airplanes, I started with RC airplanes. Later I graduated to Control Line airplanes. Now I fly everything, FF, RC and Control line from sport ships to pattern, scale and Combat. I've got a cute little asymetrical 1/2a powered ff helicopter that has given me more joy than most of the other aircraft I have. And as far as RC is concerend, I am Mr Clean of RCCA Combat fame. Yup, world famous in Missouri anyways, I've done it all and still do.

But I've swapped back to flying control line for the last couple years. I actually wouldn't have gone back to RC if I hadn't moved to a town where the people who were flying CL were so spread out we never got to fly together. It's just not the same. RC IS too much like a video game. I can get more thrill out of flying a simulator and thanks to my SPAD connections rebuilding is just about as fast as a simulator RC combat made sport flying just about pointless and not exciting. I do fly off water once or twice a year, that's kinda fun. But really it's just an excuse to go hang out with my buddies. When I fly CL, I work at the pattern, or I help others get up and going or give check rides to kids in the park. Nothing I ever did in RC is as fun as getting up in a mass fly of more than 5 people in the CL circle, now THAT's fun. I must admit that if I lived closer to a good slope it might be hard for me to choose between slope flying or CL, but eventually my love for those little engines would win me over. I love the smell of castor or the perfumed smell of synthetic oil. Gotta love throwing your airplane over the edge and flying till the batteries go down too, hmmmm.

This is like asking someone why they don't move off Golf and move up to Tennis. No, this is like asking someone why they don't move up from Steeple chase to Polo, yeah, both of the them use horses just like both RC and CL use airplanes. The airplane is really just a coincidence, the two have many other differences.

Jim Thomerson

I've flown power freeflight and hand launch glder competitively, have done CL racing and am now flying CL stunt. RC has never interested me. I have had a couple of buddy box flights. I'm thinking I would like to do some sport freeflight someday and it would be nice if they would come back to me, so I may take up RC at the parkflyer level someday.

Jim

Clean

I want to build a bigger OT FF, haven't picked one out yet. But I have several Torp 19's, 29 or 35's that I want to put on one and let rip. Problem is around here I'll probably never see it again. Too much scrub brush, the whole state is nothing but scrub. Still, I've always gotten my Charybdis back. I suppose I could put a single channel rudder on, but that just doesn't seem like cricket.

I have flown my mini starduster with .010 power, got a 5 minute flight on it, straight as a string. Seems my trim fell off and the sucker just went straight ahead. Thank heavens I remembered to light the DT fuse!

jessiej

I have flown Cl precision aerobatics, rat racing, combat and carrier, power free flight and RC. I have thoroughly enjoyed them all. A few years ago I moved up to rubber powered free flight and enjoyed it most of all. Unfortunately I now live in an area with no FF or CL activity so I am stuck with RC only.

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Clean:

Your wish for free flight might be a little compromised, granted, by rudder control, or worse, by rudder AND elevator. And then tie motor control in too...

But a boosted glider is a nice compromise. I have a Goldberg "Electra," an easy build, andusing a geared motos it has good power endurance, once at altitude just shut the motor down, the prop folds, it's thermal time. And you don't need a DT.

Bill.

RobStagis

Ho ho ho!!! Good thread! Hobbies 'r' Us - ya think? I've always loved planes and modelling, and when I was about 26 or so, out of poverty (3 kids) I started with rubber free-flight. THEN I started with R/C. I don't think I'd call it 'video game-like'. I played with 'em for years, enjoying myself thoroughly. Then I got the itch to start with C/L - just because I didn't have enough hobbies . I built a Goldberg Whizard trainer. Golden rule: NEVER take your wife to a maiden flight. It hit the pavement so hard (on slack lines) that it broke the cylinder off the engine.

Another try: bigger flies better, right? I bought a Ringmaster and Fox .35, learned to run the Fox (ain't the same as modern engines, eh?) and since my wife hates to see me cry and wouldn't fly with me, taught myself to fly from a launching stooge. That plane taught me to fly, then after a top-of-the-circle flameout, I build a Sig Skyray 35. Much different than the Ringmaster, and still fun - hard to take off with that single wheel, though, and I would break the fuse behind the wing EVERY time I landed, and I wasn't landing hard.

Found Mike Ogren's Plastic Fantastics (gratuitous plug), and built a couple 1/2A planes, then his next size up - .15 size. I still have all the planes, and they get dragged out occassionally. It's nice not to have to worry about frequency pins, batteries, club politics - nothing. Just go play

i-can-do

cl in ireland is slowly diing out and is seen as an old mans sport. appearently i was a promising youngish (19)rc aerobatics pilot. it turned quiet a lot of heads when i arrive at our nationals in early september with my 1/2 A (american) and a desil. when they asked why wasnt i flying rc aerobatics i said it just wasnt as fun as cl , combat in piticular.i won 1/a combat. ive flown every disapline under the sun , from aero toeing to indoor heli's and i still find notting give me as much rush as godd old cl

Strykaas

First : PLZ DON T USE THE SAME AVATARS IT MAKES NO SENSE !
I've just seen that these were 4 different people now !

SECOND : May someone explain to me the different C/L categories ? What is combat, stunt , etc .... What can u actually do with a c/l aircraft in addition to speed contests with other people on the same circle ?

THIRD : Any site with good cl vids ?

LAST : Accidents with c/l ?

The only C/l fly I have seen was about very little wings wich were very very quick.... very impressive the first time I saw it...

highflyinguy

Been there, done that. Didn't care for a majority of the people or prices of equipment, But it was a hoot flying the planes. Why not controline?

ajcoholic

My Feedback: (10)

Yes, that is the difference to me between a true modeller and a hobbiest. I can honestly say I enjoy flying control line, RC (all disciplines from old timers to turbine jets) to rubber FF and HLG's just because they are ALL FUN!

But to answer the original question, control line is a rush like no other, I fly a lot of different types of RC planes (even combat and fun fly low to the ground) but CL gives a unique thrill like no other!

Andrew Coholic

dennis

My Feedback: (90)

Strykass, why don't you move on to control line and see what you have been missing. Anyone can fly RC easily but to do C/L well takes some practice that can be unforgiving. There is not a lot of sky in 60 feet of height. You just might find that it is a real rush.

downunder

Strykaas...there are a number of different categories such as outright speed, team racing, stunt, combat, scale and most of these have their own sub-categories as well. I'll try to give a quick run down but not being an expert in most of them the details might be off a little.

Speed is obvious...go as fast as possible within the rules for a particular engine size. The current fastest speed for a piston engine was set with a 2.5cc (.15) at 208mph. Only a pulse jet has gone faster than that. I can't remember if this link has been posted here but if you want to see that 208mph being set then check out the video at http://www.flyrc.btinternet.co.uk/re...ntrol_line.htm

Team racing....3 or 4 models all flying at once with limited fuel tanks so pit stops need to be made. Can be raced over a distance or number of laps over a fixed time. Fuel economy, speed and pit work are essential for a good result.

Scale....pretty obvious

Stunt (called Precision Aerobatics in America)...a set pattern of intricate manoeuvres that have to be flown as precisely as possible. Manoeuvres include such things as loops, figure eights, square versions of them, triangles, 4 leaf clover etc. It can be quite frightening to an RC flier seeing it for the first time

Combat...not for the faint hearted!!! The basic idea is to take cuts off a streamer being towed behind the opponent's model. Easy? Well think 2 models at up to 120 mph both trying to attack and evade at the same time. These have the tightest turning ability of any model for the speed they fly at. As a spectator sport they rank #1 by a long margin. Pylon racing is a distant second.

Accidents are rare. The only bad one I know of in Australia was during a practise for a Rat Race (similar to team race but more relaxed rules). There was a problem with one model and the pilot (stupidly) walked out to see what was wrong without saying what he was going to do. The other pilot didn't notice and his model collected the other guy in the head. It was nearly fatal.