Flying Line Question

[Chancey Chorney]

Hi there. So tonight, as I wait for this white stuff to disappear, I figured I would check out my flying lines. So, I unwind my .008 lines that are for my 1/2a planes, followed by the next 1/2 hour untangling them... So after undoing them, as I was rolling them up, I got me a poke once on each line. So I took a look, and each line had 1 strand poking out. As I do not fly competition, only by myself, is there anything wrong wth using them? Also to note, I would not be flying anything of importance attached to them, except my Cox engines. I have only the one set of steel lines and my other planes use braided fishing line. Thank you.

[Keith Miller]

Trash 'em and stick with your fishing line.

[Keith Renecle]

Trash 'em and stick with your fishing line.

Amen to that! The 10 lb. Spiderwire lines are much better for 1/2A than steel or the old Dacron lines!

[Paul Smith]

In my opinion, when one broken wire is sticking out it means that the lines had a near-death experience.  The center line was stretched to the breaking point, but the other 6 held.

The center line is true length so it breaks first.  The other six just wrap tighter and absorb energy.  This is an important safety factor available with 7-strand corecable.

Of course a massive jolt will break all seven, but within a certain range the shock-absorbing action of 7-strand is valuable.

[Chancey Chorney]

Ok, thanks all for the suggestions. Looks like I will get some fishing line and make a couple of sets of lines up. Thank you.

[Tim Wescott]

Ok, thanks all for the suggestions. Looks like I will get some fishing line and make a couple of sets of lines up. Thank you.

Fishing line gives more drag, and the pain of trying to get the line lengths equal with regulation knots is huge.  Aside from that, it is better than 0.008 in every way.

[Paul Smith]

.008" line is truly a pain to work with.  And given the power of modern .049's hardly necessary.  A TeeDee or anything better will easily pull .012" lines.

Maybe .008" could be reserved for very small models like under .025 CI and under 6 ounces.  Otherwise, .012" is OK.

[Chancey Chorney]

Thank you. That is also nice to know that I could use slightly larger diameter lines. As for fishing lines being the same length, well, I have a couple ideas. I do have a handle with adjustable wire for teh handle side, but I will be making something to get equal length lines this spring, and hopefully it will work. Just gotta wait for this snow to melt.

[Fred Cronenwett]

I did a pull test awhile back with the typical flying lines that we use .012, .015, .018, .021, 024 and .022 solids and had some interesting results. I made samples of each line and loaded them up until they snapped. They did not break slowly, they did it with a bang, sending my pile of bricks to the ground.

I never tested the .008 dia lines but the .012 are rated for the 20 lbs load limit that sample broke at 30 lbs. The point is that they are stronger than you think but if they are damaged I wouldn't risk your model. I buy line material in bulk and roll my own lines.

You might consider getting .010 lines  so that they have more capacity just in case they are damaged.

.012                 rated at 20 lbs                Broke at 30 lbs                                                 
.015                 rated at 30 lbs                Broke at 45 lbs
.018                 rated at 45 lbs                Broke at 45 lbs
.021                 rated at 60 lbs                Broke at 80 lbs
.024                 rated at 90 lbs                Heard line making crackling noises at 105 lbs, never loaded sample to failure
.022 solids        rated at 125 lbs              No failure at 122 lbs       

Fred

[Tim Wescott]

Anything that comes rated to some standard should be able to exceed that standard under ideal conditions -- it should be rated such that the one piece that was manufactured on a Monday and has undergone severe wear afterwards still holds the rated load.  A 50% margin is actually a bit low, but presumably they know what they're doing.

[Chancey Chorney]

Great information, thank you. As there is nothing much available locally, I will most definately be using braided fishing line for the most part. In April, I will be going across the border so will take a look at any hobby shops in Grand Forks or Fargo while there to see if they have anything available. I know there is a decent control line club in Fargo so may reach out to them before going down.

[Fred Cronenwett]

Before we went to 2.4 Ghz for the CL scale, we had the down the line electronics and used the American Fishing wire Surflon insulated fishing leader with no problems. These are the sources I have gone thru for flying line material or Brodak.

The braided fishing leader is rated by lb test, the hard part is trying to find a fishing store that sells the 300 foot rolls. American fishing wire company has good stuff and it looks just like the braided lines that we typically fly with. The surflon leader has a nylon coating so that is not what you want to use, you want the uncoated version of surflon.

MBS sells the .012 line which too large for what you need, but he has a 1000' roll available.

http://www.mbsmodelsupply.com/

Fred

[Dwayne]

Fishing line gives more drag, and the pain of trying to get the line lengths equal with regulation knots is huge.  Aside from that, it is better than 0.008 in every way.

 10lb braided Spiderwire is only  .007 thick, I use a Brodak 1/2a handle with some scrap .015 line threaded though the holes to make a adjustable handle.

[Dwayne]

Oops delete please 

[Chancey Chorney]

10lb braided Spiderwire is only  .007 thick, I use a Brodak 1/2a handle with some scrap .015 line threaded though the holes to make a adjustable handle.

That is what I was going to try. I have some Raptor Braid here that is similar, 30 lb test .008 diameter, but just not as slick as the Spiderwire. It does however work, and I will be buying the 10 lb Spiderwire as you mentioned. Funny, cause I was just looking online at it earlier. Thank you.

[phil c]

Anything that comes rated to some standard should be able to exceed that standard under ideal conditions -- it should be rated such that the one piece that was manufactured on a Monday and has undergone severe wear afterwards still holds the rated load.  A 50% margin is actually a bit low, but presumably they know what they're doing.

The standards are set using specialized equipment and specialized fixtures.  They don't make wrapped terminations or special knots we might use.  Same for Spectra line.  The rated strengths are achieved under special conditions.

A listed breaking strength is just that- breaking.  McMaster-Carr sells stainless steel lines people have used.  Their ratings are very much in line with what Fred got, except for .018  M-C used to rate .018 at 55lbs and 015 at 45 lbs.

Rated load for things like equipment and ship hawsers is waaay lower than the actual breaking strength, sometimes by as much as 5X depending on use.