uliner

My Feedback: (2)

I think Control line was predicted to die some time in the early 80's. It's still here and it is in better health than it was 20 years ago.

If you never took time to learn how to get good at it, you don't understand control line. If you don't like it fine. I Fly a little RC, and a lot more UC. I think the death of control line will be the oldsters getting older but also the loss of places to fly. There are more new better kits than in the 80 and 90's. A good selection of engines now and ARF's. There is also more information out there to read and learn than there ever has been. It's just not mainstream.

I stopped getting dizzy a long time ago, and RC is more about standing around and drinking coffee than flying sometimes.
I really hate all the BS associated with RC clubs

uliner

BMatthews

I was thinking that RCPaul was partly right in that most of the renewed intrest in control line was the old timers that were coming back to relive their early days but perhaps there is something more to it. RC is troubled by smaller sites these days. Granted parkflyer models have solved a lot of this but some folks are looking for something a bit more or something different. For them the lure of control line can look pretty good (that would be you stijn ). I suspect the current growth IS mostly due to the old geezers. But as we are forced into smaller and smaller areas and gas prices go up so that it becomes more expensive to travel to decent fields out of town I can see control line becoming popular with the younger side once again. Add to that the use of more powerful electrics and high energy to weight density batteries and we have a whole new promise of performance in very quiet packages. In the meantime I suspect that those of you in various clubs that operate inside urban areas are dealing with noise issues by requireing very effective mufflers? This is one issue that CL combat will have to come to terms with in the years to come.

One thing for sure. CL in NOT dead. Top Flite did not add the Nobler and Flite Streak ARF's to their product lineup out of kindness to a failing population. They did it because the INTREST IS THERE. Take THAT RCPaul ! ! !

But he was right about one item. For every one person that goes for control line there are probably a couple of hundred that sign up as RC'ers... minimum. RC is now and will always be the core of the hobby by a VERY large margin. There's no avoiding that fact. But unlike free flight control line can adapt to urban living and thrive in it's own little way.

Jim Thomerson

I was in a hobby shop in Illinois, conversing with the owner, president of the local RC club, and an old CL flyer. One of the younger club members came in all excited. He had been to the Nationals and on the way to one of the RC events had gotten lost and ended up watching CL Precision Aerobatics. He was going on and on about how beautiful the airplanes were, how close to the ground they flew, how precise the maneuvers were, how you could get close enough to actually see them, etc. etc. The owner and I managed to keep straight faces.

We started flying on the same field as a group of RC flyers. Most of the younger flyers had never seen CL and were amazed and asked us a lot of questions. A couple of the older guys dragged out old CL airplanes and had some fun and we got several of the younger guys able to fly around level. Also a couple of my buddies now fly both CL and RC. A good time was had by all.

I think your local RC club is probably the best place to troll for new CL flyers. The young folks don't know anything about CL and the older folks probably have some nostalgia.

Jim

gcb

Also remember that some retreads are not returning out of the blue, but are switching over from, or in addition to, RC.

George

scubyfan

Thanks for all the interesting perspectives! I still love CL and will continue to do so. Maybe we should get some more CL competitions together in the states so as to stimulate and win over young pilots! [8D]

Jim Thomerson

I generally attend 6 contests a year. That's enough for me.

Jim

gcb

The FAI World Championships are being held this year in Muncie, IN at the AMA site. What bigger contest could you ask for? Also the AMA CL Nats, Brodak's Fly-in (4-days on Father's day weekend), the Vintage Stunt Championships, and a host of others. Check the contest calendars in MA. Not all are RC.

George

Ed Smith

I started in this hobby 55 years ago with control line aircraft. I learned to build and fly. I now RC pylon race. I still build and fly. I have not forgotten my roots.

The last time the US hosted the C/L World Camps was over twenty years ago at Chicopee, Mass. I was Team manager for the Canadian team at that event. I WILL be at Muncie this year. I would not miss the C/L world championships. Anybody who calls this activity dull is out of touch with reality. The numbers alone will tell the tale. I am sure there will be more competitors/spectators at Muncie this year for this event than for any other single discipline event.

Ed S

iskandar taib

My Feedback: (5)

I mainly fly Control Line because I fly CL Combat. There is NOTHING like this in RC. RC Combat is very different (though it might be exciting as well). My usual analogy is that RC Combat is like a bar fight - five or six people taking swings at each other as the opportunity arises. CL Combat is like a knife fight, or a duel with rapiers - intensely man-on-man, at extremely close quarters, and very, very fast. Blink once and your streamer is gone.

Flying one-in-a-circle - even with a Fast Combat plane - is dull.. And the usual type of flying I see at RC club fields - people making passes left and right and doing the odd loop and roll - interests me not at all. Something like competitive soaring, or F5B, or even park fliers, might - just haven't done it yet.

EJN

I nearly busted my gut laughing at this. Too funny.

garygorf

Hi,
I bought a copy of Model Airplane News in March of 2003 and I didn`t see a single article about C/L in it. It was like reading Radio Control Models. From this I assumed that R/C had taken over. I later found the Stuka Stunt Works site, and it is like a time warp.
I flew Noblers, Flight Streaks, Ringmasters in the 50`s and 60`s, and so do they 40 years later. The planes look the same as they did long ago with the beautiful finishes. Innovations seem to have died out. The big items in the site seem to be finding a decent stunt engine and the fuel for it. I feel lucky to have been around the "golden age" back then, and then seeing it in the present day.

No bones to pick, just my observations.

Gary

gcb

Gary,
You are correct, MAN switched to all RC several years ago. I let my subscription expire several years ago.
Flying Models has managed to continue covering multiple disciplines. I have subscribed to it for many years.
And of course, Model Aviation still covers all types.
The best all CL magazine I know of is Stunt News. Though it is full-size, officially it is a newsletter that you receive when you join PAMPA (Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association). It is always full of information. It has lots of advertisers for cottage industried that create some of the old (and new) CL kits, and rework engines for a good dependable stunt run (whichever type you want).
There may be other CL mags that I do not receive.

George

highflyinguy

After reading all the replies to this thread, all I can say is your all correct with pros and cons, (except Paul),
I have enjoyed controline for six years now, after having come back as a retread from the 50's.
I've tried regular R/C and that was fun too, however in my area (40 miles North of Denver), the cost of joining a R/C club and AMA dues were the main reason I stopped. At present the local R/C club has lost its flying site twice in 1 1/2 years. I dont even know where they fly now.
My latest flying evdevor is with Park Flyers, it's affordable, you dont need a special flying site (my street would do except for the trees, no one that I have heard of has ever had a complaint about noise. I believe Electric R/C is the future of model aviation. It's a hoot, but a diffrent hoot than C/L
I have not given up on C/L, my Barnstormer is almost finished and I will continue to have at least one flyable C/L plane avaliable.
However I can say the lack of intrest in this area is due to , lack of flying places, and lack of supplies(I dont wish to spend money making UPS rich). There are five hobby shops within 35 miles of my house and you could not purchase everything you need to build and fly even the most simple C/L set up such as a Twister with a Fox35 and all castor fuel. Based on that fact, why would any young person who has never known the joy of Controline flying ever concider it.

Jim Thomerson

My 2004 PAMPA directory lists 34 Precision Aerobatic Model Pilots Association members in Colorado. One of them is toughing it out in Longmont! So there may be some CL activity in that area after all.

Jim

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Jim:

Does the Longmont resident have the first name Gerald? You're knocking on HighFly's front door.

Bill.

highflyinguy

Bill, Correctomundo, this is Gerald (Jerry), only my mother called me Gerald, the Pampa member who WAS toughing it out in Longmont and got too tired of it to contiue in an effort to get good enough to get in cometition. Now I just have fun and skybust till I crash or laugh.
The Parkflying is for relaxation and I enjoy learning the new technology in batteries and a diffrent style building, almost like freeflight under control.
If highfly is the owner of the new hobby shop in town called Wings ans Wheels, I have knocked on, opened the door, and got supplies their, great shop for Parkflyers.

Jim Thomerson

Nope, Jerry has been replaced as the only PAMPA member in Longmont, CO.

Jim

Sport_Pilot

Gary,
Most of the sport flyers like the old models, you really can't improve on them for sport flying. However there is still much inovation in the top stunt, combat, and speed events.

Fuelman

My Feedback: (6)

Gentlemen,
Control line is growing again, probably a little faster than most realize. I know of at least 15 UC folks around here that were not here 5 years ago. They just do not join RC Clubs unless they do that too. As far as how much its growing, I don't know but I sell a lot more UC fuel now than I did 5 years ago and I see these new UC arf's at nearly every hobby shop now and the owners say that they sell but they don't fly off the shelf. These same retailers are now getting asked to stock a couple UC engines, UC fuel and some bellcranks and lines and handles , etc. Again, not setting the world on fire but its selling.
I myself just got back into it after not picking up a handle in over 20 years, my son digs it too, he's 11 and loves it mor than r/c.

Fuelman

iskandar taib

My Feedback: (5)

Incidentally, RC clubs are a GREAT place to troll for new CL fliers. They already have money, they already know how to start engines, they have transportation, some of them can even build airplanes. Unless your local club is blatantly anti-CL (i.e. won't let you fly any CL there), joining it might be a great way of getting new CL flying buddies.

Jim Thomerson

In Illinois, one RC club said no way, CL is way too dangerous! Another RC club installed two mowed CL circles for us. RC clubs are mostly made up of former and present CL flyers and people who have never seen a CL airplane fly. Fertile ground indeed!

Jim

Clean

Took a couple of 1/2A Manwins to the Midwest Slope Challenge last week. When the wind didn't blow you should have seen the line of top glider pilots waiting for their turn at the handle and the kind of dizziness only accorded half a case of their favorite brew.

It was a blast.

Steve Helmick

FWIW, we have 43 members of our club, essentially a CL club. A very few also fly R/C or Free Flight. One of our best PR gigs has been to fly in a schoolyard which happens to be on the parade route of a small city parade. We are there, ready to teach kids to fly, sometimes with fathers or mothers also getting the hard sell. Lots of kids line up, some actually learn, but we don't see many joining our club. We are hopeful, however, that at least some of these folks won't be crabby when they hear a model airplane engine, maybe it will bring a fond memory to their minds, and maybe they'll stop in at the LHS and get started in a great hobby. Oh, I quit flying R/C about '63, when we moved to a city with Controline and Free Flight contests, as well as plenty of R/C flying.

Lou Melancon

I haven't picked up a CL handle in about ten years but with the introduction of the Brodak ARFs and the quality of CL Combat ships coming in from Eastern Europe I want to give it a try. One of the drawbacks for me is finding a place to fly and folks to fly with. Atlanta is a big city but doesn't have any permanent CL flying sites. You really need folks to fly with and a partner to launch the ship.

I do fly RC, and compete in RC Combat heavily. There is a limit to just how much modeling anyone has the time and energy to do. When attempting to fly CL Precision Aerobatics about 20 years ago it took all my time to build and fly that one event. Now it is taking all my time to build and fly RC Combat.

There is one thing about CL flying that cannot be matched by any other form of modeling and that is the feel of the airplane flying. In RC we are not connected to the plane, but in CL we feel every bump in the air. Also the plane is always 60 feet away so you can watch it fly and I really enjoy the feel and view when flying CL. It is rather boring for spectators but very fulfilling for the pilot.

Several years ago at the Joe Nall flyin a fellow brought a CL stunt ship and flew it for fun. He was surprised at the amount of interest it evoked among former CL fliers and those who had not seen it before.

I will always have a love for CL and will also try to participate in all forms of modeling.

randall1959

My Feedback: (11)

I'd like to fly CL but I have vertigo..........They just make me dizzy as heck.........