Control Line: Racing
Bill Lee
I've been writing this column for a little over five years now. In that time it has often been a lot of fun — and at times somewhat difficult. I've tried to be informative, witty, smart — whatever a columnist is "supposed" to be. Sometimes I have succeeded; probably more often I have not. In any case, every two months I sit down (usually at the last minute) and crank out a column that has some remote bearing on Control Line racing. Each column is usually made up of information that has come to me over the previous couple of months. I do get material from readers occasionally, but mostly what you see written here is my own words from my own experiences.
The last couple of columns I wrote were reports of my travels and activities — things that have been consuming my free time. In those pieces I poked a little fun at a few people I consider friends. I never intended for anyone to take offense; none was meant. If you read my column and are offended, please accept my apologies and then let me know what is on your mind. I hope I'm a smart enough person to recognize when I'm wrong, but I sure will never admit I'm wrong unless I know about it! If you don't like what I'm saying, don't just sit back and grumble — write me. As I said years ago, this column can and should be a forum for ideas and opinions — and not necessarily just mine. But how can I present others' ideas if they are never presented to me?
Frank — fuel-filter troubleshooting
There is a well-known racing/stunt-combat flier named Frank who lives near Houston. Frank is a good ol' boy, an aeronautical engineer from the University of Texas, and a real competitor. He races a lot, is very competitive in Slow Rat, and has just recently built a Fast Rat.
Frank used to run a K&B .58 in his old Slow Rat and had set up a remote needle valve behind the engine, with only an inlet stub under the carb up front. Like a smart flier, Frank used a fuel filter in the fuel feed system to keep everything clean. Yet he always seemed to have trouble getting the needle setting right. One day he gave up in disgust, sold the .58 and the plane, and built a new Rat.
The old plane later showed up in the hands of a newcomer who had nearly the same problems that had plagued Frank. Upon inspection the problem was obvious: the fuel filter had been installed in the wrong place. The lesson — check your fuel-system layout and be sure the filter is located correctly relative to the needle and carburetor so you don't get unpredictable mixture and needle-setting trouble.
John — the inverted controls
Another Houston flier, John, is a fiercely competitive racer and a top-notch builder — some of the best-looking stunt airplanes around. He was flying an old Slow Rat that he kept in excellent shape until one April, when a Houston pilot let the plane balloon on landing and wrecked it. John had to build a new Slow Rat.
John and Frank carefully jigged up a block of foam and cut cores for the new wing. John installed all the controls, sheeted the wing and was building the fuselage. He was even using a template to know exactly where the leadouts would be when he cut access openings in the bottom wing sheeting. Then the trouble: the sheeting stuck to some foam and wouldn't come loose until John gave the wing a few sharp taps. When he picked it up the bottom had sagged an inch.
Thinking the leadouts might be loose inside, he shook the wing and heard them — but they were in the outboard wing! John had done such a nice job that he had installed the controls on the wrong side and ended up with an upside-down wing. Maybe someday we'll come up with "Inverted Slow" and John's plane will be perfect for it.
Ric — Quickie Rat built upside down
Ric, who bought Frank's old .58-powered Slow Rat, is a relative newcomer to Control Line racing. He'd been a sport flyer until about three years ago and has come a long way since. In Texas we fly an event called Quickie Rat, designed around profile Rat racers that are easy to build and fly — so easy you can build one in a night and fly it the next morning. It was meant to be fun, not cutthroat.
Ric, however, built a pretty neat development-style Rat and hyped it heavily before heading to the Southwesters in Dallas over Labor Day. When he brought the new "Quickie" out for show-and-tell, something looked strange: the wing was glued in upside down. He had the prettiest flat-topped airfoil you've ever seen — a classic case of building in your sleep.
Anonymous Houston racer — backward drive washer
One more item: a Houston racer (who asked to remain anonymous) was flying Slow Combat in Louisiana and managed to put the drive washer on his Fox engine backwards. When he hit his opponent's string (a dumb thing to do in Slow Combat), the string followed the shape of the washer right into the front bearing and packed the ball race full. I always thought the rough side was supposed to face the front. Lesson: check the orientation of drive washers and other small parts before flying.
Lessons and requests
- Check fuel-system plumbing and filter placement — an incorrectly located filter can ruin needle settings and ruin a day.
- Double-check control placement and templates before permanently sheeting or gluing surfaces.
- When building quick, simple models, don't cut corners on assembly checks — even easy kits can be installed upside down.
- Inspect small parts (washers, bearings, etc.) for correct orientation before flight.
If you have stories, questions, suggestions, or corrections, please write. This column should be a forum for ideas and opinions from all of us.
W. R. Lee 3522 Tamarisk Lane Missouri City, TX 77459
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
