Longest C/L flight?

[Paul Taylor]

Anyone know what the longest C/L flight is?

My guess is it is with a R/C engine.

Paul 

[catdaddy]

Anyone know what the longest C/L flight is?

My guess is it is with a R/C engine.

Paul 

I'm sure you can get on the AMA website and track down the record I think it's event 322.
I did read an article once about a club that took an insecticide tank and turned it into a pressurized fuel tank that sat at the center of the circle. The fuel line ran with the lines to the plane. By rotating pilots they were able to keep it airborne for an outrageous amount of time. I think it was in the 72 hour range. The plane had a tank on it and was filled ever so often by the pressurized tank. They had check valves that allowed them to fill the center tank without affecting the tank and engine on the plane.

When I read this I couldn't help but think of Gary Weaver

[Joejust]

The longest CL flight took place in Eugene,OR some time ago. The total time was near 17 hours. Fuel was pumped from a container outside the circle to the center of the circle and then to the plane.  There have been several aricles over the years about this event. I think there was a feature article in one of the MA magazines as well. Perhaps contacting John Thomson will get a replay on the event's history.

Joe

[Jim Thomerson]

I remember seeing a picture about it.  The plane was a Ringmaster for sure, and the engine was probably a Fox 35, but don't recall for sure. I haven't checked the CL Endurance event rules.  It used to be with a 4 oz tank.  I think it is now with a 1 oz tank. 

[Tom Perry]

"When the Prop Spinners of Eugene, Oregon, set their world record of 64 hours and 33 minutes of sustained flight on September 3, 1957, Oba was club technical adviser and one of the 13 pilots."

Oba's Biography can be found here:

 http://obastclair.com/index.html

Oba is recognized as the Father of Control Line Flying.  His biography can also be found on the AMA history site here:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/StClair.pdf

Charles A. Mackey, Fellow & Associate Historian, AMA, Wrote the biography.  His book, “Pioneers of Control Line Flying also contains Oba's bio.

Charles’ Biography can be found here:

http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=1531.0

And at the AMA history site here:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/Mackey.pdf

Why not check them both out.


To my knowledge the record flight of 1957 still stands.

 

[catdaddy]

"When the Prop Spinners of Eugene, Oregon, set their world record of 64 hours and 33 minutes of sustained flight on September 3, 1957, Oba was club technical adviser and one of the 13 pilots."

Oba's Biography can be found here:

 http://obastclair.com/index.html

Oba is recognized as the Father of Control Line Flying.  His biography can also be found on the AMA history site here:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/StClair.pdf

Charles A. Mackey, Fellow & Associate Historian, AMA, Wrote the biography.  His book, “Pioneers of Control Line Flying also contains Oba's bio.

Charles’ Biography can be found here:

http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=1531.0

And at the AMA history site here:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/Mackey.pdf

Why not check them both out.


To my knowledge the record flight of 1957 still stands.

 

Well I was off a little, but 64 hrs is still incredible. This however was an unofficial event correct? I think there is and always has been a tank limit in the official AMA endurance event.

[De Hill]

Oba's Biography can be found here:

 http://obastclair.com/index.html

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Tom,

Thank you for posting Oba St. Clair's website. My picture is in there in the Gallery along with Miss Shirley and Charles Mackey.

I had forgotten all about that!         

[catdaddy]

Oba's Biography can be found here:

 http://obastclair.com/index.html

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Tom,

Thank you for posting Oba St. Clair's website. My picture is in there in the Gallery along with Miss Shirley and Charles Mackey.

I had forgotten all about that!         

By golly that is you. The first time I saw that I looked right past you! It's amazing what darker hair and a few less pounds can do for a person 

[minnesotamodeler]

I dunno, getting up with a wildly tailheavy plane can make a flight SEEM like the longest in the world...

[Russell Shaffer]

So we are talking about the LONGEST flight versus the longest OFFICIAL BY THE RULES flight?  If you had enough pilots and fuel, I guess it would come down to the longest lasting engine.

[Steve Helmick]

In those days, the AMA Rules didn't limit the refueling or tank size, so it was indeed how long the engine/glowplug/pilots could tolerate. I don't think the engine or glowplug gave up the program, just the pilots had enough fun.  Since that record was set, the AMA (and CD's and rules writers) decided that it would make more sense to require all fuel to be onboard, and limited the tank sizes.  I suspect so that records could be set at a contest, instead of at a special record trials, but also to make it more interesting. Did it work? Probably not, tho we did have an Endurance Record Attempt at Stunt-A-Thon in '07.   

Extracted from the rules, online:

"reciprocating internal combustion type with total
piston displacement from .0900 to .3661 cubic
inches. Sixty percent of the actual piston
displacement of four-stroke cycle engines shall
be taken for compliance with this regulation.
Jet assist, catapult, or other launching device not
permitted.
4. Fuel Capacity. The maximum fuel capacity
permitted is 30 cubic centimeters. This capacity
is to be checked through the use of an accurate
system by visual examination of the volume of
fuel put into the tank(s) and fuel lines. All
lubrication shall be contained in the fuel, and
may not be recirculated. Capacity checks shall be
made before the first attempts, and shall be
verified after a winner or record is established."

30cc's is pretty close to 2 fluid oz, as I recall.    Steve

[Leonard Rennick]

30cc is 1.044 oz

Leonard

[L0U CRANE]

>>4. Fuel Capacity. The maximum fuel capacity permitted is 30 cubic centimeters.

Steve,

As Leonard Rennick points out, 30 cc is purty close to one fl oz...

The "one fl oz" limit came in, I believe, with the current (2007-08) Rules. Prior to that, it was 4.0 fl oz, and the Open Class Record was somewhat over 2hr 40min, ASIR. I think the change had the intention of stirring interest in a specialty contest or record event, where neither the fliers nor the organizers had to expect single flights to consume an hour or more.

I had, at one time, interest in challenging that record, which I may have mentioned here, or in another site or so. Got a DDD converted Max 10, much mod'd,  to burn fuel at a rate of around 60 minutes per fl oz. ..on the bench... Never really tested whether or not I could translate that to a consistent feed over the full 4 fl oz, without having various deposits or crud drift it off to some unusable extent.

DID, however, get over 45 min in the air on ~2 fl oz on a DDD'd Fox 15 BBSchn, much modified. Learned much about short term weather shifts and the human knee's reaction to shuffling around like that, that long... The 'project vehicle' was a TF kit Flite Streak, and the slow speed - at the very economical needle and comp trim - required a high angle of attack, and considerable nose-out yawed attitude to sustain controlled level flight. The other 2 fl oz were still in the tank when it flamed out empty: that's how much yaw it needed to keep any pretense of "control authority."

With things we've learned in the 20+ years since I was toying with "endurance" by AMA rules, I think we could get some impressive times under the current rule.

I vaguely remember when the team-effort was made. Changing pilots and reloading fuel put the emphasis on different things, like how long the glow plug will last... I think the first time AMA posted CL Endurance rules, the requirements included one pilot through the entire flight, and no refueling during the flight. There are other little details, like taking off within three laps to have a flight deemed offifcial. On limited fuel, power settings are so marginal that getting airborne w/in 3 isn't a sure thing...

[FLOYD CARTER]

The C/L duration record is documented on www.flyinglines.org.

The model was a modified CHIEF OTS with a K&B 35 engine.

The model is still on display at Eugene Toy & Hobby in Eugene, OR

Floyd in Eugene OR