Stooge line wrapped around ankles

[John Fitzgerald]

 While flying my customized H9 PT-19 this evening, the stooge line began to wrap around my ankles.  Fortunately, only about a minute of fuel remained, and I landed safely, while barely able to turn.  The same thing happened to me many years ago, and I had to do lazy 8s until the fuel almost ran out, then landed and fell down.  I was more agile then.   Anyone else had this happen?   I try to throw the stooge (chalk line) reel away from me, but throwing left handed across my body during takeoff is hard.  I am about ready to quit the stooge, but that would mean less flying.   Any thoughts or ideas on avoiding a tangle?   Less than 30 seconds more and the plane would likely have been lost.  Thanks.

[Russell Shaffer]

I bend over and try to set the stooge reel down gently.  If I throw it or drop it with tension on the line it can bounce or jump and get over the flying lines.  I did this twice before I figured out that putting it down gently was the better idea.  I set a soccer cone down by my handle and stooge reel and back away from it to fly so I can stay away from the reel and my flight box. 

[Phil Krankowski]

Set the stooge up at the very outermost edge of the circle so you can step back from it.  Hopefully your circle is much larger than your lines.  If this is not an option then set up your stooge to run to one side or the other of the center, so your take off roll is not perfectly concentric inside the flight circle.  This way you walk "sideways" away from the reel and line.  Either case has you taking the first lap to get into the center of the circle where you belong. 

If you are using the white cotton line that came with the reel (which is probably dirty brown after the second time using it) switch it out to something more visible like pink braided mason's line from your local home improvement store.

Phil

[John Fitzgerald]

I changed out the line to bright colored nylon braid when I first bought the chalk reel.  My circle is only 75.5 feet clear radius.

[wwwarbird]

 Just a thought here, maybe attach a small weight to your end of the line so after the release you can give it a gentle toss to a safe distance away from you.

[Mike Keville]

Occasionally it's hard to believe some of the sh(tuff) we see here on this forum!

[Jim Kraft]

Yep, it happened to me once. I have my stooge line on a fairly large reel with a handle for winding up the 1/8" nylon cord that I use for the stooge line. After my little twist and shout bit with the line around my ankles, I now set my reel down off to the right a few feet from where I stand so that I have to reach over with my left hand to release the plane. I then move to the left and back to fly so that my stooge line is at least 6 or 8 feet away from the flying pad. Never had a problem since.

Yeah Mike; Truth is stranger than fiction. LOL

[Fred Cronenwett]

I set the end of the Stooge line outside of the inner circle and push the model towards the outer edge of the circle, then when I step in to the center of the circle during takeoff and landing I am away from the end of the stooge line.

This way I also avoid running over the stooge itself since I am flying scale where it is possible to come back around under power and run over the stooge itself during taxi and takeoff.

Fred

[Ron Cribbs]

I have done it. My plane landed, just not safe like yours.

[Tim Wescott]

What Phil said.  Being graced with a large circle, I take off about 10 feet out from the center.  However, if you take off about ten feet tailward (right if you fly "normal") then the plane will start out going more deeply into the circle than usual -- as long as you're at the center by the time you've done half a lap, you'll be OK, and a good long way from the stooge.

I always crouch down to take off anyway, so when I drop (not throw!) the stooge line, it doesn't have far to go.

[John McFayden]

I do like warbird suggested and use a small weight on the end of the stooge line which allows a gentle toss to take the line a safe distance out of the pilot circle.

[jim gilmore]

how about a simpler solution that requires no throwing at all
mount a piece of wood to an second plate of wood.that will rotate and is shaped like a boomerang. a simple lever you tie the end of the stooge line to. when ready to launch you just slide the lever with your foot. Mount or place it just outside the pilots circle so that you walk into the circle right after takeoff.

[pipemakermike]

Has anyone tried to apply the car remote locking technology to the release then all you would have to do is to put the dongle in your pocket.  I looked about 9 years ago but, buying new, it was too expensive (or I was too mean). but it did look feasable.

[John Stiles]

...... then all you would have to do is to put the dongle in your pocket.  .....

I'm sorry, I must've woke up in a good mood this morning, everything seems to strike me funny!  

[James_Mynes]

I pull the string and walk away from it. Didn't realize there was any other way...

[David Hoover]

I must be either extremely lucky or just odd.  In my experience the stooge line never ends up even close to me after release.  I don't know if it's because of the return spring on the stooge latch (bought from Bob Hunt's dad many years ago) or the natural springiness of the stooge line (regular chalk line) or the fact that the stooge is mounted to a steel plate that weighs about 30 lb. meaning I can give a really strong yank on the line which puts a lot of tension into everything that then releases when I let go but as soon as I let go of the line, it snaps back and the reel (standard chalk line) ends up about 6' - 8' farther towards the outside of the circle than I am and out of my way.  Go figure.

[David_Stack]

Good Morning John;

  Take a look here at a stooge developed by Paul Smith that uses a 2.4 Ghz transmitter and a stooge-mounted receiver/servo to pull the release pin, no physical cord to the center of the circle to get tangled up in...  http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php/topic,36086.msg367859.html#msg367859

r/
Dave

[John Park]

It's never happened to me, but I've always been afraid that it will.  My stooge line is bright orange heavy-gauge fishing-line, and the spool is about the size of a dinner-plate and made from white foam packaging material, to make it extra-visible (my peripheral vision is okay, fortunately).  I also do what the chaps have been recommending: take a couple of steps back as soon as the wheels leave the ground.  If I did get tangled, about the only thing I can think of is to fly lazy eights at around 45 degrees elevation so that I could take my eyes off the model while I tried to get sorted out.  I had to do that once, a long time ago, when a small dog ran up and started snapping at my ankles.  Honestly, the things that happen when you fly control-line...

[john e. holliday]

I was always taught from day one reading  about control line on how you are supposed to step back on a launch,  especially hand launches.   I have always tried to do that especially with a stooge.   Main thing is not having the stooge line longer than the flying lines.   I hole my arms straight out in front of me and get the lines tight.  All the lines.   The stooge I have needs a good tug to release.   As soon as plane is moving I drop the stooge handle(a piece of dowel rod) and step back.   All is set up so I have to step back a few more steps to get to center of the circle.

[RogerGreene]

I use a Irwin Strait-Line. This is a chalk line for snapping a line on a board. But I use it for the line to my stooge, with out any chalk powder in it. You can wind up the line when you are finished flying for easy storage. The Irwin Strait-Line is available at the Box hardware stores and ACE hardware too. Its a must have. Comes with white string, but you can buy any color string for it. I use a white rag to mark the center of the circle so I stay near the rag when flying.

My 2 ¢

Roger

[Gerald Arana]

Hi John F.

Yes, I've had this happen to me while practice flying in Fresno for the GS a few years ago (10-15)

Just took off and notice that the line was wrapping up around my ankles.

Oh oh, now what? Well what I did was to go inverted and unwrap the line, step away and finish the flight!

So, if it ever happens again simple go inverted and unwrap it!

Cheers, Jerry

[Chris Belcher]

John,
Go see my thread titled STOOGE CORD in the building section. My prob was the tail wheel getting caught in the cord... but towards the bottom of the thread there is a post with pictures of a remote control car device that takes the cord out of the picture...interesting to say the least...

[Don Chandler]

Been there, done that. My stooge line is always to my right. I can easaily drop it with my left hand to the right. The center of my circle is actually about 8 to 10 feet behind my takeoff point so I easily back up during the first lap and no more winding my stooge line around my ankles.

Don

[John Rist]

Has anyone built a remote control stooge?  Low end 2.4 radios cost $30 or less.  It would be easy to pick up the Stooge and move it to the location where the airplane stopped to set up for the second flight.  If you don't want to mess with chargeable batteries a set of AA will probably last all summer.  A remote control stooge will be one of my winter build projects.  The Tx will hang with a strap on my belt.  I will probably use a 2 channel car radio.  A squeeze of the throttle trigger will release the airplane.  On pavement it will have to anchored to a tool box, on grass a spike in the ground will hold it.

I should think that an existing stooge could be converted.

 

[John Leidle]

  This happened to me a long time ago...

[John Kelly]

   ...Hey John, see Reply # 16

[Randy Ryan]

A couple things, (yes this has happened to me). First, my line is now 3/16 white nylon rope (high visibility), second, I set the stoogeline and handle 8-10 feet to the left of the center (I fly right handed), Third, when I release I gently toss the line to the left and the model takes off I step over to the center. That results in having the line 10-12 feeet away and I don't have to worry about it. The other thing I do was mentiponed earlier but I do the reverse. I set the stooge up nearer the center so that when I get to the center the plane is not flying over the line and I don't have to worry about snagging it landing, that's happened to me too.

[Scott Richlen]

I wish you guys would get some of this stuff down on video, it'd be great to watch.  just about everyone who uses a stooge eventually gets bit by them.  My friend John L managed to throw the stooge line over his control lines one time, another time the plane turned and launched right at him, and another time he managed to get the stooge line wrapped around his feet until he couldn't move and fell over.  His verbal descriptions of these little disasters are hilarious, just wish he would have filmed them.

I actually think that this is sort of a secret "urban renewal" type plan to make sure he always is building a new plane and doesn't have to worry about hanger space....