Control Line & Wind

I would second Kim's comments, on a first ever control line flight you have enough to think about without the wind! A C/L model powered by only an .049 won't handle any real amount of wind, the danger zone is on the upwind part of the circle, the wind will lift the outer wing and make the model roll in on you, when you gain experience you can counter this with swift backward steps, but for a beginner this is normally disaster time!

My advice would be leave the model indoors until you can get a calm day.

Wilf

If you must fly in the wind, add some extra weight to the outboard wingtip. The more powerful the engine is, the better she'll handle the crosswind. I don't know what those other planes you mentioned are. An unexpected gust of wind caught my Li'l Jumpin Bean at the top of a loop the other day and she was suddenly all on her own. Smacked the ground under full power and broke the nose off. All better now though. With a little 60 minute epoxy mixed with a good bit of sawdust and she's still airworthy.
Remember things happen Real fast with a 1/2A plane.

hmmm, there was a washer included in my pt-19 kit, to put on the opposite side of the wing,
but i think its just balance weight for the bellcrank and pushrod assembly.
also, it says to offset the rudder 1/4" to the right??? why???
also, i've got two very thin stell wires, which arent used to actuate the rudders (theres a thicker one for that).
i've heard of something called lead out wires (?), but the instruction tells me to triple tie the dacron line directly
to the bell crank...i'm confused

well you offset the rudder so the plane iss sort of turning right and that means that the lines are kept taught and that means you will always have control, Another way pf doing this id=s to change the thrust angle.

GermanBeez wrote:hmmm, there was a washer included in my pt-19 kit, to put on the opposite side of the wing,
but i think its just balance weight for the bellcrank and pushrod assembly.
also, it says to offset the rudder 1/4" to the right??? why???
also, i've got two very thin stell wires, which arent used to actuate the rudders (theres a thicker one for that).
i've heard of something called lead out wires (?), but the instruction tells me to triple tie the dacron line directly
to the bell crank...i'm confused

• Glue the washer under the outboard wingtip near the LE. All CL planes need that. It helps hold the wing down, especially in a breeze
  
  
• Like Nitro said the rudder offset helps keep the plane turning away from you to keep the lines tight. You should also use a washer on each inboard engine mounting screw to give it a slightly outboard thrust angle for the same reason.
  
  
• The leadouts can be wire or dacron. Sounds like they supplied you with steel. There should be some crimping tubes too. Just connect one to each side of the bellcrank and feed them through the two guide holes at the wingtip and make a loop and crimp it. They probably sent a couple of brass loops to make the end loop where you connect your control lines. That way you can unclip the handle when not in use. If you botch the wires, just use dacron control line, that works fine.

I use a fisherman's knot to tie the dacron. That's what I used on my Li'l Satan. It's tough stuff. I like braided 30lb Spyderwire fishing line for my control lines. It's teflon coated kevlar and a btch to tie. Use a Palomar Knot to tie your clips to the ends, it won't slip. Make sure you get clips without any protrusions that will snag eachother in flight. Browse the fishing gear and pick out something that looks strong enough. I'll take a picture of mine if you want me too.

Good luck and have fun. Make a build thread for us. That way we can see and answer questions.

Godsey3.0 wrote:Hello. I have never actually flown a control line but I have a Carl Goldberg Lil Wizard with a new Golden Bee and was wanting to fly it. I got it all ready and everything but this is the season here were it gets a little windy. Too windy for a sig seniorita but not a Eagle 2. Is it too windy for the Wizard?

10 MPH or below is probably safe, especially if it's steady, just don't try anything fancy. You may want to make it slightly nose heavy for your first flight. Hold it at the C/G point on the wingtips and it should nose over some, not all the way vertical though. And make sure your engine is running good, strong and steady. Warm it up good before you set it free.

And don't forget your camera!

Even tho Godsey3.0 only asked if we thought it was too windy for his Wizard, (no definitive yes or no), there is much good advice in the above posts.
The fact is that taut lines are required for control: slack lines result in no control (and usually a crash).
Flying in the wind greatly increases the slack line problem.
So when line slack occurs, due to a gust, etc., unless you can back up fast enough to pull the lines tight the plane must auto correct to regain control.
Right rudder offset, right engine thrust, outboard wing weight will all tend to cause the plane to bank away from the center and tighten the lines and thus regain control. Also a rearward location of the lead-out guides can be used to force an outward yaw.
Just some thoughts for members new to control line.
HTH Al
Edit: While I was typing this reply, I see that two very englighting posts preceded it. All excellent and sorry if my remarks are redundent. al

Godsey,
I also would suggest you wait until a day with little or no wind. You will encounter enough problems just learning to fly.
First: as you spin around with the plane you WILL get dizzy. This goes away as you fly more.
Next: If you have the option, fly over dirt/grass. It is much easier on the plane when (not if) you smack it in.
Take off: Have the plane positioned so the slight wind is at your back. This will allow the plane to accelerate and be up to flying speed by the time you reach up-wind.
Flying 1/2A planes requires hand launching if over grass. Have the launcher release the plane waist high, pointed slightly up and a little toward the outside of the circle. Do NOT have them toss it. Often this leads to slack lines. If the lines do go slack at launch, take a step back to maintain tension on the lines...do not jerk on the lines.
Some prefer to ground launch on a hard surface. In that case, if possible launch on a hard surface and walk to a position over grass while the model is flying. Some folks cut-up cardboard boxes to make a take-off area.

Have fun!

George

With my micro rc planes I bring a yoga mat or two to the park an use them as a runway.

I got it to fly today. It took us several tries to get it to stay up. We had to re-tune the engine. It would lean out when it flew and would either die or slow down enough so it wouldn't fly. When we did get it up it was a BLAST!!!! I didn't wreck it but when it ran out of fuel I landed in grass and it nosed over a bit. Flew way slower than I thought it would and with 26' of lines. I will fly it again tomorrow and record it. Thanks for all your help!



Jacob Godsey

Exactly how I felt when I flew my first CL plane 2 weeks ago I now hope to get my .010 powered one up.

It was a very satisfying feeling having the pressure on the handle. Even more when it completed a full turn.

Godsey3.0 wrote:It was a very satisfying feeling having the pressure on the handle. Even more when it completed a full turn.

I know it a feelin ov power at being connected to a planes as it flies.

How do I do a loop. I know I cannot with the lil Wizard. I checked by bringing it down as low as I could and seeing how quickly it could rise up and it took forever. When a loop is performed do you have to flip the handle or just leave the lines twisted?

Leave the lines twisted. With dacron you are safe up to 5 loops, so they say, and when you're experienced you can unwind it by doing outside loops. But it's not necessary. Just remember to unwind it before your next takeoff. They won't bind, you can't even feel they're twisted. When they get all oily they are better. I've put 8 or 10 twists in them and they still work fine. That Bee may cut off when you try an outside loop, so unless you do it on the first 3 laps don't try it.

Do not try to start low, that's a sure disaster for a plane that isn't made for aerobatics. While you're learning, start way up high holding the lines at 45 degrees or higher. Don't worry about the handle, just hold it like you do for climbs and dives. Don't try to follow the loop motion, just stand there holding full up and watch it go around. Check your elevator. If you have much more that 30 degrees from neutral to full up, it can stall and widen the loop or slow the climb. I keep mine to a maximum of 30 and the Li'l Satan has about 25 degrees.

I'm uploading a video(as I write this) of me doing some loops, one time in the video I do a triple loop, and if you can see my hand it doesn't do anything but hold the full up position and let the plane do its thing. Click it up to 720 dpi and full screen if your computer can.

The wizard should do it. It's easiest with a 6x3 prop so it's slow but powerful enough to pull itself around. It will probably need less room with the big prop too.
How did the level flying go? Wasn't this your first C/L experience? Please tell me you wrecked at least 4 times before you did full laps.

My vid should be online soon. Check my channel in the meantime(it's under my avatar). There are probably some vids where you can see my hand. Some of them are in HD. Unfortunately my Dad taught me to hold the handle backwards but it doesn't matter for this. I use wrist only for control. Never did use elbow.

I didnt wreck it when we got it going. I just kept it little above shoulder level. And yes it was my first cl flight

Godsey3.0 wrote:I didnt wreck it when we got it going. I just kept it little above shoulder level. And yes it was my first cl flight

Damn you, man. That's no fair.
Just kidding of course, good work. The Wizard is a great trainer. How long are your lines? Was the Bee pretty quick? You gotta tell us the whole story.

EDIT: The video is still uploading, but there are lots of good shots of my handle, 4:08 is a good one.

We had 26' of lines. To get it to fly on regular fuel we had to have it just under complete lean. We got sig cox fuel today and it was way faster. My dad flew his first time today too. He had actually caught weeds int the lines twice but luckily the lines snapped free. I plan on getting a skyray kit unless somone has a plane rhey are willing to sell.

I flew three times today and I just can't get the wizard to flip. I held it at 45 degrees and hauled up and it went over top me. I did this several times and just couldn't get it to flip.

But I still love to fly it!!!

Maybe it's just too long?

The lines? We only have 26'. The model says it can use 52' and most people suggest 35'.

Godsey3.0 wrote:The lines? We only have 26'. The model says it can use 52' and most people suggest 35'.

Perhaps making them longer would help?

Hi Jacob,

Congrats!!! I think ideally you should use 35' lines and get your Dad to pick-up some 12# Spyderwire fishing line, this will work a lot better as it won't stretch or have as much line drag, 12# is perfect for small 1/2a airplanes.

There's some very good points in the previous posts, and not to get too redundant, but to hammer home some basic rules of C/L stunt.

-CG, It should be level with index fingers balancing at GC point (usually thickest part of airfoil, or very slightly in front) not nose down or tail down.

-Make sure you have adequate throw on elevator, but no more then 30 degrees, move pushrod in on elevator horn to increase throw, you want bellcrank to be least sensitive and horn to be most sensitive.

-DO ALL MANEUVERS DOWNWIND.

-Line tension is best set-up by leadout lines (aft will rotate model out) tip weight to balance lines, slight engine offset and rudder offset, both appx. 3 degrees.

-If you have good line tension, start with large wingovers and once you feel confident just tighten up the maneuver.

-have fun!!!!