help me get hooked with control line
 

hi,

i enjoy r/c plane but can any body help me get hokked with c/l?
I was browsing this forum and seems to me its excitning.

Can somebody. . .
1) tell me a c/l beginner plane for newbie like me ARF and KIT?
2) Any link i can go to for more info on c/l?
3) Any c/l club i can join in Northern California (Bay area)
Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

For a trainer, try a SIG Shoestring or Buster 15 size airplane with an os/tt/magnum 10-15 gp style engine on the nose. Another airplane is from Brodak and is the Streak trainer. I haven't seen this one yet but have heard it's pretty good. A trainer that I do use in my club that uses a normal 25 -35 size engine is available from Mike Ogren at http://personal.bellsouth.net/c/l/cl...otech_com.html the airplane is the KISS and we have one at our club with a TT 25 gp on the nose. I've had several people train on this and many many more get intro flights on it. After learning to fly with one of these airplanes, consider a Flight streak ARF with the same engine, or build one from the ground up from Brodaks. For a little more stable ride and ability to work into pattern, try a SIG Skyray 35. LA 25's/GP25's etc pull this plane around just fine.

Links
www.brodak.com
www.sigmfg.com
http://personal.bellsouth.net/c/l/cl...otech_com.html Protech/Mike Ogren
reading
www.clstunt.com (Stuka Stunt)
www.flightlines.com (Flightlines website also has a CL forum)
CL clubs
Look at the Academy of Model Aeronautics website for club listings or post on the www.clstunt.com website (Stuka Stunt address) for someone in your area.

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

birdstrike:

Even the 0.049 Skyray, a simple plank wing with a Babe Bee strapped on, is a fun small stunt plane.

Bill.

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

Another way to go would be to find a local CL flying club. Many clubs have trainers to teach new folks how to fly. If not, you may find someone who has progressed beyond a trainer and may have one for sale. You don't need them for very long.

George

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

William Robison is right about the .049 skyray. I'm learning to fly on one and I'm having a BLAST!!

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

aeronut987:

The 0.049 Skyray was the second u/c my son flew. And the first aerobat. His first flights were, believe it or not, with a rat racer.

He still has the Skyray, and I still have the rat racer. Picture attached.

Bill.

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

The reason I didn't mention 1/2 a was because of several things. First, you can't hardly feel them out there and there is nothing like being able to feel the airplane at the end of the lines. They are less wind resistant. I've flown mine in some incredible winds, but I knew what I was doing. On mild wind days when the 049 will blow in on the downword side, a larger airplane will not.

I did mention the SIG Buster and Shoestring. These are essentially the same as the Skyray, but with the larger engine they are generally easier to start and fly. They also fly on standard stunt fuel instead of the normally higher nitro. They can and do take one heck of a beating, but in the end will be reduced to splinters, all the while it is iffy that the trainer actually fealt what the plane was doing.

2nd, normally the 1/2A airplanes like to swing around a little faster than the bigger planes do. I can get 5 second laps on a 15 size trainer and still feel it out there where the 1/2A is happier in the 3.5 to 4 second range, if not faster. These quick rotation times are hard on a newbie who now not only can't feel the airplane at the ends of the lines, but also has to turn around much faster just to keep up with the blur.

A Kiss stick with a 25 on the nose, prop on backwards, can do 5.5 second laps, pulling fairly well. It can have huge landing gear on it making it ROG from not so nice of a runway so that the newbie doesn't have to worry about hand launches too. The motor is a more common size for any of the bigger airplanes, the airplanes have more square inches to soak up the too much glue and finish problems that a newbie encounters. Add an extra ounce to a 1/2A and you may not have a flyable plane. Put the same on a 25-35 size ship and it's usually no big deal. A 14 ounce Akromaster is a good flying airplane, a 16 ouncer is a pig.

These were the reasons I didn't go with the 1/2A type planes in my recomendations. If you want to go 1/2A, just order a PT-19 from tower and have at it. Generally this airplane is cheaper than just buying the motor itself. But I'd spend maybe twice as much and go with the KISS. Or, I'd keep an eye out on ebay for a used engine and save money that way.

RE: help me get hooked with control line
 

birdstrike,
If you opt to build a trainer, all of the previous comments have merit. That said, I have a box with trainers in it. It has a "Brodak Basic Trainer" powered by a OK Cub .049 engine, a "SIG Skyray" powered by a Cox Black Widow, and a couple of sheet wing planes similar to the Skyray, Cox powered.
A few pluses for the .049 size trainers: Don't need a large space to fly, easy to build and repair, nearly indestructible (if flown off grass).
To me the most important item is that the controls are mounted externally so they can be adjusted from small movement, used until you stop getting dizzy going round and round (and you will!) to more aggressive control movement allowing you to do stunts.
I would suggest 15% nitro, 20% lube fuel (make sure some of the lube is castor. You may wish to use Dacron or monofilament lines at first for easy handling, but you should eventually go to .008 braided steel lines for better performance. Some people misjudge 1/2A because they do not set up for best performance.

What size trainer you use might be dictated by what engines you have on hand. General rule of thumb for balsa planes is that smaller planes are harder to break.
Many have professed the good points of getting a foamie as a trainer. Your choice.
Whatever you get, I recommend an external control system so you can adjust the throws.

George