Large Thimble Drome Flying Handle

[E Lee]

Hi Everyone,

First post here.  I have an OLD large Thimble Drome handle (NOT the Half A one).  It is made of clear plastic enclosing two independent line take up spools.  Each spool has indentations on the circumference where it can be locked down by a  plastic key.  I suspect it was made for  the COX Comanche 15 size plane.

Does anyone know its history and operating instructions?  I would like to put it to use for my older 09-20 powered model using 30# spectra lines.

Eric

[kenneth cook]

          For starters, the handle is old. It would more than likely break with use and could possibly cause injury to someone. Put it on the shelf and enjoy it while it's intact. The handle is oversized and there are much better and safer handles available. Why risk an airplane or injury to someone?  For as little as $20 you can pick up a modern handle to fly the models your suggesting and be safe doing so. Ken

[Mike Lauerman]

I have to agree with Ken, Mr. Lee. I had a plastic 'E-Z Just' that I flew with for a few years, they were generally accepted as 'safe'. One morning in 1974 I was flying my profile Bipe, it came in on a wingover, then as I ran with it to lessen the shock when it got to the end of the lines again, it jerked.

The handle broke right in half, left my grasp (NO safety thong!) and flew clear across the schoolyard, landing at full throttle and taxiing toward some soccer players...about 50 MPH.
Ran into the steel bench stanchion, thankfully. My other E-Z Just went into the garbage, along with the broken one.

I made a stainless steel one, with riveted-on wood handles, (like a full-tang knife) It was heavy, but real pretty. (matched my Bowie) Safety thong was rawhide.
Now I have a Fancher type, medium choker chain safety. (it attaches to my old leather wristwatch band with a safety hook)
Wouldn't fly without it!

[Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach]

Both Ken and Mike have very valid points.  I would like to add that I used one for a short period and stopped, simply because the mechanism inside would eat the lines.  I had to take her apart 4 or 5 times before I gave up.  Neat idea, but it just didn't work for me.  I too would put it on a shalf and just enjoy looking at it once in awhile.

oh yeah, and welcome to the forum!

[E Lee]

Thank you for your advices.  Safety is paramount.  It will be shelved. 

I was hoping to use it to narrow down the approximate line length before cutting a dedicated set for each plane.

[john e. holliday]

My brother Bob, had one of those handles back in the day.   I wa barely a teenager and was in  his 20's.   He loved the handle for his type of flying, mainly because of the storage of lines and the independent adjustablity.   Never used it in competition as I talked him into using an E-Z Just, the large one like I had.   Used the old Perfect line storage reels to keep lines on.   The old Thmble Drome handle did its job for the day in getting people airborne and flying.   Don't even know what happpened to it.   I still have the 1/2A version in the shop.  Used it a lot flying 1/2A in the back yard.    Would I use them today, never as I know better now.   Advantage of belonging to a club and having some competitons to go to.   

Now th old E-Z Just is still a good handle for someone starting out, but they are no longer made.   Oh, you can find them on the bay if you want to pay collector prices.   Check out some of the sites that have control line for the handles they have, like RSM Dist.,  Brodaks and Tom Morris[will have to look up hi site sometime].   If you are just starting out don't worry about getting a Fancher Handle  til later.  By the way the only handle I don't have in my stock is the new Brodak handle.   

[EddyR]

  I have one and get it out once in a while as fun item to get the guys asking what is that. Mine works fine but it is not a very good handle as it is heavy and the line spacing is to wide. Fly junkers with it not you new plane.
Ed

[Larry Renger]

I think this unit was never intended for larger than 049s. I would never use for anything larger.

[De Hill]

Larry,

Thimble Drome made two sizes in handles. the one designed for .049's was called the Skylon. It was a fully adjustable handle.

The other was a full sized handle/reel combination with steel cables. All it said on the Reel was Thimble Drome.  It was called a "Handy Reel". It had two handles, one on each side, and the neutral could be adjusted on the handle. It was meant to compete with the U-Reely.

I believe that Stunt was won at one of the early AMA nationals with a U- Reely.

[Bart Klapinski]

 Larry, I agree that you should not use that handle as it may crack apart. Not only that,but there may not be many around and you may be able to get a fair price for it. As an old Cox/Disneyland pilot I treasure the few items I still have.

                      Best,           
                               Tempest

[E Lee]

De Hill has correctly ID the handle as Handy Reel.  

A gentleman at a COX  forum uploaded a 1958 Cox ad/brochure for my reference.  Pretty expensive piece of equipment back in 1958.

Wonder how the "Training Aid Kit" actually worked.

[EddyR]

Here is mine, to be honest it feels like a hard point handle when in use. This picture is before I replaced the lines.  I used it last fall. I think it is well before 1958
Ed

[E Lee]

Hi Ed,

Would you please describe how did you replace the lines?

By the way, since the spools are independently winded (and I don't see any way of locking them up together), how does one roll up the lines after flying with only two hands.  I suppose one can alternate cranking between each spool - i.e. 4 left 4 right

Thanks in advance.

Eric

[john e. holliday]

They roll one line at a time.   Same with un rolling or you could hook up the lines to the plane and unroll both at same time.   Watched my Brother do it many times.   Had to remember to untwist the lines before winding them up.

[EddyR]

Hi Ed,

Would you please describe how did you replace the lines?

By the way, since the spools are independently winded (and I don't see any way of locking them up together), how does one roll up the lines after flying with only two hands.  I suppose one can alternate cranking between each spool - i.e. 4 left 4 right

Thanks in advance.

Take out the screws and each side comes apart with the crank,spool and the handle with the stop pin.
As odd as it seems I flew a lot of combat matches with this handle. Not contest just with the local guys when I lived in NYS. Quicker's,Falf Fast's,Omaga's ,Wingmaster's
Ed

Eric

[E Lee]

They roll one line at a time.   Same with un rolling or you could hook up the lines to the plane and unroll both at same time.   Watched my Brother do it many times.   Had to remember to untwist the lines before winding them up.

My brain must be slowing down - the obvious is no longer obvious.  Thank you John.

[Bart Klapinski]

     These handles must be fairly rare. Please preserve it or perhaps get it to a Cox collector. I would love to have it, having had a history with the L.M. Cox co.
                                               Bart Klapinski

[Brett Buck]

Larry,

Thimble Drome made two sizes in handles. the one designed for .049's was called the Skylon. It was a fully adjustable handle.

The other was a full sized handle/reel combination with steel cables. All it said on the Reel was Thimble Drome.  It was called a "Handy Reel". It had two handles, one on each side, and the neutral could be adjusted on the handle. It was meant to compete with the U-Reely.

  I think this was also part of the Jim Walker suit, where Walker sued Cox over the fact that it was a copy of a U-Reely. I will look that up in Dave Thornburg's book when I get home tonight.

   Brett

[Frank Imbriaco]

Coincidental for me as I just read about this on Wikipedia while researching early Leroy Cox Champion tether cars.

Ok, here goes and it's quoted:

In 1953, Leroy Cox (L.M. Cox Manufacturing) is  sued by Jim Walker( American Junior Aircraft Co.) for copyright infringement because Cox was using Walker's patented bellcrank system in the TDI( Cox' first RTF aircraft- powered by the Space Bug Engine) and secondly, because Walker believed the Cox Skylon Reel was a copy of his U-Reely control handle. The court case lasted 3 years.
In 1955, Cox wins the court case against Jim Walker. Walker's patent on the bellcrank control system was ruled  void and invalid because it was determined that the system had been designed before Walker's patent and by someone else- a man named Oba St. Clair, who was the first man( in the USA) to fly a control line airplane  back in 1937 and the design was published in 1938. Oba St.Clair had shown his design to Walker who took it upon himself to patent the design ! The court also ruled that the Cox reel was not a copyright infringement.

[Dan McEntee]

  I believe there was an article in Model Builder about Oba St. Clair. I'm just not sure it mentions that he and Walker ever met, although it would be plausible seeing as they were both from the Northwest area of the country. If I remember Thornburg's book correctly, it was proven during the trial that some one in England was using the bell crank and push rod earlier also. I keep wanting to re-read "Do You Speak Model Airplane" for a long while and will have to do that the next lazy weekend that comes along.
   I have one of the Handy Reels also that is a clear model and is used in original box. I owuld never consider using it after seeing how plastic can deteriorate with age, but it is cool to look at and fondle. The box is pretty neat also. I have a U-Reely that is knew in box, and another one in a display type package. I love the colorful art work on the packaging.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[Brett Buck]

  I believe there was an article in Model Builder about Oba St. Clair. I'm just not sure it mentions that he and Walker ever met, although it would be plausible seeing as they were both from the Northwest area of the country. If I remember Thornburg's book correctly, it was proven during the trial that some one in England was using the bell crank and push rod earlier also. I keep wanting to re-read "Do You Speak Model Airplane" for a long while and will have to do that the next lazy weekend that comes along.
   I have one of the Handy Reels also that is a clear model and is used in original box. I owuld never consider using it after seeing how plastic can deteriorate with age, but it is cool to look at and fondle. The box is pretty neat also. I have a U-Reely that is knew in box, and another one in a display type package. I love the colorful art work on the packaging.

    I think it was pretty well established that St. Clair demonstrated the model for Walker and others, so he knew about it. As soon as that was established, the U-Control patent was pretty well sunk. The Skylon reel part was a lot less clear, but that was also lost.

    The third element of the U-Control patent was, interestingly, the leadout guide being placed on the wing somewhere, which the judge ruled as "obvious". St. Clair's model was a lot more complex and included multiple control axes, and the leadout guide also pivoted to control roll actively, as near as I could make out.

     Suit or no suit, Walker certainly deserves the lion's share of the credit for control line and it's amazing success. Another aspect of Thornburg's book is the acknowledgement that without CL, the model airplane hobby  in total was kept alive after the Air Age turned into the Space Age in 1958, until radio control was practical and affordable in the early 70's. His argument for this is compelling. Oba St. Clair may have invented it but Walker was certainly responsible for ppoularizing it. His patent was more or less overcome by events anyway, as soon as people saw how it worked, they were going to copy it one way or the other, and you can't sue a quarter of a million people one at a time for using it. His business model was as a toy maker, much more than a hobbiest, but if the patent had been enforced strenuously, there would never have been a hobby element and it would have died, too.

     Brett

[George]

Here is mine, to be honest it feels like a hard point handle when in use. This picture is before I replaced the lines.  I used it last fall. I think it is well before 1958
Ed

Ed,

I also find your U-Reely unique in that mine and all the others I have seen are black. I didn't know that they made other colors.

I wonder if Jim Walker enjoyed flying or did he just do it to promote his business ventures. At he low end of the cost scale I remember his "Ceiling Walker".

George

[EddyR]

George
  I have heard they were made in three colors. I do not remember the third color.
 The Thimble drome handle is a much better flying handle than the U-Reely as the lines exit very close to the grip making the overhang short. I is easy to fly with compared to the U-Reely. Neither of mine show any signs of plastic degradation. 
Ed

[Brett Buck]

I wonder if Jim Walker enjoyed flying or did he just do it to promote his business ventures. At he low end of the cost scale I remember his "Ceiling Walker".

   At one point, he was so stressed out, the doctor told him to take up a hobby!

     Brett

[Ara Dedekian]

              Just acquired a Handy Reel in a load of stuff. Nice to have a bit of a background on the handle. Among the items were 3 blade Rite Pitch 11/10(!) props.

               I remember the smaller Skylon well from when I connected .015 lines to the 1/2A clips/dacron lines on the handle and watched my Berkeley strip planked/McCoy 19 P-47 fly off and tangle up in the telephone wires when the dacron let go.

              The OK 29 and a Cosmic Wind it was mounted on are flying again after 55 years. Bringing these old engines and planes back to life, and flying them, really gets the nostalgia thing going on us old guys.

Ara