OK Steve, here's what I did to that plane you gifted me

[Tim Wescott]

So's I don't hijack another thread:

Uh-oh....post pictures of the damage, Tim. What happened? Have you been using the tacho to set the launch rpm or setting it by ear again? LUKE, USE THE TACH!   Steve

More like USE YOUR BRAIN, LUKE.  It wasn't pilot error of the "I wasn't good enough to fly the plane" sort.  It was pilot error of "I know this is going to come out some time, but I really wish it wouldn't" sort.

Do you know how line clips can get all cockeyed at the handle?  I narrowed up the lines at the handle because the plane was flying great but the pilot was being twitchy, and I got the down line clip wedged.  DO NOT attempt to fix this sort of problem in flight!  And if you do, even if your first five tries don't actually crash the plane, don't keep trying!  Just fly the thing out!  I'm going to spend way more time fixing than the six or seven minutes I would have just flying out the tank...

Only four smithereens were generated: the right wing, two fragments of wing ribs, and the fuselage (which is cracked behind the wing) with the left wing (which has two cracked spars).  Thank goodness for saturated ground!

[Howard Rush]

Put some latex tubing over the clips.  You can get it from a fishing supplies store or a combat flier.  Use isopropanol for lube.

[Steve Helmick]

Sometimes, you just need to untwist the lines (individually). I've never had trouble with a TED handle and the appropriate "paperclip" type of line clips as made with a Derek Moran clip maker. Not that a latex overcoat wouldn't be a good safety measure... Steve

[Tim Wescott]

I'm certain that this isn't because of the lines getting twisted as I picked up the handle -- I'm pretty sure (and embarrassed, too!) that I never got the down line straight after I adjusted the spacing.

[Steve Helmick]

Tim, I was talking about the lines being twisted individually (you know, like D.Dirt), not twisted together. Those lines (I gave you) are pretty old, and I'm not 100% sure that I untwisted them individually. I did untwist the Eagle's lines, sometime last season. Some say that doing this will reduce the tendency for the (any) line clips to do that "twist & lock" thang. I think the spacing was about 3.25", and it took me awhile to gradually get them out that far spread from 2.5" after changine the flap/elev. ratio to 1:1. Another thought, while it might make sense to narrow the spacing in high heat, or high altitude (or both), you might have gone the wrong direction.  Steve

[Tim Wescott]

Tim, I was talking about the lines being twisted individually (you know, like D.Dirt), not twisted together. Those lines (I gave you) are pretty old, and I'm not 100% sure that I untwisted them individually. I did untwist the Eagle's lines, sometime last season. Some say that doing this will reduce the tendency for the (any) line clips to do that "twist & lock" thang. I think the spacing was about 3.25", and it took me awhile to gradually get them out that far spread from 2.5" after changine the flap/elev. ratio to 1:1. Another thought, while it might make sense to narrow the spacing in high heat, or high altitude (or both), you might have gone the wrong direction.  Steve

I've made it part of my routine to untwist the lines individually each time I put them on the airplane: I put them on the plane, unwind them from the reel, walk back to the airplane, walk the lines out to anti-Dan them (uh - I mean untwist them) both individually and as a pair, then I put on the handle.

Yes, it's excessive.  But I either do something all the time, or I forget it forever.

[tom brightbill]

Hey Tim, would slightly larger holes in the handle have helped?

[john e. holliday]

Being easy on the handle would be a much better help.  I too have a tendency to over control too many times.  Sometimes you may catch me talking to myself about it while flying.

[Tim Wescott]

Here's the damage done to the plane, and a shot of the position of the line in the handle for folks who can't visualize it (I know I don't think I'm describing it well!).

Tom, bigger holes in the handle wouldn't have helped.  Not having a hole in my head, now...

[tom brightbill]

Ah, got it now.... no, bigger holes wouldn't have helped. I like Howard's idea.