Hinton Handle

Several years ago I visited Cleveland and saw a handle that Will Hinton had created that seemed to me to have a whole bunch of qualities that made it pretty nifty. Will explained that he really didn't like making them, and that he wasn't in the handle business.

Surfing to a "speed" site recently I was quite happy to learn that Bill Lee had taken over the production of the handle! I had Rich Giacobone order one up, as I was fearful that the bar would smack my knuckles. The piece came, and it is too big for Rich, but fits me just fine, so I bought it from him! I think that I am going to be happy with this piece, and wonder if anyone has tried one, and, if so, have they had a problem?

http://wrlee.com/

Thanks a bunch!

My only question would be overhang and weight. Too much of either can be bad.

Len:
For a piece that fits the span of my hand, it seems light enough.... I'll weigh some tomorrow.

The overhang can slow controls down, though not to the extent that narrowing the line spacing does. What seems nifty is that, as the spacing is narrowed, the overhang increases. I prefer a Windy handle, but have a tough time getting the spacing small enough that I'm not overcontroling all of the time.

Thanks

LAST EDITED ON Feb-06-02 AT 06:26 PM (CST)

(Edit 2/6 -- I didn't make it perfectly clear that Lee / McCollum bought the manufacturing rights to the Hinton Handle, and this is the only Hinton handle available today, to my knowledge)

John McCollum (who builds most of the stuff Bill Lee sells) made me a handle, and I wouldn't fly with anything else. Leonard doesn't like the idea (there is an old thread on this)of not having independant overhang / spacing adjustments. The McCollum is cute in that as the spacing decreases, the overhang increases, which is quite logical if you think about it in terms of "feel".
John is a super craftsman, and if you buy one of the "Bill Lee" handles, you will not be disappointed.

I have three of them. I still prefer my own version of the old Easy Just Hot Rock. No bells and whistles, just up/down neutral adjustment. Short overhang and a comfortable feel to the hand.
Bigiron

Increasing the overhang as you decrease spacing is not logical when you try it. (Don't think, try it.) You want to increase or decrease spacing to get the proper control response that is needed. Too wide, things move too fast and the plane gets jumpy. Too narrow and you don't have enough response, or have to move the hand too far to get the proper control.

But too much overhang adds a self-neutralizing element that you don't want. It was Windy who pointed out to us once that we had too much overhang on our handle. It was a home made handle with a fixed amount of overhang. When I cut that down, it improved Matt's flying a bunch. He now makes very small incremental spacing adjustments throughout the year as his flexibility changes or he makes trim changes, but he would never want to go back to an increase in overhang along with those changes.

I would suggest as small of an overhang as possible. For those who have adjustable overhang built into the handle, get that bar down to the knuckles. The control response will be much improved.

I like Ted Fancher's design. I still think Ted ought to set up a shop in that upper lounge area of the 747 and make handles while he is on one of those long Asian runs. Use the time, productively, Ted. That's what auto pilots are for.

I like Windy's handle, also, and it works for him since he sets up his control response on his plane to match the handle. But there is a minimal amount of adjustment on his handles, and it is fixed, unless you want to cut the cables. I am also not a cable fan, but most adjustable handles use some form of that design. the handle we use has an adjustable bar (for width) without the cable. The simplest, lightest, best design of the adjustables I have seen is Ted's. No cables, no extra weight, yet fully adjustable in the areas needed. I had toyed with making a slider variant, but what he has does work (and the slider would be heavier and probably increase the overhang slightly.

Does anyone have a picture or a link to show Ted's handle?
Derk Moran

I've got a sketch that Ted drew up for me, but I don't have my new scanner attached to my new computer yet. Otherwise I could scan it and send it to you by e-mail.

(Now if Ted would just build these things for us...)

Leonard, If you'll snail mail a copy, I'd be happy to scan it and e-mail the file to you. I am very interested to see how Ted has solved this design problem.
Derek Moran

If we don't watch out, Ted is going to lose his patent rights. And then he won't be able to make these things while flying his 747.

Gang --

At the Nats this year, I made it a point to get video of Ted's handle and him holding it, and maybe even discussing it a little. My video batteries were marginal at the time (run back to the car and charge), but I also have most parts of all of the top 5 flights with some gaps between maneuvers, and other trivia. Also, some B-17 flying and close-up footage, and some others who didn't make the top five cut. Can't remember what all is on there.

Anyone who wants to pull out the snippet on Ted's handle is welcome to the tape with postage and tape compensation. That is, if you have software that will pull a frame from a VCR tape (fairly common, but I don't have it), you can be a hero to the crowd.

This is not a professional quality video! My Big Strong Handsome wife and I were on vacation.

I will probably edit out my flying! Think I crashed once on outside loops cutting it a little too tight.