First Flight in 30 years!

I took control of a Ukie handle today for the first time in 30+ years. I flew 1/2A control line for fun when I was a kid. We flew the usual PT19's, Lil' Satan, Swordsman 18 etc, but never anything 'big.' Todays flights were made with a Brodak Oriental ARF with an OS LA40. With the balance set at 1 3/4" behind the LE, my experienced flying buddy Larry Oakley flew the initial test hop. He declared the controls stiff, the plane nose heavy, and OK for me to take a test hop or two.

The first flight was just level flight with some mild climb and dive maneuvers thrown in. Even I could tell the plane's controls were sluggish. I did one more flight similar to the first. I managed to stay on both feet, even though the second flight I got just a little dizzy.

We added an additional 1/4 ounce to the tail for Larry's second flight and the plane seemed to like the extra tail weight. Larry did some big inside and outside maneuvers and flew inverted for a number of laps, proving the fuel system worked correctly both upright and inverted.

Once 'cleared' for my final flight of the day, Larry posed the 'are you ready for some aerobatic flight' question. I asked him if the stiff controls would be a stumbling block and he said "no, just make the maneuvers big and finish high." My first loop was awful, but the remaining got better and better. Wing-overs will need some work. It was tough getting consistent height laps as the controls were sluggish, and this of course made finishing maneuvers at a consistant height difficult.

We flew today without the cowl so I'll have that on for the next session. I'll spend tomorrow putting pin hinges on the flaps and elevator after I cut out the RC type hinges that came with the kit. That is one thing that John needs to correct on the Oriental ARF and other kits. Those hinges work fine on an RC plane, but not on control line.

More than anything, it's good to be back. gv

Welcome Back This is a Great hobby!

Atta Boy!

Feels good, doesn't it?

Great to have you back. Practically all of us are retreads in one way or another. I have a 12 year old and am enjoying seeing him take a keen interest in modeling. He's already doing wingovers and looping - he'll be doing inverted pretty soon.

Thanks for the comments guys. Surprisingly enough, my 27 year old daughter is interested in flying! She went to the Tulsa contest with me and seemed quite interested.

I'll let you know how it works out. gv

George,

CL is kind of like a bicycle.

Once you learn it, you never forget it...

What you DO forget is how much work it is and how wobbly you can feel...

GREAT! Welcome back, and bring the "kids!"

Flying CL is like sex or swimming - once you know how, you never really forget.. although you might almost drown when you first start again.

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"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it." -Abraham Lincoln

Well I didn't drown, but I liked the analogy.

I am puzzled about one thing though:

I'm flying a Brodak Oriental ARF and it flew OK for the first flying session. I had questions about the stiffness of the CA hinges used. Now I'm fully aware of their use as I fly RC also, but I knew a CL plane should have free-er moveable surfaces.

Anyway, I spent last night and today changing the hinges to pin style and now everything works like it should. While I was in this down-time period, I cut the cowl to fit and bought a spinner. The maiden flights were made sans cowl, to make sure the engine wasn't going to give me problems. It's a reworked LA 40 and other than leaning out during the last 10 laps, instead of the last 5, it's a great engine.

The puzzling thing is this; to achieve balance initially I had to put an ounce in the tail. After the third flight we added another 1/4 ounce. Now, with the spinner and cowl adding another ounce to the nose, plus the fact that we needed another 1/4 ounce in the tail, that leaves me adding 2 ounces to the tail.

Isn't that a bunch of weight to have to add to the tail??? gv

I've heard that some of the new CL ARFs are extremely lightweight. This biases weight toward the nose. By contrast, overly heavy ships often tend toward tail heavy. Heavy finish, in particular, biases weight toward the tail.

Better to have to add tail weight any day!

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"No opera plot can be sensible, for in sensible situations people do not sing." -W. H. Auden

George,
You have been welcomed back by your countrymen, now may I do the same from "down under" in Australia.
This fraternity is 360 degrees!
Tim

>
>The puzzling thing is this; to achieve balance initially I
>had to put an ounce in the tail. After the third flight we
>added another 1/4 ounce. Now, with the spinner and cowl
>adding another ounce to the nose, plus the fact that we
>needed another 1/4 ounce in the tail, that leaves me adding
>2 ounces to the tail.
>
>Isn't that a bunch of weight to have to add to the tail???
>gv

Remember that the Oriental was designed around an unmuffled Fox 35. An OS LA 40 w/muffler is considerably heavier. So yes, it takes more tailweight to get the CG back in spec.

My Oriental with a Max-S 35 took almost an ounce of tail weight to balance up properly. Although the Max-S 35 is lighter than the LA 40, it is still heavier than the Fox 35.

V/r

LAST EDITED ON Oct-01-04 AT 07:27 AM (CDT)
 
Hi George,

I had this experience about 6 years ago, it was great. Welcome back to the "den of insanity", as my wife likes to call it.

Welcome back....
I recently did the same thing....
I kept 2 of my old planes and flew for the first time in 18 years or so.....
I told myself I would just fly round and round....
Didn't happen... I did a couple of loops, couple of 8's... lots of wingovers.... for some reason I love wingovers.. into upright..into inverted... I have flown 5 minutes doing only wingovers...

Well, OK, I'll 'fess up: I had my first flight in 30 years about a week ago. I attended the Tulsa Glue Dobbers meet on a lark, met some old friends (I'd been amember as a kid) and was invited back. Joe Gilbert had a Ringmaster with a Fox 35 he uses for training purposes. Flew it once with me and let me go. What a HOOT! I'd fogottne how fun it is. And, I didn'y suck up any dirt into it, either. As mentioned by another poster, I intended to just do laps, some climbs and dives. But I couldn;t resist it and soon was doing lazy 8s by the dozen. It felt so good, I did some inverted laps. Yep, it's just like falling off of a bicycle: once done, never forgotten.

Now, I own a 1946 Cessna 140 and have a bit over 1000 h total time in light aircraft (just enough to figure out that I'm making a familiar mistake), but nothing, *NOTHING* teaches the foundation principles of flight better than a control line model. The tactile feedback is simply wonderful. I've never flown RC, but dabbled a bit with FF gliders.

I have two kids (4 and 6) who are just a wee bit young to take the handle, yet. But, I'm getting them introduced. I'm resurrecting an old SIG Banshee, and am nearly done. Re-activated my AMA membership and even got my old number back. Joined PAMPA and rejoined the Glue Dobbers, even though I don't live in Tulsa.

I'm curious: is CL enjoying some kind of resurgence? Or is it jsut a bunch of old buzzards revisiting fun stuff from a simpler time?

Kim Elmore

>The puzzling thing is this; to achieve balance initially I
>had to put an ounce in the tail. After the third flight we
>added another 1/4 ounce. Now, with the spinner and cowl
>adding another ounce to the nose, plus the fact that we
>needed another 1/4 ounce in the tail, that leaves me adding
>2 ounces to the tail.
>
>Isn't that a bunch of weight to have to add to the tail???
>gv
The Oriental has a fairly long nose. It was probably powered originally by an un-muffled Fox or something of similar weight. The Muffled LA40 is much heavier, so tail weight is required.
Pat MacKenzie

With people like Larry Oakley and Joe Gilbert helping you, you should be winning contests in a few weeks. Both of these guys know what they are doing with a handle in their hand. Super nice guys too. Good luck with your flying.

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I'm curious: is CL enjoying some kind of resurgence? Or is it jsut a bunch of old buzzards revisiting fun stuff from a simpler time?

Kim Elmore

Does seem to be an awful lot of us old buzzards regressing to 10 again. Kind of fun though isn't it.
Dennis

This is DOC Holliday, Joe is quite a guy as well as Oakley. The resurgance to control line might be the same as what I am going thru. I used to fly radio maybe once or twice a year. But, since the accident at the radio field that I did not know about at the time, I am not allowed to fly unless I join the radio control club and then have to get a permit from the park. Right now I have full access to the one and only control line circle in the Shawnee - Lenexa area. Have had several guys stop and talk to me about where to get kits and engines. I just wish my circle was as nice as the Tulsa field. But, keep flying as I want to see you winning the intermediate class next year. I am going to try my best to beat Joe in advanced. Later, DOC