Getting That First Flight In

My brother in law has had a McCoy 35 Lightning Bolt mounted on a Voodoo (with landing gear?!) for decades, and he gave it to me last weekend, while I was vacationing in Va. Also a Babe Bee (on a profile P-51). Both models were essentially junk (even to me), but I took the motors off, and packed them as carry on for the return flight to Mi.

You guessed it; the lady X-Raying my bag caught the Redhead, so she opened my suitcase, and asked me what in the world that (Redhead) thing was...It still had the ancient TF nylon prop on it, and that maybe caught her attention, too

A male checkin guy said: Don't worry, that is a model airplane engine; is that an .020? So he got me off the hook.

But here is the kicker, and how many times have you heard this from the lay public, folks not in the hobby at all? This is what he said, after all was straightened out...

"I had a control line plane, and I flew it just once. It went a half a lap, flew over my head, and crashed. That was it".

If only we could get them past that first flight, then maybe they would stick it out. This is where Electric CL might help. Or better flying, more crash resistant ARF 049s.

Note that at least he got the motor (presumably a Cox reed) running!

>If only we could get them past that first flight, then maybe
>they would stick it out. This is where Electric CL might
>help. Or better flying, more crash resistant ARF 049s.
>
>Note that at least he got the motor (presumably a Cox reed)
>running!
>
>Currell

How about a small (1/2A sized) non-powered model on 10-15 foot lines and teaching them to whip it. Keeps the cost/technical knowlege and overall speed down to a managable level. I say this because at one time I had a Cox Electric Spitfire. I think it had about 15ft lines on it. After the onboard battery died I would take it out and whip it around. Not much good for anything but level flight but I think it probably helped my control of a powered model later on? Just a thought that could lead to discussion.