Half-A experiences at CL Clubs

Your not alone with this. It's very common to find a lack of interest or participation with 1/2A. Mainly do to the idiosyncrasies associated with 1/2A engines. Most control line flyers cut their teeth on 1/2A's but realistically the best plane to learn on is a larger .35 sized profile. Most members don't want to be bothered with trying to get a 1/2A to start. The larger engines start easier. I on the other hand like yourself have always enjoyed the love of 1/2A's regardless of what they are. I go through this with my club but when they see my 1/2A's flying the way they do, they're just blown away and it attracts quite a crowd. It took a lot of asking but we finally had 3 1/2A days.

While I'm the kingpin of the club in regards to smaller engines, I've never been able to pick the date to do this so I gave up on it. They had it in the dead cold one year and if 1/2A isn't frustrating enough at times, try it in the cold. However, my persistence paid off a few years back when I feel as though I had finally broke the ice and Brodak had a 1/2A stunt event. I was asked many many questions about the event in regards to the rules and those in charge including myself put together the rules during a weekend of flying. Unfortunately, my job didn't allow me to attend Brodak's for the event. Many of my flying friends did. Sadly, the weather and flight gods didn't cooperate and the winds were unflyable for the later half of the contest.


It too bothered me when those would shrug at 1/2A's. I think you need to ignore them and just do it. If it's therapeutic for you as it is for me, by all means just do it. When you show them it works, it tends to attract those with interests.

Yeah,

I experience the same however, I have never been told I can’t fly. Like Ken said just do it.

You could also build something bigger and take it and fly that too.

Yabby, quite the screen name. LOL. Sadly the Murray River is so low compared tae 40 years ago.

Yabby - tail with a head full of [bleep]. lol haha

Bahahahaha! ripper!

Ken Cook wrote: Most members don't want to be bothered with trying to get a 1/2A to start. The larger engines start easier.

That's fair enough that THEY don't want to fly it, what I fail to comprehend is why would they want to keep others from doing it?

In my case I always get great, positive response from clubmates when flying 1/2A. People tend not to pay too much attention to me with my tiny models, until I start the engine. Then, invariably someone in the vicinity shouts "hey, is that a COX?", and then when they see me again they're like "when are you taking your COXes out?".

I do not fly CL but as an RC flier with COX powered models wonder why people think COX engines are finicky to start? A well primed reedie or TD will start instantly, at least in my experience.

Exactly, the only time you can have a hard time trying to start a good, clean reedie is if you flood it. It is easier to flood a small engine than a big one, but you get a hang of in after a while.

Because they have little understanding of them and everyone wants instant gratification. A Cox glow plug requires a good battery. Well, I see people using ni-cads with a under rated wire adapter. So now you have a 1.2 volt battery with too much resistance. Then because of the typical cheap control line flyer they are and they're using fuel  that's years old. I can't tell you how many times I see that. Then what do you do when it doesn't start? You flood it out even further right? That's when no one realizes the plug is loose but here's the problem, they don't have wrenches to tighten it.  Couple that with the glow plug which came with the engine when they purchased it from 1970. And then I hear them say, " It still glows". This is why they struggle. While I have many members in my club who own Cox engines, NOT ONE OF them has spare parts. Then the starters come out and they grind them into submission. It's actually quite comical. I watched one of our members totally ruin 2 .051 TD's and a Conquest .15 in one weekend.

no exceptions muffler requirements?

Hea that suckies , are these two places you speak of close enough for them to hear you flying that Cox engine ? no club here behind the house ,down the road for R/C and across the road too also C/L of the Biggins can be done in her front yard LOL Fling with someone can bee fun ! If they hear ya they Will come .

Hi,

I am in a city and some inner city parkland areas have been setup for flying. they are ringed by heavy traffic so noise is not so much of an issue. Although I always fly with a muffler. Basically I reckon the smaller the impact I can have on anyone the better and I still enjoy myself. I fly a lot on school ovals on weekends, but I never fly the same one twice in a row. There are about six school ovals I fly at and I rotate between them, so as that no one feels like their area has been invaded! :-)

I definitely wont fly at the club that wont have half-A, I dont want to spend my time with them, I wouldnt enjoy it anyway, goodness knows what other extreme rules they might have, and I just want to have fun flying my Cox planes. Where I will fly is 3 parkland allocation fields away from them, so they will know Im there. I have sometime ago built myself my own version of a dominator and have a 2.5cc OS for it, but I really dont have the urge to fly it. I like my Cox engines and planes and all that comes with them. :-) When I was a teen I used to fly my 049 planes and had a 2.5cc Taipan gold head bearing glow engine, schnurle ported with the tuned exhaust pipe out the rear facing exhaust port. I used that engine for years to fly my home build versions of Dominators and Warlords to fly combat with all the other local teens in the 70s. Great times! :-) So, I could join and fly as I have a 2.5cc OS and a Dominator i have built, but I havent even taken the OS out of the box. Lol.

And anyway, I can fly at the other field 7 days a week, but the one allocated to the club can only be used on Saturdays. They better not come over to MY field on the other days!

Things and stuff happen in life. Its not a big deal, and Im past the days of fighting or proving things to people, but I was interested in other peoples experiences and thank you all for you considered replies and encouragement to continue flying. Be sure, it wont stop myself and my intellectually disabled son from flying!! He can hand launch my planes, do the lines for me, fuel the planes up, and he flies them once I have them up and flying as I hand the handle over to him. We have a great time together! He loves it as much as me And we will probably end up with some others seeing us and joining us over time, or like me, see a person flying a plane somewhere and going, you know I loved that, I should give it a go again, and maybe they will come out to where I fly, and with any luck, be someone who flys for the joy of all that goes with it, in all its forms, tech, science, physics, and the pseudo science we all make up HaHaHaHa. I am going to join the national modellers association as that provides me with insurance. I am not so worried about me being sued, but if someone somehow got hurt by my activity I would want them to be able to go to my insurance company to ensure they get looked after and that comes as part of the membership.

Bit of a long response, but I think it responded to everything everyone was kind enough to reply with. Oh, and I myself dont reckon they are harder to fly than bigger planes. Lol. Im not a very good pilot, but if you cant handle your plane coming back at you from the top of a wingover and either invert it or level it out with slack lines then your missing the fun of half-A

Yabby

Are ye near Albury?

No, Im at the end where the Drain empties into the ocean :-) thanks anyway!

Yabby

Adelaid.

I too wouldn't let it bother me. I like your attitude to just go out elsewhere and have fun with your son! At least that will be great memories with him.

When I joined my club about six or seven years ago, there were not many 1/2A flyers showing up regularly.  They weren't anti-1/2A, but most thought 1/2A planes were just too much trouble.  I'd say that the .25-and-up planes showed up at a rate of maybe five or six to one.  Over the years it has shifted, and I'd say it's about equal now.  Today, I was the only person with 1/2A planes, but usually it's about equal, or sometimes the small models outnumber the larger models.  I have several larger planes, too.  I kinda bought into the "larger flies better" mantra, and built larger trainers.  But I found that I leave them home usually lately.  I just like building small models more.

This is what I took to the field today.





The Smaller Flies Funner Mark

I know that things differ wildly over different areas, but with the state of the hobby the way it is, I'm STILL surprised that a club would turn away a new member because of the size of planes he flies.

I consider myself VERY lucky to be involved with the Breezy Hill Flyers, and their welcoming of the entire spectrum of Model Flying.

I really hope you're able to continue flying your great little planes!

Kim

would it be possible that it is not by the size But because of the noise ?? Most 1 \ 2a sound very loud
With residences nearby The neighborhood would rather not hear a giant bee swarm for my part I use a silencer on everything that I can adapt it Car truck plane boats rc control the engine wit silencer somtime The cox motor remains the most affordable the most fun regardless of the model they are small This is what makes them desirable Like trying to put 6 size .30 nitro plane in a car is impossible with a cox plane ok bring me some more plane To run = a little more fun

Hi,

there is no doubt I will continue to fly my Cox planes!! There is a great area in the parklands where anyone can fly and I will fly there and other places such as suburban sporting ovals when not in use. Its not a problem in that I cant fly, I was just a bit put out at the no little engines and planes bit. But I probably get to fly more often than those other dudes anyway. I always and always have flown with a muffler on my engines. I can see where they may be coming from tho given the experiences others have described, and the reputation they have for being hard to start. I think Ken described some of the reasons people might have a bad view of them, whilst he is a huge supporter of them, I think it was good that he described some of the issues people sometimes see from their perspective. My engines start very easily, reliably, and run great. I have plenty of spares on hand and have my own little engine mounting setup that makes swapping an engine on a plane a couple of minutes job, and I take a couple of really good ready to go engines with me, and if I have a problem I just quickly swap the engine over and im flying again.

Im much like Mark in that I like building smaller models. Building the models is not as big a part of the fun to me, but I know to others its a huge thing and I am amazed at their skills and ability to build planes that look and fly great. Big or small. I fly my planes right on the edge, so being able to build them quickly and cheaply matters to me. Lol. I smashed two planes to pieces yesterday, but man, did I have fun flying them!!!! :-)

Yabby

Yabby wrote:Hi,

have my own little engine mounting setup that makes swapping an engine on a plane a couple of minutes job, and I take a couple of really good ready to go engines with me, and if I have a problem I just quickly swap the engine over and im flying again.

Yabby

Yabby,
You tease us! Show us the goods!

Our control line club is accepting of anything. I think we are all just happy to someone that just flies control line still. Pretty much all the guys have been flying for 40+ years. The RC club I fly at has a few guys that are against anything control line and even more don't think very much of smaller motors. Even a .40 is considered small to them. I seldom fly Cox stuff there because of the muffler rule and the requirement of shutting off the motor in an emergency. Control line is exempt from the shutoff but not the muffler. Myself, I like a .15 overall for flying in the wind and not using much fuel. Still can go 100 mph and cheap thrills. Still like the .049s except when they chase me inside the circle.

My club is mostly RC, but anything that flies is acceptable. I had brought a Babe Bee that I had rebuilt to the field for some test runs and the other old fa*ts commented how nice it was to hear a COX engine running again. However, one of the younger members (40ish) said he had never heard a 1/2A engine run before and that it was certainly an irritating sound, then he packed up and left. Each to their own I suppose.