CL Racing
Dave McDonald, Box 384, Daleville IN 47334; E-mail: [email protected]
Newcomers
Not too long ago I received a memo requesting that this column deal at least in part with beginners. There are many thoughts on how to get new people into the hobby. As do other events, Control Line (CL) Racing needs newcomers to thrive.
What should a new person consider to determine if Racing is what he or she is looking for?
Racing is all about competition. Events such as Stunt have high levels of competition and you will see many people out sport-flying. You will not find many people out sport-flying their Scale Racers or F2C models.
Racing is just what it says: racing. This involves competition; therefore, you should be a competitive person if you are interested in trying these events.
If you are a competition-oriented person and would like to give Racing a shot, find a mentor—or at least someone you can ask questions. Better yet, find a couple of people and see what kind of answers you get on the same topic from different sources.
A big thing to remember is that we were all beginners at one time, so don't be afraid to ask any question you have. There are no stupid questions.
Go to a few contests, and just watch, listen, and learn. You can learn something from everyone.
You must realize that to be successful, you will have to dedicate time and energy to practice. The more you practice, the more success you will have.
I suggest that you practice with a purpose; have a goal you want to achieve. See how specific propellers work, check and see how adding or removing a head shim affects the performance, or work on pit stops.
Above all, take notes. Write down how certain things worked at certain temperatures, etc. Do not leave it to memory.
Stewart Willoughby's Little Quickie AMA Scale Racer. Stoo probably has the finest airplane in the class at this time. Notice the one-blade propeller.
Events suitable for newcomers
- Fox Racing
- Fox Racing is simple, and it's a good beginner's event.
- The engines are all Stock Stunt Fox .35s, the airplanes are good-size and handle the wind fairly well, and there is no trick equipment required to become successful.
- See the January 1993 Model Aviation "Control Line Racing" column for a drawing of an outstanding Fox Racing tank.
- The Fox Racing class also provides a good opportunity to learn three-up racing; you will learn how to get around a circle in traffic. Most people have no problems flying airplanes by themselves, but they do have problems learning what to do when others are in the circle with them.
- Fox Racing speeds are in the 80–85 mph bracket—extremely manageable for the newcomer.
- Quickie Rat
- After you learn the basics of flying a Fox Racer, try the Quickie Rat event. These airplanes are simple to build and easy to fly.
- You will be stepping up the performance factor to roughly 100 mph, which is still very manageable.
- Along with the shutoff, you will learn about and use a hot-starting system. The pitman utilizes contacts on his fingers from a battery to assist in the quick starting of the engine. It can be as complex as two contacts on one finger—usually the thumb—or the more conventional style of one contact on the index finger and the other on the thumb.
- You will also get very familiar with the quick fill: a rubber valve that allows the tank to be filled with minimal time loss.
- Probably the biggest challenge in this event is learning about propellers. While Fox Racing mandates stock props, Quickie Rat allows you to utilize any of them. This means you will learn about working a prop down to achieve the best performance available.
- Props in this class are usually carbon or fiberglass. Realize that you will ruin a few props before you find the best one. When you do find it, make notes of the length, pitch at the various stations, thickness at the root, and the shape.
- AMA Scale Racing and Slow Rat
- After you have become proficient in the preceding events, step up to AMA Scale Racing or Slow Rat.
- Scale Racing airplanes are powered by .15-size engines. Flying is done two-up; speeds are approximately 125 mph, and the engines produce a great deal of horsepower.
- You will be learning about pressure fuel systems—specifically, how to refuel and start an engine running crankcase pressure. You will learn quickly that it is extremely easy to flood an engine and how difficult a hot flooded engine can be to restart.
- Scale Racing is an event where you will be running interval contests in a confined area, so your building skills will become more important. The quality of the airframe in Scale Racing is starting to make more of a difference. You will learn to build light, strong, and straight if you want to be competitive.
- F2C (Team Racing)
- By now you are no longer a beginner, but a seasoned veteran. You say you would like to have a real challenge? F2C is for you.
- This is a world-class event. You will have the opportunity to become a member of the US team and represent this country at international competitions. You will be competing at the highest level. CL Racing has to offer racing against the best in the world.
- This class is not for the faint of heart; it requires intense dedication, attention to detail, and for you to focus all your modeling know-how on a specific event.
- Although good equipment is available on the market, there is no guarantee that you will have success just because you purchased good ready-built airplanes. Notice I did not use the term ready-to-fly.
- Even though the airplanes you can buy come with lines attached, they have never been ready to fly—at least by my standards.
- The controls usually need to be freed up, balance needs checked, tip weight typically needs added, shutoffs need adjusted to specific ticks, and the exit area for the flying lines usually needs modification to prevent lines from kinking during a catch.
- So the next time you hear someone say, "well, he bought it," just grin and remember all the work that goes into that airplane—not to mention the countless hours of practice.
- In F2C you will learn more about engines than you ever dreamed. You will learn how to set a diesel, mix fuel, and to know when the engine is overcompressed (hard) or undercompressed (soft).
- Since this is a team event, you will learn more about your partner than you ever imagined. You will become so focused that you will know what each other is going to do before he or she does it.
- Although the pitman is extremely important in all the racing events, in F2C the pitman needs to be as much a reflection of the pilot. The pitman will learn to read the pilot. Can he/she handle the stress? Is he/she behind the airplane?
- Team members will learn about being amateur weather experts; diesels are very susceptible to weather changes. You will learn to pay attention to the clouds, the sun, and any rises in ambient temperature. A setting on a cool morning will likely be of no use in the hot afternoon.
- You will have to make setting decisions based on who is in your heat, how they fly, and whether you are likely to be the fast or slow airplane. Learn to make pit selection a part of the race strategy.
- You will know that the best plans can be useless if you have made a wrong decision in your race preparation.
- However, if you have dedicated yourself and made the right decisions, there is no greater feeling than that of placing well in F2C.
Physical fitness
A big mistake people overlook is physical fitness. If you are not in good shape, you will not be able to thrive in some of these events.
For Racing, Quickie Rat, and most of the AMA events you can be competitive if you are in average shape, but F2C requires you to be in extremely good physical condition.
If you are in poor shape, you are fooling yourself and your teammate; you won't be able to perform at an acceptable level.
Final thoughts
All this is only a fraction of the information a newcomer should know. It would be possible to write a book on the knowledge a beginner should have.
However, it cannot be overemphasized how important it is to ask questions, seek out different opinions, watch, and practice the amount needed to become proficient in Racing.
Are you a member of the National Control Line Racing Association (NCLRA)? If not, join today.
Dues are $10 in the US; $12 outside the US. Send your dues to Dick Lambert, 4651 Ridgewood Ave., Port Orange FL 32127.
As always, your comments are solicited and appreciated.
—Dave McDonald
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
