Which wire would you all reccomend for .46 -.61 size aircraft? The MCMAster Catalog has some great prices on bulk line but I am a bit confused on which type of core to go with. I am buying it as a christmas gift for a friend. Any help or pointers would be very helpful. A link to the MC Catalog page that I am talking about is in the "where to find things" post at the top of the page.

***deleted*** Brain fade---gave answer to a different post.

If you are talking a sport/stunt type airplane, .018 in. multistrand is about what you want.

Jim

DU:

Second on Jim's recommendation of 0.018" multistrand. It will hold anything you can hold, and it's more resistant to damage than solid wires.

Bill.

Make sure it is stainless!

DU,

Using the Line size chart at the bottom of this page:

[link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/PDF-files/Rulebook/cline3.pdf[/link] ,

we see that the .018" size for multi-strand wire is correct. From page 1318 of the McMaster-Carr catalog, I would order the Type 302 Stainless Steel wire rope, SKU# 3458T142. From my experience, this product (Type 302 Stainless Steel) gives the best specs for my use. While it my be slightly down in the corrosion resistance department from the other types shown on page 1318, I am more concerned about breaking strength and fatigue resistance. I normally buy 500 feet at a time, which allows me to build several sets of lines of varying lengths.

The previous information shows what I use and is not an endorsement of any manufaturer's product. If I could find a bulk source for 1×19 stranded wire rope in a size smaller than .03125", I would try it due to its slight advantage in flexibility.

Hopefully, this will answer your questions satisfactorily.