Control Line B-17.

[Steven]

[video=youtube;oi6yNqfq8ng]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi6yNqfq8ng[/video] Never could make my Cox airplanes fly. Not a fault of the designer of course.

 

[qquake2k]

I used to love flying Cox u-control airplanes. I had a lot of fun with them. Ever seen a control line dogfight?

[video=youtube;tRTpZGkEplg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRTpZGkEplg[/video]

 

[Steven]

Yup. Down at the grade school in Phoenix.

 

[Steven]

I've presently got three of them. The PT-19 Trainer, the blue version of the Corsair and the Stuka. The engines are broken in, just never flown. One of these years.

 

[qquake2k]

The first one I saw was in San Jose when I was a kid. It boggled my mind.

 

[qquake2k]

I had the trainer, a P-51 Mustang, and a foam flying wing that I never got the hang of.

 

[Steven]

Got anything presently?

 

[qquake2k]

No, haven't flown them since I was a kid. I couldn't fly one now, I'd get too dizzy.

 

[Steven]

Grab a bigger model and longer lines. You had the Mustang, was that the Miss America version flown by Howie Keefe or another version?

 

[GlenP]

I had a couple of balsa kits that flew with the Cox 0.049 Babe Bee, the old style that did not have the quick-start anti-kick-back springs on them, so they might start backwards occasionally. One was a profile (body and wing were flat sheet balsa) Corsair (or Hellcat, I can't remember) model by Sterling I think, the other was a built-up balsa-tissue Bell P-39 Airacobra Guillows kit, I rotated the tank and put the engine on sideways so you could not see the glow-plug cylinder head when flying it from the control-line pilot viewpoint.

For those who never got into the hobby and want to try it out, you can still get these types of kits from Brodak, they have electric engine options as well.
https://brodak.com/

I was thinking of converting a tetherball pole to a RC/tethered-control-line plane in my backyard, that would be a fun project, kind of like those indoor planes, Flyline Room Raiders, not sure if they are still around.

 

[vcp]

Had a B-17 c/l in 1970, about 2/3 that size, with 4 .049's. No throttles. You controlled which engines quit first by the size of the props, top them all up before launch, then the 5" props on the outside would quit first, the 6" on the inside quit last. It would take off grass easily on four, fly on three, and gently settle on two. Really fun to fly.

Flew a lot of combat in HS with 049's. Easy when the planes only cost 99 cents. Lil Satan, was the kit I remember. Also a lot of just planks with motors. Never got larger than a 015 in combat. Flew a lot of 035 stunt planes.

There is a facebook group for c/l, and I've been tempted.

Recently saw a cox pt19 local on craigs list. Mint in box $160.

 

[Steven]

I had a Sterling Zero myself. Built it and you guessed it, never flew it. A favorite of mine though not gas powered was the Guillow's Cessna Bird Dog which had an ingenious method of actually dropping 'leaflets' from a hopper underneath the cabin. A string tied to the rubber motor would slowly pull the hopper door open as the rubber began to unwind.

 

[Steven]

The Lil' Satan was a twin tail, right?

 

[Steven]

I stand corrected, it was the Sterling L-19 Bird Dog. I don't think Guillow's had the operable hopper door.

 

[vcp]

The Lil' Satan was a twin tail, right?

yeah, just a wing and flying stab, twin booms.

 

[kclo4]

Control line was fun, it's always fun to see people still doing it.

I was able to get all my Cox .049 planes to fly, but just barely. Lived in Denver CO at the time so the 5000+ft elevation really didn't do those motors any favors. We then started to fly .30 and .40 size planes which had no problems.

 

[pyrobob]

Awesome. I used to do control line back in the day and heard about dog fights but never saw one, until now.

 

[rstaff3]

Awesome. I used to do control line back in the day and heard about dog fights but never saw one, until now.

I don't remember the year, but the first time I went to Disney they had dogfight demos. I was mesmerized. The planes had paper streamers that they would chop away at.

 

[captbk]

Did the control line thing as a kid and even saw some dog fights but it wasn't until I was older and got back into RC planes, I got to do some dog fighting without the control line. We would attach a paper steamer to the back of one plane and another plane would chase you around the sky and try to cut your tail off. It is a LOT harder than it sounds.

 

[rstaff3]

Did the control line thing as a kid and even saw some dog fights but it wasn't until I was older and got back into RC planes, I got to do some dog fighting without the control line. We would attach a paper steamer to the back of one plane and another plane would chase you around the sky and try to cut your tail off. It is a LOT harder than it sounds.

I think the ones I saw were staged demos vs. competitions. Based on the earlier video, it does look very challenging. I always wondered how they kept from snarling up each other's likes.

 

[tightwad]

60 years ago I watched two sailors flying u-control in the ballpark next to my home. As I watched them dog fight, the lead plane began to smoke, then burst into flames. I thought, cool just like the movies! NOT. I guess the fuel line broke or became disconnected and by the time it landed it was totally destroyed. I would find out years later how devastating it would be when the RC plane I was flying crashed after I lost control when a sudden gust wind over powered my ability to land it and blew it into some trees.

 

[pyrobob]

Pretty sure I would fall over from dizziness within 60 seconds of flight if I were to try it all again .

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

Had the Cox Stuka, PT-19, and F-8 Crusader with foam wing. Also Testors "Jungle Fighter" P-63 Kingcobra. Built Sterling "profile" F-84 and P-51, also Carl Goldberg P-40.

There were WW2 fighters in blister packs by Testors with fuel and battery starter available in the 1970s. These had the integral plastic fuel tank which seemed to come pre-cracked. So the fuel ran out almost as fast as it went in.

Also converted one of my .049 Babe Bees to diesel with a Davis conversion unit. Broke a few crankshafts from overcompression and wore out a teflon diaphram. Only advantage of the conversion was no need for a battery for starting, but it did require a special fuel which had ether as part of it's formula.

 

[vcp]

Sig Chipmunk, Fox35, full pattern stunt. 1971. Those are Lackland AFB barracks in the background. And yeah, I could do the hourglass, overhead eights, cloverleaf etc. Best flying plane I ever had, of any type.



... and oh yeah, that's my wife. Dang we were young.

Then, same summer, there was a Sig Witch Doctor-X that also flew perfectly with a TD049, Free Flight Gas. I expect I've got a (poor) picture of that somewhere. Now that I recall, that was a sweet summer of model airplanes. I was also flying a TD15 combat wing, and a really nice towline FF glider.

Next year, when I was stationed at Elmandorf, I built and flew a Sterling profile P51 with the same Fox35. Did it up nice with invasion stripes, and panel detail with a drafting pen. There's a pretty funny story behind that model. I worked mid shift in the basement of the Alaskan Air Command Headquarters, in the com center, in the restricted crypto room. It was mostly idle time, and no one but the crypto guys could enter. I lived in a pretty small apartment, it was winter, and really didn't have a good place to paint the Mustang; but there was a good open work room in the crypto area, so why not? No problem, laid out plenty of newspaper, spray painted the first white coats on the model and it went well. Couple of hours to dry, took it back out to my truck, and cleaned up; still no problem. Couple hours of shift to go, still need to do the regular maintenance on the ~20 crypto systems (KW26's, each a full equipment rack) that were in the other room. Plenty of time, just need to change the air filters... The filters were black wire mesh... except that now they were all white! Oh S***. They were normally washed with water, but I had to grab all of them, run to the utility room, and wire brush all of them clean. Made it back before shift change, nobody was court-marshalled, and I don't think the security of the nation was compromised, but whew!

That old Fox35 graced at least a half-dozen different planes. It had been given to me, and was pocked with dents where someone had been shooting a BB gun at it for some reason. It still ran great when I gave it away years later.

 

[modeltrains]

Okay, yeah, Sterling, Stirling, the company who had some balsa sheet profile kits. Cox Golden Bee .049 harmonized nicely with a green and brown Spitfire.
I also had a Fokker D7. Ringmaster, didn't Stirling have that name and offer it on several different types of construction?

Looking at the pilot, that is apparent!

calmat2
7 years ago
@MissileMist This plane has to have throttle control or it might pull the pilot off his feet.

 

[vcp]

Ringmaster, didn't Stirling have that name and offer it on several different types of construction?

There were multiple sizes of the Ringmaster; Jr, Baby, etc. Never had one though. I learned to stunt with the Flite Streak. This was never as popular as the Ringmaster, but also had several sizes, and the full size version was also available in a profile or full bodied version. I built several of the latter (gotta remember to pull-out *down* when inverted).

 

[Andy Greene]

Many many years ago - my father did a control line B-36, it was massive. I was really young and I really only really remember it from pictures, he never did fly it- But did manage to get all 6 running pretty consistently and taxied it several times from the stories shared. Im sure that had to have been a sight to see just to keep em all running

 

[grouch]

I would like to build an electric stutter this winter. It's been on my short list for a while now. Something like a Ringmaster would be pretty cool.

 

[Steven]

On these gas powered B-36's whether they are C/L or RC, it becomes an issue in keeping the engines cool on the ground as they lack the airflow over the engine head with the props being backwards on them. Getting all six running right and in sync before over heating is a relative concern. However, it can be done with consistent engines properly broken in. Regardless of the size though, a B-36 in the air is quite awesome. The sound is not to be forgotten.

 

[Andy Greene]

On these gas powered B-36's whether they are C/L or RC, it becomes an issue in keeping the engines cool on the ground as they lack the airflow over the engine head with the props being backwards on them. Getting all six running right and in sync before over heating is a relative concern. However, it can be done with consistent engines properly broken in. Regardless of the size though, a B-36 in the air is quite awesome. The sound is not to be forgotten.

Seem to recall that being one of the many issues- esp with that era's glow motors, late 60"s , seems to me they ran pretty low nitro % . There are pics around here some where, see if I can find one.