Sagan handle

Mark Boesen wrote:No, but it looks like a well made handle, that style of adjustment have been very popular for a long time, should do well for you!

Thanks Mark. I have some lighter gage fine-stranded cable that I may swap-in for 1/2A flying.. particularly the CEF Speed Contest. I almost bought a new handle last week.. now I'm glad I didn't!

The adjustments and spacing are like my RSM handles (and others) only difference of note is the allen wrench instead of wing nut

Hey, Mark, I think one of those is in my flight box now. It's one of the only ones I can get all four of my fat arthritic knuckles in without being cramped.

I also have an unfinished Tom Morris handle with adjustable sliders for the line width that I'm going to press into action for one of my planes. I wish its leadouts were shorter, like only 3" long.



After I sand it, what do you recommend for coating it so it looks nice and resists penetration by our favorite chemicals?
Rusty

Rusty, you could shorten the cables so there's not so much overhang. Ken

Rustoleum seems to work fine, actually I used the cheaper version called 'Painters Choice'.

I try to keep a can of clear gloss around the house at all times.

Yep, thats the handle on the left.

Thanks guys, I'm trying lots of handles. The right fit is hard to find and seems to make a big difference for my fat arthritic fingers and restricted range of motion in my wrist, shoulders, and neck.

And I will shorten my Tom Morris handle. I think I found the right size copper tube in my junk drawer today. I did shorten them on My yellow Sullivan handle, and the plane was much more well behaved after that. I don't like the way long handle leads affect control, for me anyway. Especially overhead if the lines go slack for a moment. I like leads as short as possible, about 1" to 3" in length, 3" is the max.
Rusty

Mark Boesen wrote:The adjustments and spacing are like my RSM handles (and others) only difference of note is the allen wrench instead of wing nut

Hey Mark, I made some mods to my "Sagan" handle for the speed contest. The handle originally had only two spacing options; 2-1/8" and 4". Since I had previously made several (about a dozen) small aluminum bell-cranks with a 1-1/8" spacing, I figured it would be worth drilling a set of holes for them, as this was the bell-crank I was to use in the speed model. I also drilled a set at 3".. to cover all the bases for larger models.

I didn't like the adjustment method of needing an allen wrench.. (one more thing to loose at the field) to tighten the 6-32 button-head screw that secures the cable hold-down plate to the 6-32 tapped frame.. so I got a longer screw and installed it from the "outside" with enough thread-length for a 6-32 wing-nut and lock washer on the inside. The frame is deep enough so that the wing-nut clears my knuckles when holding the handle. Reversing the wing-nut to the outside would still require the allen wrench to tighten, as well as drilling the 6-32 threads out of the frame.

I made sure to chamfer and smooth ALL the holes with some emery-cloth, to prevent the cable from fraying. Changing cables is just a matter of threading them through the desired hole-sets which are drilled-out to .173"

Before..



and after..



matching my speed model's spacing..

I am looking for a set of ready made control lines & handle for engine size 15-40 . I saw some on line but can't remember where!

Thanks RK Flyer