Jim Walker U-Reely

No one?

C'mon one of you fine seasoned fellers must have cut their teeth on one of these contraptions.

Ron

There was a major problem with the U-reely. We called them the UN-Reely because that's what happened when you were flying. The lines would unreel. They were big bulky cumbersome handles. They would also get all tangled up inside if you weren't careful. Ken

Yeah...there should be instructions somewhere...just be careful if you try to use it. I'm stretching back pretty far, but I remember a guy showing up with one and talking Wayne into having us test fly it on his Shoestring or Buster.

He loved "showing us how it was done"...unreeling the lines out beside the lines we were using. Being a kid, I naturally thought anything with extra gadgets just HAD to be better, but I remember the handle being so heavy that it killed the "Feel" of the plane on the lines. It may have also been the extended length from my wrist to the lines...not sure, but luckily, we didn't use the handle again.

Years later, I smacked a 1/2A combat wing while flying the Cox version of that handle when I managed to hook one of the lines around the reel knob. I quickly went "back-to-basic" with my handles !!!

Big and cumbersome, that's what they looked like to me too. I don't have any, but I wondered how they work.

I will say the U-Reely was quite innovative. Well built, good quality materials, just needed a bit of rework. It could be done as my flying friend Dan has done with one of his. It needed a pin to prevent the reel from unreeling. A neat little piece of nostalgia. Handle technology has really progressed. A good quality handle today will certainly last a long time. Even the old Hot Rock is still one of my favorites. Seeing that these are nearing 40 years and better, they need to be looked at as well as I've seen failure with the Hot Rock as alsol. Ken

Thanks for the info Ken, now I want to know what a "hot rock" is......

I think Rolla was wanting to know how to physically set up a U-reely, has anyone here rigged one up?

I have a couple Hot Rock handles. They work nicely. I was wanting to try out the U-Reely on the kit I am ordering. It would make things a little quicker. This plane will have landing gear so I can fly on my own.

Rolla

Be watchful for wear on the Hot Rocks...mine has a LOT of the plastic surrounding the lines worn. Easy to fix.

I have an old U-Reely. It had lines on it when I got it used. I tried running out the lines while flying ONCE. It became less fun when I reached the end of the lines because the down line was shorter than the up line.

It has a pin for locking the reels when you reach the desired length. Mine did not have problems with "slippage" because I was flying .15 size at the time.

All in all it was way bulky and did not provide a good "feel" like plain handles. I have not flown with it since the mid fifties (year, not age ).

George

Ron, as George stated, the Hot Rock doesn't always come without failure as well. Ez-Just was a company that provided control line with a sensational handle in the 60's the "Hot Rock" . These were produced up into the late sixties early 70's until a law suit put them out of business. Brodak sells a handle Reyco which is a wood copy of the Hot Rock with the 3.94" handle spacing. Great handles to sport fly with. The problem with the Hot Rock as George mentioned is the way the handle goes through the friction hole. It wears out there. The cable can jam itself in between the two halves. Ken

In it's day I considered "U-reelies" as clunky and inconvenienet for the reasons mentioned above. I still do for practical purposes in fact.

There Ron, an opinion for one of the "seasoned" within the ranks. I've been flying U-control since the middle of the past century.

cribbs74 wrote:Thanks for the info Ken, now I want to know what a "hot rock" is......

I think Rolla was wanting to know how to physically set up a U-reely, has anyone here rigged one up?

The "Hot Rock" is basically the little brother to the original "E-Z-JUST" handle. Mine is a fairly hard-flown example that's still hanging in there.

What's the line spacing? Is it 1/2A compatible?

Ron

Edit: 3.94" is that correct?

Well I was curious too so had to take a look. It’s just each line poked thru a hole in the reel with a solder blob on the end. Early U-Reelys were made of wood and WERE big and clunky. The plastic ones were smaller and lighter but the criticisms are still valid.
Mine not only does NOT have the later pin safety lock, but much worse had a thumbscrew to actually hold the brake OFF. For the life of I can’t imagine why. I did take off with the brake screw turned down once and it was a disaster. The handle jerked violently as the lines played out and plane was out of control. Took a few seconds to figure out what was going on, (you are focused on the plane, not the stupid handle). Similar to having the lines reversed or in R/C having the ailerons reversed. Few people can react fast enough to make a save. The brake screw in the photo is not original, (that one was thrown as far as I could throw it).
There is no individual line length adjustment other than cutting a few inches off the ends and reinstalling the swivels. They did come with plenty of line, 90 feet comes to mind.
Al

Good explaination Al. I guess in the end they just look cool, but looks can be deceiving!

Ron

Yikes, in retrospect U-Reely's look even worse than I remember them!

Of course if "clunky" is your thing GO FOR IT!

cribbs74 wrote:What's the line spacing? Is it 1/2A compatible?

Ron

Edit: 3.94" is that correct?

Hey Ron, I missed this post...if it's about the E-Z-Just Handles the Standard has a line separation of 5 inches, with the "Hot Rock" at 4 inches.

Thanks Kim,

I heard 2" or so of spacing was the accepted distance for 1/2A line spacing. Still would like one of those handles though. For no other reason than the name "Hot Rock" it just sounds cool and as such must immediately make you a better flier.

Ron

"must immediately make you a better flier." - Ron

Ron:

It taketh more than a handle to a flier make.

cribbs74 wrote:Thanks Kim,

I heard 2" or so of spacing was the accepted distance for 1/2A line spacing. Still would like one of those handles though. For no other reason than the name "Hot Rock" it just sounds cool and as such must immediately make you a better flier.

Ron

I don't know if the geometry would change things for the worse, but it would seem that you could make the changes at the airplane end, with adjustments to the bellcrank or elevator horn taking out some of the extra throw.

I always liked the name too, but thought it was a bit strange, because the smaller handle had considerably tamer line spacing !