Black Hawk Models
 

I've had a friend renew my interest in 1/2 A CL flying. I'm a little lost because I was so well used to going to the local model store and picking from all different styles of plane kits. Most of which were Carl Goldberg and Stirling. I found Black Hawk Models and they seem to have nice planes and great prices. Amercan made and a surprising selection. Doing research as in searching YouTube I've found almost nothing of Black Hawk's planes. I've ordered a couple kits. I'm curious as to their apparent lack of popularity. Am I missing something?

Hi CL, Most of the Blackhawk models are Scientific Models designs, rendered by Walt Musciano. Blackhawk is undergoing an ownership restructure;

with many model kits available from a second party seller on ebay. for eg: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wizard-Model...-/291385592858

Good Luck ;

Tony

Hobby King offers several of their kits also.

search youtube for Musciano control line and you'll get stuff like this

http://youtu.be/_5Ex8Vm8ZCA These are either plans or blackhawk model kits (unless someone has some of the original scientific kits) There is a local distributor listed in another thread on this forum, I guess they'll be getting more and more kits. Cheaper to buy local, contact and ask them for kit's n prices.

http://coxengines.ca/ for parts n engines.

There are a bunch of cute airplanes there but I think you can still get the plans for all of them and carve your own for much cheaper. Time/Money, you set your breaking point.

I've had a couple of the kits and they were complete and decent. Could probably hand select better balsa but who couldn't? I built or was building them for the cute factor and bought them back when Virginia Hobbysport was in business. Bought a little OK Cub .049 from them, guess that source is gone again. Still, cool looking engine that needs a different needle valve assy.
A cheap, electric 1/2A cl setup needs to be available. My faith in cox units has never been high, though I've worn out enough of them. More better folks than I probably make them last indefinitely. Electrics though are here to stay and taking over in the larger massed market of RC.

I was going somewhere with this but insomnia, it sets its own course. watch the video, they are cute little planes.

Very cool.

Hi CL I imagine that you already have your Blackhawk models by now but here are some close photos of the Red Flash that I just received. likely one of the ugliest of the series but it happened to be my first controlline airplane at 9 years old in 1954. Using a pair of Spitzy .045's I went through most of the hollow logs as well as on to better stuff and never totally abandoned controlline for RC to this day.

I am delighted with this repop kit which I purchased from Boones Hobbies in Long Beach Ca. The box and packaging is first class and I am also delighted with the quality of the kit. Which had to be as good as or better than the old Scientifics. The horizontal stabilizer slot is slightly off but a very easy fix. As a nine year old kid I probably would have not fixed it though:rolleyes:



http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080885 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080886



http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080880 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080881 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080882 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2080883

Anyway I was tickled and after this one is done with one of those two original Spitzys I will order a few more.

John

That's really cool and interesting. Every time I fly I hear "used to" stories. I always ask why not now. It's cheap and intriguing entertainment of the finest in my eyes. I faded out for a while for lack of a helper. I have that situation cured luckily.

Mostly because it isn't as cheap as it used to be. You can buy a 25 fp for about the price of a Cox Baby Bee. It runs on 5% all synthetic or a mix of castor where you need castor to keep that silly ball socket lubed on your Cox engine AND the cox engine would prefer 25% nitro which isn't cheap even if it does sip it. Then, here in the Kansas/Missouri area you have a little 1/2A that is more affected by the wind then a 25 size engine. Most hobby shops carry a good line up of props that will fit the 15-25 size planes where they are iffy on having 1/2A props if at all.

Still, if you have a couple old fuel tanked Cox engines OR the ok cub,norvel, brodak etc engine you can mount it on one of these Kits. They are a blast from the past. Frankly though, things have evolved quite a bit since these kits were introduced and powerplants got scarce and expensive. It just kills the market for them. Really, you're paying 25-35 bucks for a half a kit? In a similar economy not to long ago the generic kits would cost 5-10 bucks and the engines brand new were under 25. The cost of the 25 fp/la hasn't increased that much proportionally nor the cost of the kits. You gotta WANT one of these little guys to make it worth while.

They sure are cute though. Glad I bought the ones I had a long time ago.

Oh, the 25 fp/la engine isn't very finicky either. Throw some fuel at it, flip the prop OR put a starter on it and go fly.

Then there is the AP/ASP .15, which is a much better motor arguably. There is a muffler and throttle and ball bearing ABC motor for $30 to $50. It will handle the wind better as was said. My club needs mufflers, and a means of shutting the motor down so the older Cox stuff is out. I do fly the little guys at a different field because, well, they are fun still.

Love watching the mouse racers. Never saw the smooth little 1/2A speed planes fly.

So many aspects to model aviation. Some of them you just can't do anymore. Others you have to really want to. Enjoy them while you can. Soon, all we'll have is indoor free flight which is still a blast but I hope not.

I wasn't necessarily implying people should fly 1/2 A I meant control line in general should be more popular.

When the powers that be effectively shut down recreational R/C flight, C/L will make a resurgence.

Control line was the original park flier. The noise was a hassle then, but now the neighbors seem to be less tolerant of noise. Also the parks are much more crowded and the cities are more built up. Electric control line still has hope, I guess. Not a lot of young people get into control line now, maybe a few go with their dad. More video games, and maybe quad copters.

I have flown CL in the park, recently. The big problem is people just walking right into the circle to talk with ya. No concept of what lines do when they hit a non moving object. Had one dude kick his sons soccer ball halfway into the circle that I was flying in and then send his son into the circle after it while I was flying. Then there was a time when I had a lady jump a pretty hefty curb to get into the closed off section of a parking lot that we were flying in. I noticed her in the middle of the inverted laps of the PAMPA schedual when my plane was pointed at her windshield. Mertle then jumped the meridian again and got out of the parking lot.
I also was at a display fly where the circle was cut off from the crowd by yellow, do not cross tape, marked "Danger, Do Not Cross" on it. Guy just walks out into a 4 up group fly. No warning, No ducking, No timing. Just a "Hi Fellas, whatcha doin huh?"

It scares me.

You know what else scares me? A nasty Fox 35 growling with a properly unbalanced propeller on the far side of the piston and a nice, hefty cloud of Castor smoke coming out of the exhaust stack.

Ok, that doesn't really scare me, it gives me a little thrill.

That is what has prevented me from flying half-A, except for the Tee Dees / Norvels, the reedies don't handle winds well here in Eastern New Mexico boarding Texas Panhandle. It is normal here to have 15+ MPH winds, and fly in 20+ MPH winds.

I don't know, we seem to have more and more people who don't have any common sense any more. Also in some communities, we have people so demanding of their rights that they could care less that a park is basically a shared commodity, and who are basically selfish. Since I live in a small town of under 40k population, we don't have quite the issues that a larger city may have, and we have a city owned RC park where we can fly CL.

:rolleyes::);)

I'm working on a .35 sized plane and ordered a $15 Sig Sky Ray. The 1/2 A's are fickle for sure. The .35 will be my first CL larger than 1/2A. I thought fiery was being a little fanatic about the "powers that be" shutting down RC but as it turns out the Feds have shut us down for the next two days. Everything in a 30 mile radius in fact. The President is visiting Hill Air Force Base. It's about a mile from my house. The same thing happened for the Olympics.

Wasn't that "no fly zone" in place during the Reagan administration?

We haven't felt the crunch like you do, CLBetten, although Cannon Air Force Base here in Clovis NM is a hot spot for dignitaries. :rolleyes: It along with Holloman AFB in Alamogordo NM are or were considered remote and isolated by Congress so they get additional help for recreational services and base exchange entities with perks such as free utilities since profitability is harder than in a larger city. There are mixed feelings; some of the airmen like it enough to retire here, others dislike it because it doesn't have big city services. Lubbock and Amarillo TX are 2 hours away. There's a lot of nice 2 lane roads to ride on between here and Texas and motocross tracks if one likes riding motorcycles. There are places to practice one's marksmanship, too.

The 1/2-A's are fun for sure, provided one has the low wind climate to enjoy them. My Ringmaster with McCoy 35 RH is certainly more stable in the wind. It gives a little more tug on the end but it is not bad.