A Growing Controline Community Actually Exists

[Chuck_Smith]

All,  I've been listening to the reports of impending doom of the controline community for about 40 years now. (The facts not wistanding that we have a lot more, better kits and engines available today that 40 years ago, even decent flying ARFs.)

We've actually started bucking that trend here in the NYS Finger Lakes area. We have a small, but growing community of fliers that didn't exist a couple of years ago. 

I started thinking about how we've been able to do it and here's what happened.

A few short years ago, as far as I knew I was the single active controline flier in a metropolitan area of about a million people.  I met a guy named Jerry at an R/C fun fly that had some controline planes but we never got together.

I met a guy here on Stunthangar who was in the beginnings of "retread" mode. We started corresponding and we had an informal flying session on Ringmaster day at my club's field.

Then the guy I met at the R/C fun fly started to do some promotion. He would go to the R/C fun flies, do a little demo and collect emails.

This year it has gelled. We've had several informal events, guys are meeting up to fly. We have a small "club" of controline fliers. We have places to fly now at a couple of R/C fields and when we do we always draw a crowd.

Jerry has been a tireless promoter. He's built a pretty much indestructible trainer with a throttle and he's solo'ed several new pilots, including teenagers who kept running over from their R/C planes to fly the controline trainer. The kids left that day with Brodak's info.

I've made it a habit of bringing a stunt ship to the R/C field when I fly and if there's a lull in the action I'll fly a pattern for the guys to see. Their questions and enthusiasm are well received. Remember, most R/C fliers today have NEVER SEEN A CONTROLINE PLANE FLY, save for maybe a Cox toy.

Seeing what Jerry has done in a short time made me realize what can be accomplished.

We have a spirited thread on this forum with great insights by all on social media and how we interact online.  But what I've witnessed is that if we engage in outreach we can rejuvenate the hobby. The social media is wonderful, but us being us, and especially us engineering types, we almost always seem to drill down to technical minutiae and it's always going to be that way. I can understand that a newbie or potential interested party can be a bit overwhelmed looking at a forum such as this for the first time. It's not a bad thing, it just is what it is.

But going out and letting people see, hear and smell controline seems to be pretty effective. It generates new interest and rekindles old interest. I'm seeing it work here. We're a growing controline community!

Not trying to tell anyone what's best, just relaying what's been happening/working here.

Chuck

[Mike Griffin]

Chuck it is very refreshing to hear a positive report like this.  Thank you for sharing it.

Mike

[Dave_Trible]

Chuck I’ve been thinking and saying this for a little while.  I don’t think we have a great deal of hope to bring in ‘off-the-street’ new people without the neighborhood hobby shop as in the old days.  However there are tremendous untapped resources already in the hobby within the RC crowd.  Especially now with the dark FAA cloud over RC I believe we could and should endeavor to reach out to this group.  I have suggested putting an ad or two in the RC and Free Flight publications.  Nobody seems interested........

Dave

[Robert Zambelli]

So great to hear news like that!!!
I hope the enthusiasm spreads to other areas of the country.

If anyone wants to see a terrific assortment of enthusiastic flyers from beginner all the way up to world class, you owe it to yourself to make the trip to Brodaks.
Try it - time may be short.

It's a happening that you won't forget.

Bob Z.

[Tom Luciano]

Ive noticed a lot of names on the control line flying page(facebook) you don't see here. One of the reasons why I'm doing a foam voodoo thread in the combat section. Hopefully some of those will cross over to here as well.

Tom

[Robert Zambelli]

Excerpt from the book I am writing about the Fly-In:

"It started back in the mid-90s - John Brodak and Bob Hunt were chatting in John’s backyard when the suggestion of a contest surfaced. Why not have an event here? WHY NOT Indeed? The yard could surely accommodate four circles and, since John’s flying club already used the field, there was already some paved takeoff pads.
The club to which I belonged, the Philly Flyers, was and is still quite active in the Southeastern PA area. We first heard about the event in late spring and the general thought seemed to be “RIGHT!! A contest in some guy’s backyard in a town that nobody ever heard of. Yeah, fat chance that’ll work.” Since nothing was going on that weekend, Father’s Day weekend, 1997, we decided to attend the (two day) event.
Very low key, 36 entrants, 154 flights. Stunt, Scale and Clown Racing. But, some real magic happened. We were totally impressed by the Brodak’s hospitality and the quality of the event – well run, good judging and a great time. John’s wife, Buzz (real name Coral Lee) was present and always helping, the truly gracious hostess. We left on Sunday evening with one question in mind: Will he do it again next year? We were hoping!
Apparently, the word got out. In 1998, the attendance more than doubled (to 84) and the number of flights to 346.
 The attendance and participation numbers can be seen below:
Year                            Entrants                   Flights
1997                                   36                           154
1998                                   84                           346
1999                                 132                           482
2000                                   96                           398
2001                                 109                           432
2002                                 134                           592
2003                                 148                           674
2004                                 153                           808
2005                                 162                           676
2006                                 126                           588
2007                                 148                           795
2008                                 165                           741
2009                                 156                           752
2010                                 161                           734
2011                                 147                           714
2012                                 141                           626
2013                                 128                           598
2014                    119                            553
2015                    136                       610
2016                    141                           632
2017                    117                  620
2018                    106                  609
2019                    119                  546"

The book will be published after the last Fly-In.

ps - I don't know how to modify the indents from 2014 to 2019 - sorry!

[John Rist]

Sound like a plan.  However the local RC club in Huntsville won't allow any type of flying at their field but RC.

[Tim Wescott]

Sound like a plan.  However the local RC club in Huntsville won't allow any type of flying at their field but RC.

RC clubs are welcoming to various degrees -- it's always a good idea to try a different one!

I've made it a habit of bringing a stunt ship to the R/C field when I fly and if there's a lull in the action I'll fly a pattern for the guys to see. Their questions and enthusiasm are well received. Remember, most R/C fliers today have NEVER SEEN A CONTROLINE PLANE FLY, save for maybe a Cox toy.

I think that rounding up some combat pilots and/or racers (who are willing to use good mufflers) to do demos may get some interest, too.  Not everyone is turned on by stunt.

[Tom Vieira]

Very cool!

where abouts in the Finger Lakes area do you fly?  I was thinking about getting my nephews in Rochester some 1/2A's for Christmas.  let 'em fly mine while they are down here, then send 'em back to let them have at it!

[Mark Mc]

Sound like a plan.  However the local RC club in Huntsville won't allow any type of flying at their field but RC.

Same here.  I tried to suggest that I could fly off on the edge of the field when no one was flying RC, but I got the stink eye from the club officers, and was told that it was a RC Club.

[Chuck_Smith]

...One of the reasons why I'm doing a foam voodoo thread in the combat section...

Tom

Wouldn't that be a Vampire?

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

This is a really great thread.  Talks about control line flying, from the point of view of getting clubs, fields and contests together.  The thread is a welcome relief from another forum where there are political discussions beyond what is needed to power the stunt sport.

Peter