DON'T PUT YOURSELF DOWN...YOU CAN DO IT

[LARRY RICE]

          I have heard this tail of woe so offten and yet it still amazes me:
"My first plane was a 1/2A, it was to hard to fly, I crashed it, I learned to fly on a larger plane, it was easier!"
          Well here is the problem with that statement. Most people who relate this story do not remember that when they went out with that 1/2A plane they went with another kid who did not have any experience either. They managed to get the engine started and crash without any help at all. When they decided to get a larger plane and build it they had adult, experienced help, and when they went to the flying field that help went with them. Maybe it just might not have been the planes fault.
          1/2A has been fun for millions of kids and adults and none of them are one bit better than you are. If they can do it ...... you can do it. If you like stunt, try a Dick Sarpolus design, scale a Walt Musciano design, or just plane fun try any one of the 100+ 1/2A model kits out there. You might be surprised. 
Larry

[Andrew Borgogna]

You know Larry I think you have it right on the button.  The first experience you described was me as a kid and the results were exactly what you described.  When my boys were young I got them a Cox PT-19.  Took them to the local school and in one day they were both flying and having a great time.  The younger boy, now 34 still flies with me once in a while.  After they mastered the PT-19 I built them a Baby Flite Streak with a Babe Bee on it and they flew the wings off that plane.  So I agree it is not that 1/2a planes are bad to learn on it's that flying model airplanes is not something most people are born knowing how to do.  Learning to fly just about anything takes some amount of training with the help of an experienced pilot.
Andy

[LARRY RICE]

Thank you Andy, I was afraid that I ticked off everyone again. I seem to be good at that.
Larry

[Bill Gruby]

Larry;

   We teach them with 1/2A's all the time, rebuilds are much less expensive. The kids love it.

   If it is any consolation to you, if "The G-Man" can't tick them of how do you figure you do. Sometimes his antics are pretty off the wall.   

    "Billy G" 

[Marvin Denny]

  You would be supprised to know how many "first time exposures to CL flying" think that all one has to do is just give it up and turn around in circles.  That is both adults as well as youngsters.
  I have had many newbies try to tell me that.

  Bigiron

[Shultzie]

OK!....Confession time:
Not only my beloved wife, but many of my co-workers at the Boeing Windtunnel...thought my fasination with control line...was mearly one small step up from..................................

"whirling a rock tied with a string around and around my head for about 6 minutes?" Humm?
  LL~Come to think of it......I really didn't have a reeeeeeeeeeeaaally good answer...except that it such feeeeeels sooooo good. Kindava' lovin' feelin? 

[Wayne Collier]

Granted, a rock on a string can be fun, but I really enjoy control line airplanes.  I had a lot of fun as a kid and as a teenager with babe bee.  Thank you Mr. Cox for a fine little engine that brought me hours of pure joy, cheap entertainment, and great thrills.  Hey it may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but I really did enjoy that little engine.  I still like 1/2a.  I'm no expert, but I enjoy it.

[minnesotamodeler]

As most everyone knows, I prefer 1/2A although I do have a few .35-.40 size models.  Their size is more manageable for me--less wood, less glue, less covering, less paint...engines are much cheaper, and you have to really work at it to burn up a single gallon of fuel in a season; less space required, both for building and storing...no mufflers req'd, nor wrist thongs, etc.; fly 'em on fishing line, on most any ball diamond, park or parking lot. Bump up to the .061 size and you have the best of both worlds, 1/2A size planes/equipment that perform like the bigger models.

Re: the "rock on a string":  When I was a kid my father used to tell us, "When I was your age (had to be 1920s) we didn't have all the toys you have; all I had to play with was a stick and a piece of string."  "How could you have any fun with that?"  "I'd tie the stick to the piece of string and swing it around my head."

Here I am all grown up in the 21st century still doing pretty much the same thing!

--Ray

[50+AirYears]

Hey, a couple of us taught ourselves to fly CL using an Enterprise profile P-51 and a vampirish OK Cub .099.  And that was usually hand lauch, since we could never keep the wing mounted LG in place.  This was about 1959.

[Warren Leadbeatter]

I learned to fly by myself with a Cox Fokker D7 RTF and luckily for me, before I destroyed it I met a guy at school who had been flying a few years earlier than me.  He got me pointed in the right direction about building my own planes and so I went along to his club and eventually joined up.

In those days, the bigger models scared us and we wouldnt fly anything bigger than a 2.5cc Rat Racer, but our day to day sport models were always something with a Cox 049 onboard.

These days the first thing I let new flyers have a go at is the PT19.  A Plastic Fantastic would be better but the PT19 works.  I reckon once they get the idea of how the controls work they can fly anything.

I would much rather see a beginner destroy a low cost 1/2A model than a $300+ larger model.  A couple of months ago I saw a guy teaching a kid to fly a large aerobatic sport model with a McCoy 35 and it took the kid 2 seconds to completely destroy it.  If he had have tried my PT19 first he would have been back in the air in 5 seconds and flying the bigger plane with no problems later on.

One thing I have found with my kids is that they prefer the smaller models because they dont pull on the controls too hard and they dont feel so bad when they crash them.

Cheers