Hard lesson learned today

[frank mccune]

     Hi All:

     Today I crashed my second plane of the Summer due to mechanical failure of the line clip.  The clip opened at a bad time and hung up on the other leadout.

     I was told to bend the clips open a small bit to place more tension on the locking catch to prevent this from happening.  I checked my other clips and sure enough, they too were loose! They could be opened with very little effort! These are the connectors that have a slider in the middle and are two piece. Perhaps made by perfect.

    Has anybody else had this problem?

    Where may I purchase the one piece line connectors that  have no moving parts? Are these superior to the type of connectors that have the sliding lock?

     What type of connector do you prefer

[Paul Smith]

I like the slide clips.  Yes. they can malfunction if not closed properly.

The one piece "scissors clips" have problems, too.  In addition to being hard to use, they tend to get "kinked-over" on the small end.  In addition, many leadout and line grommets are too big to fit the small end of the scissors clip.

[John Rist]

Is it true or false that slider clips are not legal at an AMA event?

[Tim Wescott]

Paul, you're thinking of the scissors clips from the fishing shop.  There are similar clips with straight sides and same-diameter bends (they're about 1/4" or so wide).  The only problem I've ever had with these is the occasional propensity to get cocked when everything's lying on the ground.  I've never had one get cockeyed in the air.

The Derick Moran line clip bender makes these in any length you want.

[john e. holliday]

I think MBS Model Supply has the scissor clips as well as Brodak Mfg and RSM Dist.   I would not use the slide clips any more as I have seen several planes lost because the person got in a hurry and close them right.  I've never lost a plane using them, but back then the rat racers and combat planes didn't pull like they do now.

[bob whitney]

 the old slider clips were plated brass and would open up if not closed properly  Brodaks are steal ,much harder to open and close but even left open ,it will take quite a load to bend it enough for the line to come off

[Brett Buck]

Is it true or false that slider clips are not legal at an AMA event?

     Slider clips were not permitted at several NATs, at ED discretion.

     I wouldn't use them, for exactly the reason demonstrated here.

    Brett

[RandySmith]

     Slider clips were not permitted at several NATs, at ED discretion.

     I wouldn't use them, for exactly the reason demonstrated here.

    Brett

I remember  they were not banned because they were slider clips, but because they were made of brass

Randy

[Jared Hays]

Never had a problem with my sullivan scissor clips

[Steve Helmick]

These are Sullivan, and the file name includes the part number, S148. They do have two sizes; I get the bigger ones. I know Brodak sells the same type under their brand...dunno about anybody else. You can order direct from Sullivan, but sorta like Amazon, the stuff will come from a hobby dealer. Seems to work, as I've done it with no problems. Sorry to say, I can't afford "Hello Kitty" line clips.     Steve

[ericrule]

Yes,

Those are the only clips we sell at RSM Distribution for all of the reasons listed by the fellows above.

Eric Rule