Control Line Article for Model Aviation

[Mike Griffin]

Article taken down for editing

[Mike Griffin]

Editing article

[Gerald Arana]

Mike,

Nice article and all of us (CL flyers) understand it. I think if it were my article I'd say more about the sense of achievement in the building of model aircraft and not mention "BLOOD" anywhere in it. A single Mom may not look at that as something she'd enjoy seeing/fixing.

I think I'd say (since this article is for the beginner if I got that right) that the hobby has models from easy to difficult and starting at a very small price to whatever/how much the individual wants to spend.

I'd also include that there are ready built models that require only a few hours to assemble..............And would probably be best to learn the basics on since the investment is small. 

Cheers, Jerry

[FLOYD CARTER]

Any "philosophical" article surely needs lots of photos.  In fact, photos should be the main attraction.

F.C.

[Mike Griffin]

Appreciate your comments guys.. there will be pictures...I had not submitted this yet..

Mike

[Mike Griffin]

Anybody got a picture of a BiSlob hovering or on its tail?

Mike

[Randy Cuberly]

Mike.
Sent you an e-mail with some photos.
I have hundreds from VSC etc.  If you want anything specific, let me know what it is and I'll try to comply.

Thanks for your efforts.  The article is perfect as is, in my opinion.  

I must say however, that I really don't believe that the MA big wigs want CL articles no matter what they say.  As with any publication they are supported by advertising which is essentially non-existent for CL products, and they will allot magazine space based on the type of advertising they recieve.  Simple economics of business...and they are a business.
Basically I believe they would be quite happy to see the CL membership disappear!

I do however, support your efforts in any way possible.

Thanks for your efforts.

Randy Cuberly

[55chevr]

I think that 50% of MA is advertisements ... 40% is filler ... The remaining 10% has some substance.  The editor won't care if there was an article about Mohandas Gandhi flying free flight if it was free and had a few photos.   They need to fill the pages with something or it will be just ads.  I doubt they actually pay for articles as most are reviews relating to advertisers products.

[Geoff Goodworth]

Mike, it's good sentiment, well expressed. Reading it, I was reminded of the opening lines of Henk de Jong's build article for his Blue Pearl in Aeromodeller, February 1996.

We who build and fly competition aerobatics models are a strange breed. Imagine, who in his right senses would devote hundreds of hours of his time lovingly creating a fragile work of art, and then go hurtling his creation straight towards the ground at 60 mph, in the hope of averting disaster by going inverted scant fractions of a second before it hits the ground! And do so routinely in all weathers! Still, this brand of madness happily still exists, and the patients, far from being admitted, are proud of their affliction. Some even write about it in magazines.

You comment about flight simulators is very pertinent. There are two predominantly radio clubs in my immediate area but CL flyers are accepted. I was at one with just two of my mates one afternoon and there is a group of about ten regular flyers at the other club in the area. The day there were just three of us generated plenty of interest at that club and plenty of comment about flying radio being like 'flying' a flight simulator. As the group at the other club has grown, we have seen establlished radio flyers at that club dust off their CL gear that's been in shed, unused for years, and fly it.

[Joseph Patterson]

           Like what you said Mike very much! Putting in pic's is good too!
      Doug

[Mike Griffin]

I want to thank everyone for the input.  I will be pulling this letter off of here shortly for some editing so if you wonder where it went you will know.

Mike

[Jim Thomerson]

I had a couple of articles published in MA back in the 1990s.  At that time I filled out a form with a precis of the proposed article.  I think I submitted five, and two were accepted. MA paid for the completed articles on acceptance.  I liked that, as other magazines where I had articles published paid on publication. 

[Brian Massey]

Mike; great article! Let's hope they print it; it could get a few curious and that would be great! If it matters, Oba St. Clair is regarded as the man who invented control line flying. Not sure who was first to mount the engine though. Go to: https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/StClairOba.pdf

Brian

[Clancy Arnold]

55chevr
I have had two articles published in Model Aviation, a CL Sport Scale P-38 for which I received $350 and an article on repairing Glow Plug Igniters for which they paid me $200.  I currently have three more articles submitted to MA that they say will be published in 2014.

They pay by the page.
Clancy

[55chevr]

MA should pay for articles.  It is the right thing to do.   The magazine is paid for by the advertisers and subscriptions.  I would assume it makes money for AMA and they need articles to maintain interest.   If some here write articles that involve control line it would generate interest.  I would write an article but I am not a contest flyer or a model designer.  About all I could write would be how to repair crash damage.  Gentlemen - write something positive about C/L and lets see if it gets the interest.

[john e. holliday]

I really don't know what to say.  But, I have read all my magazines from cover to cover.   I liked the article about scarf joints as  I use a lot of them making spars and sheet wood.   An the piece about the laminating film was a good tip.   A lot of stuff in those magazines if a person isn't biased.  How about charging batteries in parallel or more than one pack at a time.