About 10-15 years ago I got started in electric control line with the plane pictured below. Its a Brodak 1/2 A Cosmic Wind kit I built. Brushless motors and LiPos were at least 8 years in the future. The motor is a 7.4 volt speed 400 brushed motor that I rewound with twice the number of turns it came with. Each rewound pole had 60 turns. I got around 6 volts to the plane over something like 18 gage magnet wire from radio shack. Wires were 35' long. Battey power was three 7.4 volt nicad packs carried in my pocket. The plane would fly but not enough power for a wingover so I abandoned the project. Electrics have come a long way since then. Between then and now I flew conventional RC but about 3 years ago I got interested in CL again. I first tried 1/2A size with a handle but just cant spin that fast anymore so I went to the hybrid CL/RC I do now. I have never gotten over the thrill of seeing CL fliers in the local park in the mid 50s when I was a teenager.

1986 was the first year that I started to fly CL. And guess what my first trainer plane was also a over the wire electric powered plane. It was made out of corrugated cardboard for a wing with a bit of balsa on the LE and TE a stick for a fuse and a thin balsa rudder. I used a toy motor Mabuchi and in my hand I was holding the batteries inside of a PVC tube with a switch in my handle to turn the motor on and off. It taught me level flight landing and take off.
I almost forgot about it. 

The motor is a speed 400. Take the one with the highest voltage I believe 7,2 Volt.
I used 3 batteries in serie 28,8 Volt 
Prop is a gunter prop. You have to drill it a little and glue it. otherwise the prop will fly of or breake at the hub.
The line length is about 9 meters I think.
The big trick is to use a bigger diameter at the handle and a thinner at the plane.
If you calculate were the power drop is it will be in the thinner cable. in this way you can use longer lines.
At the beginning they were to long.
I made a PWM regulation to regulate the power.
It was perfect for the kids also because the can adjust the speed.

Greetings Robert-Jan

Copper with enamel isolation like they use in transformers
Steel has to much electrical resistance

Greetings Robert-Jan