How do you fly a control line plane

I want to get a kit but idk how to build a kit. I have learning difficulties so

I think control line might be out of my list.

Have you any experience with model engines? Be careful with all model engines, the propeller spins at thousands rpm, glowhead become hot, exhaust gases are hot. Do not close your body to an engine propeller while running. Nitro fuel is poisonous, read the label on fuel bottle. Your hobby is not important more than your health.

wingchicken wrote:I think control line might be out of my list.

Then you need to buy a RC Cox airplane. Search the ebay.

Dad probably won’t let me get one he’s gonna say it’s too old and it won’t fly... fml

No I don’t have experience with engines

You can build Cox Q-Tee from balsa, plans are available:

Cox Q-Tee plan:

https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=1350

"Q-Tee. Radio control sport model. Parasol sports trainer. Kitted later by Airtronics. Wingspan 36 in, area 250 sq in, for 2 channel RC and .049 power.

The Q-Tee was designed for a lower power .049 motor like the Cox Golden Bee.

Note the article for this plan is very long and detailed. 15 pages, in total.

Designing a good trainer is a difficult task, more difficult in our judgement than the design of a good flying Scale or Pattern aircraft. It is not easy for an experienced flier to recapture the lack of knowledge and shaky knees that preceeded his first efforts. To analyze the problems facing the novice; to develop solutions to these problems; then to verify the solutions by a rigorous testing program, demands the highest level of design ability and insight. Rarely does a talented designer take a clean sheet of paper and create a truly unique model aircraft specifically tailored for the R/C Novice.



There are many excellent trainers available today. Most of these are for .19 to .60 sized engines, and many require 3 or 4 channel radio equipment. This type of model will handle heavy wind better than a smaller airplane and they are very popular today. They do, however, offer significant drawbacks to the prospective R/C pilot. The most obvious one is the initial investment in materials, engines and accessories and radio equipment. Not so obvious, is the additional skill level required to build many of these models, particularly those which require sheeted and cap stripped wings, carving and shaping blocks and other construction techniques the experienced builder takes for granted. Most important is the fact that the more popular trainers require the assistance of a skilled flier to trim out the aircraft and provide flight instruction. This is great if such assistance is available, but what about the guy who lives in the boon docks and has to get it all together by himself?

The Q-Tee, designed by good friend Lee Renaud, offers an alternative method of starting in RC. This is a unique approach by an outstanding model designer and uses a carefully thought-out systems engineering concept. By using a low cost, easy starting engine which is available in every hobby shop and most work benches around the country as the basis for the Q-Tee, he has achieved a minimum cost way for the novice to try RC flying. So simple that it's obviously a breakthrough in attracting newcomers to our hobby - yet no one else has approached the problem in this unique manner."

wingchicken wrote:I think control line might be out of my list.

Following a 35 years of recess after I flew CL in the mid 1970-s I restarted the hobby with a low cost foam electric RC plane 10 years ago, that helped me learn RC flight basics. Here I am at age 62 and fly all kind of COX powered and larger RC birds. I am no pro at all and have nobody near me-except CEF friends - to learn from but once you recognize its taste you turn a self learning modeller.

I am sure you will learn it much faster than I did, you guys in your teens suck in knowledge that intrigues you like sponge...and I see you are intrigued..carry on with your interest and determination and your dad will be very proud of you and support you.

I’ll never be good building a kit

I never built a balsa kit ever. I don’t know anything about balsa

I wanna get a cox free flight heli, but my dad would be like, no it’s too old to fly.

wingchicken wrote:I wanna get a cox free flight heli, but my dad would be like, no it’s too old to fly.

You will find a bunch of YouTube videos on COX powered CL and RC birds to show him these things -even though probably older than your dad - still fly like hell

He wouldn’t listen.. I don’t really have a good relation with dad. There goes my hobby

Stay tuned and learn here until you are over age and can cater for your hobby without parental help and approval.

Idk

I wanna learn about This stuff, can someone teach me about this?

Lost interest in my hobbies

Learning control line by yourself can be challenging. You have to understand that you will crash. It's not a matter of you might get lucky, your going to crash. When you crash, you can't be impatient and throw a fit. Therefore, your models need to represent your flying ability. I see it was suggested to build the Skyray kit by Sig. There's less than 10 pieces of wood in that kit. I'm quite certain that you can operate a computer, your more than capable of gluing 10 pieces of wood together. You learn by making mistakes. Someone telling you what to do isn't learning. I have built so many planes in the past 45 years that I can't even remember half of them. What I do know is that each one is a learning process which you take to the next build .


Well I second that and it would be a great learning experience. I was building much larger profiles at 10 yrs of age. Read the instructions and when done, read them again. You learn to glue, assemble and fabricate through the entire process. Don't pretty up the plane, paint it clear and go fly it. There's a lot more to building them. Learning your engine is key. How it starts, what to do when it doesn't start. How to set the needle valve for a flight. I see many doing this incorrectly all the time.

The first step is understanding what you will need. Engine, plane, lines, handle, fuel, battery, glow plug clip, glove, props, glue, etc. Sig Skyray = $20, qt of fuel is going to run another $20 when factoring in shipping. If you don't have a engine, this is going to be the biggest expense. Many in the control line side of the hobby can be very generous. I don't want to see this side of the hobby disappear. I generally help out anyone who I feel can use it. If I have spare equipment, I pass it on. What I'm getting at is that even the simplest $20 plane can easily exceed the $100 mark when factoring in the needed support stuff required.

I don’t have Big $$$ to do all of this.

And if I crash I feel like I’ll wasted all of that time for nothing.

Wow I didn’t even introduce myself in the forums. What a way to start.