Are there still any line contorl model pilots?

[Bill Greenwood]

When I was a kid there were a lot of flying model planes and some were a lot of fun.There were a few soaring gliders, a few free flight models, but most were line control or U contrtol where the pilot stands in the mddle of the area and the plane which is on the end of a fine line flys a circle around the pilot , perhaps 100 ft radius. The line is connected to a U shaped device so that as pilot tilits it up you get up elevator and tilt down for the opposite. Some of these are pretty sensitive especially the fast ones, and they can make you really dizzy quickly. They sound like a real airplane, not an electric one.
I have 2 brand new planes fully assembled, still in the original boxes, never opened, just a little dusty, and I am not sure where is a good home for them. They have some sentimental value to me, I dont want to see them just wrecked, They are COX .049, one is a Spitfire and one a P-51, I think the Red Baron maybe. Im told they are fast , espcially the 51 and therefore need an expert pilot. I have flown a little line control with a basic traineer , but a long time ago and I m not up to these though it woud be fun.
Any offers to buy or otherwise good suggestions? Does EAA still fly the model behind the museum at Pioneer Airport during EAA? These are probably too fast for kids, but might be fun for demos?

[Timgineer]

I saw this group at the Milwaukee Maker Faire (https://milwaukee.makerfaire.com/) a few years ago...

http://www.circlemasters.com/

They are a Milwaukee area group of control line flyers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[rwanttaja]

Was just at the Northwest Aviation Expo today, this group has a booth there.
http://www.wanttaja.com/control_line.jpg

Ron "My old Firebaby is around here somewhere" Wanttaja

[champ driver]

Yes, it's still alive and well.
Although it's not as popular as RC and the dreaded drones. CL has a real following within it's core group.
I'm a member of a control line club in MN, the Minneapolis Piston Poppers which has been around since the 50's.
I think my first plane was a Cox Stuka with an .049 when I was around 15. Back then you could fly from a school yard or park, until someone complained about the noise. Most of the plastic Cox planes were heavy and not very good flyers. I then built a Carl Goldberg Lil Wizard, also with a Cox .049.
I do a little flying with the club now and then, but I really should be working on my Champ instead.
Here's a photo of one of our latest January frozen Fun Fly's on January 1st.

One of our members is a Ringling Brothers trained juggler and banjo player and he puts out these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYiFrYG2x2g


http://www.pistonpoppers.com/

7731

[CarlOrton]

Back in the 60's I had a Cox-branded .049 Stuka. Not once was I ever able to start it.... :-( I had the right fuel, and I'm assuming the battery was good, but had no one to watch and advise. *sigh*

[Mel]

Flew control line as a kid. First trophy I ever won; 1956, Diamond Jubilee, Abilene, Texas, second place Precision Aerobatics, Jr. division. 13 years old. Thunderbird, Fox .29.
Went on to place in AMA Nationals the following year. Flew Precision Aerobatics (Nobler, Fox .35), Combat (Sweet Sweep. Fox .35), Indoor and Outdoor Hand-launch Glider, 1/2A Speed (Own designs), etc.
Built and flew a "Squaw" kit on TV, Fox .29. Program called "Texas In Review".
Old Memories. Been a while!

[martymayes]

The best place for a Cox RTF .049 powered, molded plastic airplane models is in the original box on a collector's display shelf. Not something that you'd want to fly. It's like trying to swing a brick around your head on a string, except the brick is more controllable.

The Sterling Beginner Ringmaster and Baby Ringmaster were great 1/2A general purpose planes and Carl Goldberg had some real 1/2A hotrods like the Lil' Satan.

[CHICAGORANDY]

Ah yes, the mighty Cox engines and 'airplanes'. The smell of castor oil exhaust, the unending "joy" of trying to get the darn thing to start. Explaining to the parents why you again need another starting battery from the hardware store. How many glow plugs is this durn thing gonna blow? The thrill of cut fingers when the rat weasel engine backfired. The absolute lack of even minimal power for flight. AND you get to be dizzy! A grand way to spend my youth in the 50's and early 60's - lol

[rwanttaja]

I had more problems with the Wen-Mac 049s than the Cox. Must have been living right, because I finally got those little things dialed in so they'd start in a couple of flips. Most of the time BACKWARDS, but they did run....

Though I admit seeing other guys struggle.

It was amazing what you could make fly with a Cox 049, as long as it was light enough. I carefully carved airfoils from solid hunks of balsa for the first few planes I built, but by the end, was just gluing the damn plank to the fuselage without shaping. Didn't seem to make much difference. Used to tie rags and stuff to the outer wing. It'd still stagger off the ground.

The biggest drawback to the Cox 049 was the lack of a throttle control, but that didn't stop me from doing touch-and-goes. At full power. Trimmed down a few props that way. Once there was a huge ZING and the engine screamed and quit. Turned out I'd actually broken the crankshaft on the 'ol Cox.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

I flew R/C with Dad at the club field on weekends, and U-controls in the school parking lot on weekday afternoons. There were two Cox models, a Ryan ST-3 (with a throttled .020 engine) and the "Red Baron", which was really a Pitts molded in red plastic. Neither survived long. Then Dad bought me a Midwest "Snorky" trainer with a Fox .15, with which I finally learned to fly the things. Then a long series of models in various sizes, a Goldberg Lil' wizard (which I modified to have retractable gear), a Jr. Nobler, Flite Streak Jr., a Baby Ringmaster, Veco "Smoothie", Dumas "Scout", some profile WWI biplanes, and various others of my own design. Then we got into combat flying, but none of this streamer stuff... we built .049 powered disposable planes from corrugated cardboard and hot melt glue, and went straight for each other's planes.

But yeah, the best place for a Cox model still in the original packaging is ebay, collectors pay good money for them.

[high time cub]

Pop Quiz: Roy Cox was a pilot and flew a 1950 Navion. Name the modified aerobatic biplane that he also owned.


HT & V

[champ driver]

He owned a 1927 Fleet biplane and his red and white checkerboard TD-3 Navion.
I cheated, I looked it up on the web, although I think the date on the Fleet is incorrect. The Fleet biplane first flew in 1928.

https://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Cox.htm

[Mayhemxpc]

I also had a Cox Stuka. Neat looking plane. It had THREE control wires (strings). The third was was to drop the bomb from the belly. Also had a silver Mustang...until I ran it into a lightpost. Obviously I wasn't maintaining position as I turned round and round. My brother had a Pitts, which my Dad flew for him (actually, they were all really Dad's toys.) I remember my Dad trying to loop it or something and it coming back and diving right on top of him. I am sure it hurt and was a serious thing, but it was funny to watch. Yes, more time spent trying to get those engines to start than actually flying them.

[high time cub]

He owned a 1927 Fleet biplane and his red and white checkerboard TD-3 Navion.
I cheated, I looked it up on the web, although I think the date on the Fleet is incorrect. The Fleet biplane first flew in 1928.

https://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Cox.htm

Ah, well done! Yes, it was a 1930 Fleet model 1 - Extra points if you can name the engine and prop that was used to modify the Fleet.


HT & V

[stinsoner]

Boy, this thread brought back some memories. For many of us, plastic model airplanes and line control/U-control airplanes are what ignited the flame. I remember getting started in a group when I was in junior high school--we were mentored by some local adults who brought us along into the hobby. I ended up building and flying many of the same models previously mentioned-- a Baby Ringmaster/with Babe Bee .049; a Baby Flitestreak with the Golden Bee; Junior Ringmaster and Jr. Flitestreak with Fox .15; and a Yak 9 powered with a Fox .35. I also had one of those Cox plastic models, a yellow and blue Tri-Pacer. I don't ever remember ever getting it to fly. For me like a lot of you this was the beginning of a life long love affair with airplanes and aviation. I moved on to private pilot, degreed in Aerospace engineering; Navy pilot; corporate pilot; and now, R-E-T-I-R-E-D!, and a Stinson pilot for the past 25 years. Yes, my wife knows it; I have a one track mind!

[proplock]

When I was a kid there were a lot of flying model planes and some were a lot of fun.There were a few soaring gliders, a few free flight models, but most were line control or U contrtol where the pilot stands in the mddle of the area and the plane which is on the end of a fine line flys a circle around the pilot , perhaps 100 ft radius. The line is connected to a U shaped device so that as pilot tilits it up you get up elevator and tilt down for the opposite. Some of these are pretty sensitive especially the fast ones, and they can make you really dizzy quickly. They sound like a real airplane, not an electric one.
I have 2 brand new planes fully assembled, still in the original boxes, never opened, just a little dusty, and I am not sure where is a good home for them. They have some sentimental value to me, I dont want to see them just wrecked, They are COX .049, one is a Spitfire and one a P-51, I think the Red Baron maybe. Im told they are fast , espcially the 51 and therefore need an expert pilot. I have flown a little line control with a basic traineer , but a long time ago and I m not up to these though it woud be fun.
Any offers to buy or otherwise good suggestions? Does EAA still fly the model behind the museum at Pioneer Airport during EAA? These are probably too fast for kids, but might be fun for demos?

Show up at EAA, bring your stuff, I'm sure someone will answer your questions. Control line is alive and well at EAA, working with the kids.

[dclaxon]

The best place for a Cox RTF .049 powered, molded plastic airplane models is in the original box on a collector's display shelf. Not something that you'd want to fly.
I just recently found a Cox .049 powered P-40 on the top shelf of a closet I was cleaning out that I had forgotten was there. I barely remember buying it at a local discount department store that was going out of business, probably sometime in the early '80s. I know I have never started the engine and flown it, and I can't remember if I've even opened the box and taken it out.
Dave

[dclaxon]

It was amazing what you could make fly with a Cox 049, as long as it was light enough.

Ron Wanttaja

Back in high school, (in the 60's) I had a Cox .049 powered Ford GT40 control line model. As I recall, it didn't fly very well,but it did get airborne pretty quick on its first "taxi."
Dave

[Stearmanbob]

Ah, well done! Yes, it was a 1930 Fleet model 1 - Extra points if you can name the engine and prop that was used to modify the Fleet.


HT & V

Probably a Continual 0-300 or 125 hp with an aeromatic prop would be my guess.

[Bill Greenwood]

I never had any starting problems with the Cox .049 engines, back when I used to fly them . They are so simple and reliable. You need fuel, just make sure iti is fresh and hasn't been siting around open, if I recall the fuel is nitromethane with and oli base, ,maybe castor oil, the nitro is the flammable part and can evaporate out if left open. The you just need a fresh battery and a working glow plug, its that simple. You fuel up the little tank and open the needle valve 3 turns, and squirt a few drops of fuel in the exhaust port with your rubber bulb and crank. You should be able to hear the fuel sizziling on the glow plug, but if not and no start, use the little wrench to remove the glow plug and when you connect the leads from the battery you can see the glow plug light up and get hot, or if not replace it with a fresh one. If it fires and dies, open the needle valve another half turn to 3 and 1/2. Wish big airplane engines were this cheap and easy. And wash your hands after , the nitro is bad for skin. And that little mass produced simple engine will turn 18,000 rpm. I had a few larger engines like FOX but found them harder to start.
And for cranking with you hand be carful, that little 049 will pop your finger hard enough to bleed, but a big FOX .35 might take a finger off, the safest way is to use a starting stick or electric starter.

[Dana]

I never had much trouble starting them, either, if they don't start you're either doing something wrong, usually flooding it, too much fuel, or it's a bad glow plug.

Glow fuel is mainly methanol (methyl alcohol) with around 20% castor oil and 0-30% nitromethane. The smaller engines need more nitro, I thin Cox fuel was around 10% and the "Cox Racing Fuel" somewhat more.

[high time cub]

Probably a Continual 0-300 or 125 hp with an aeromatic prop would be my guess.

Thanks for playing Pop Quiz!

N63J (nee NC 636M) was modified with a 190 hp Lycoming O-435-1. The prop - a Hartzell Hydro-Selective 12X20.

Best,

HT & V