Anyone know when the last profile carrier plane plans were published?  I think it may have been the Curtis Biplane fighter that Bill Darkow(?) published in Model Aviation around 1999? If so, that's a long time between designs. 

There's a profile carrier plane on THE COVER of the current Flying Models.

The F7C-3 Curtis Seahawk was built and designed by Bill Darkow and John Hall and is an AMA Profile class model. It flys very well for a large plane and of course looks very cool in flight as due all biplanes. Another nice bi-plane is the Boeing F4B4. Flying Models still sells the plans but it must be converted to use the three line bellcrank for throttle. The airplane was designed for stunt! Mike

In my opinion, it wasn't the sliders that caused the slump in carrier.  Those that have been around long enough remember that you flew either Profile Carrier or you flew Scale Carrier(Class I & II).   You did not fly both and we usually had as many as 6 entries for a local meet in profile.  I can still remember the first year Profile was an official event at the NATS.  Over 200 entries that year.  After that I started flying F2C(pitting actually).  Have fun,  DOC Holliday

Hi Doc,

What has caused the decline??  I remember it being a very popular event.......

I have to add my thoughts. I am a relatively new carrier flier. I find the event to be challenging and fun. Sure it takes a lot of work but this is a hobby and that is part of the fun. In my location we have had a renewall of carrier flying over the past year or so. At our field of about 15 to 20 regular control line fliers there are at least 7 or 8 that have carrier models. We have a lots of fun with them. Some are not even new models but oldies that have been updated. There is one flier that uses a Thunder Tiger 36 and gets some very good results ( in excess of 340 points). He proves you don't have to have a Nelson or some other exotic motor to do well. Its being able to trim and fly the plane well that makes it work. Just like any other event.

As far as models, Eric Conely has built a ME 109, and a Corsair that he flies extremely well. I have a Dehaviland Vampire that can compete with the MO-1s. I also have plans for a Crusader that should work well too. You do not have to stick with MO-1s to be competitive.

I have recently built and flown an electric carrier plane that works very well. There are others in the midwest also working on E Skyray carrier. For many reasons electrics are the future of many forms of aircraft modeling and also a new an interesting experiment. We have only scratched the surface of this form of carrier flying.

As far as being maxed out, I don't think so. New records can be set and there are people working toward that. Look at speed records, they don't just keep changing every year either.

What's the point? I could say the same about stunt or combat or speed or racing too. Its all in the opinion of the observer. If you don't find it a challenge and interesting then do something else. Don't just bash those of us who do enjoy it.

Yes, there are fewer entries than in years past but look at some of the other control line "specialties" the same can be said for them. CL is not as attractive as RC for many of the new modelers. There are no ARFs or foamies for carrier, you have to build your own plane. Then you have to understand it well enough to make it work. What a concept, you have to be a modeler! There are fewer places left where you can fly CL so that reduces the chances of someone even seeing CL happening.

All in all some of us still enjoy carrier and do our best to keep it alive.

Bill,

The Crusader plans are my own design. I have not completed building it yet (other projects seemed to get in the way). They are pretty rough plans since I usually design as I build to a certain degree. I might be able to copy them if you are really interested. Can't guarantee anything about performance though.

I don't know why the Dumas kit wouldn't be legal for profile. I know of at least one other guy that has one and has flown it in contests. Since in profile you don't have to adhere to the 5% rule the plane must resemble the original outlines of the full sized plane. There is quite a bit of leeway in the proportions. The scale bonus is only 10 points in profile.

One thing that the guy here did was to lengthen the fuselage. As built the Dumas kit is pretty short coupled and that makes it more difficult to hang. If you can I would strongly suggest adding about 2 inches to the fuse behind the wing. It should make the plane more managable at low speed.

There are nostalgia events at the Nats. They are usually flown on the Saturday at the end of the CL week. Theyare not "official" events but there are trophys and prizes. Usually there is pretty good turn out for the nostalgia events.

Take a look here:     http://www.navycarriersociety.org/Rules.aspx

for nostalgia rules.

Good luck with the Dumas model.
Bob