Rubber powered C/L?

[Robert McHam]

I saw this on an auction site and never gave rubber power any thought as to control line. Seems not to have caught on.

Any experiences or thoughts regarding this?  Any one bought one of these kits or participated in rubber power C/L?

Robert

[Robert McHam]

Just trying to figure this thing out. Was this kitted in response to some hobby magazine's article or could it be a kit Mfg. trying to get a new facet started in the hobby?

I can picture some kid in a hobby shop seeing such a kit and them thinking that for half the price of a regular C/L kit and not having to buy motor to go with the kit...

What if this idea had really caught on and there were say speed and scale and duration events what that might be like?  I sure cannot imagine a stunt routine based on rubber power.. or could there?

Robert

[Marvin Denny]

  In the mid to late 30s, and up to the mid 40s I remember some "tethered" rubber speed going on, and I even built a few.  I do not remember the name nor brand of kits they were,  but I DO remember what happened to the fuselage  if yopu wound the rubber too tight.
  There was a pole to which a line was attached such that it would follow the model around without wrapping the line up, and the other end  (about 15 feet if I remember correctly) connected to the  Right hand wing tip, or a leadout guide just slightly ahead of the wing LE.  Timing started from release of the model and went for four or five laps I think.  Planes flew clock wise

  Bigiron

[Robert McHam]

That is interesting. Clockwise seems natural because of the high torque from the larger props.

I can see a more natural progression to C/L from tether.

I sure would have liked to see such modeling. Growing up I was the only modeler I knew.


robert

[LARRY RICE]

I think that this was a 1943 attempt to keep control line going when engines and fuel was not available. Jim Walker made the "Whip Powered" models that used a fishing pole in place of the motor to power his control line models. This kit offers a lot of options but it was not very popular.
Larry

[Garf]

The first thing resembling C/L flying was in fact F/F models tethered to a pole, RTP or round the pole flying. This preceded C/L as we know it.

[Jim Thomerson]

I have an old magazine with plans for a rubber powered CL airplane.  Some one flew one (same airplane, I think) at a VSC some years ago.  Just around in a circle a few laps. 

[john e. holliday]

Hi Jim,  I remember seeing that at VSC and if I remember right it was Charley Bruce our ignition engine man.  DOC Holliday

[De Hill]

There was a rubber powered stunter (an actual kit built airplane) at the VSC 10 or so years ago. The powers that be had no idea what to do with it, so they asked if we would judge it over in the ignition circle.

It would not fly in the wind worth a hoot, and the total flight time might have been 40 seconds. It would do large loops and an off center wingover, and had a flat bottomed airfoil as I remember. It was produced as something to sell to the kids at that time. (poor kids like me who couldn't afford an engine)

I think that it was a Comet kit. ( no, a Scientific kit!)

[Robert McHam]

I agree that this would be an introductory model for those who could not afford an engine or possibly as stated, a model for when engines and fuel were not readily available. 

Quote by De Hill:
"There was a rubber powered stunter (an actual kit built airplane) at the VSC 10 or so years ago. The powers that be had no idea what to do with it, so they asked if we would judge it over in the ignition circle."

Now that is truly funny! I bet the officials had that "deer in the headlights" look on their faces!
Still if you think about it, wouldn't a rubber power event or two be challenging? I compare this with the junk yard event. Just suppose some club were to hold a rubber class? Mostly for something uniquely different and at the same time a true challenge in every sense of the word. I'm thinking golden era racers for example. Judging could include both distance covered and speed. Could single blade props be a great possibility? Probably not for C/L as the single blade props generally swung a bigger arc than their multiblade cousins.
Ahh! That's just me thinking out loud I guess.

Regardless, the rubber powered C/L is an interesting facet of this hobby that before now, I had no knowledge of and perhaps others can now be aware of.

Jim, I would love to get a scan of that article and plan if you come across it!

Robert

[minnesotamodeler]

I saw this on an auction site and never gave rubber power any thought as to control line. Seems not to have caught on.

Any experiences or thoughts regarding this?  Any one bought one of these kits or participated in rubber power C/L?

Robert

So why, on the box art, is there a cylinder head sticking out of the cowl?

[Robert Mathison]

 ROBERT,  I think my buddy and I were in the 5th grade and were trying to fly C/L when we came up with getting a A-J HORNET, it was rubber powered and converted from free flight to C/L.  we would fly it in his living room, and this is how we learned to fly C/L  that was 58 yrs. ago and still think back over the years how things have changed.

                           BOB

[Charlie Pate]

We had a club event using AJ Hornets
ROG and I forget how many laps ;total time
It was well received .everyone had a blast

[Robert McHam]

So why, on the box art, is there a cylinder head sticking out of the cowl?

As was pointed out in another thread I started about the Moon-Liner, box art sells and may not be 100% accurate in appearance. Case in point, go to Burger sling and get one of their sandwiches and carefully unwrap it and then hold it up so that you can see both it and the picture on the menu at the same time. The first thing one will notice is that the real deal does not stand nearly as tall or as proud as its picture suggests...

I bet that if a young lad way back when would be proud to have a fake plastic cylinder (which may actually included in the kit, who knows) so that their plane looked IC powered when finished. after all for scale rubber kits many have fake cylinders for looks only (scale effect) which no one truly expects to fire up and go vrrroom.

As for this particular box I understand that there are options for both rubber power or Co2 so this may be why there is a cylinder shown on the box. This is the most likely answer.

Robert