Control line - Cox .049 L'il Wizard - on 52 ft lines!

We're not sure why anyone would actually want to fly a 1/2A model on 52 ft. lines, but the only way to confirm whether the L"il Wizard is capable or not - was to give it a try!

It works! Sort of... The line tension is almost non-existent, but the lines never actually went slack in three flights. There is quite a delay in control response - not sure what causes this - perhaps it's the extreme curve in the lines, as seen in the video. Who knows?

Engine is a Cox Babe Bee. The lines are 52ft of 30lb. test "Spiderwire".

[ronrichardson]

I also flew this plane on 52ft lines . It had good speed when tuned properly. I used a .049 black widow with a 6- 4 prop .spent many fun filled summer afternoons as a kid with this aircraft. Still dream about it from time to time

[pdspartner]

My dad built this for me when I was an 8 year old. It was the first "Ukee" I ever flew. I am 67 years old now and I have the plane my dad built for me hanging in my workshop! Thanks for the memories!!

[videogeekin]

I first built this kit in 1973, it cost about $15. This Carl Goldberg kit goes for over $100 today, 50 years later.

[robinboucherwonderfulflight]

Thanks for posting this. I always wondered about the 52 feet line claim. You proved it can!

[beachbarlouie]

I was one of Dale Kern's students. Back in the 70s he visited our model airplane club and helped us compete. I almost broke his record of a 101mph for a teedee .049. These race engines he taught me to build uses a one sided blade with a reverse crank. We also used an inside wing fuel bladder to pressurize the fuel. Just like when you started your model and the engine was going to wrong way and you had to stop it. The reverse crank makes it turn the prop in the opposite direction. This reduces the drag on the plane because you don't need the rudder to hold the lines tight. Then a reverse one blade prop. For a one blade prop you need to cut off half of the propeller in such a fashion that the stub can hold a lead weight. Then you streamline and balance the propeller. This lets the tiny cox engine rev super high. The Model airplane stuff I learned and enjoyed is with me to this day and has helped my critical thinking.

[ernestbarcella]

Nothing but a lot of fun, perhaps the beginning of a long life aviation career, , Cox 049 an American Classic World Wide !!!

[laybackfixorsmash]

Awesome, built this one with my dad in the 90s. Flew really good compared to the plastic cox rtf. Glad to see it stilling bringing fun.

[grimreaper]

Haven't seen one of these in years. Thanks for sharing. Built one 15-20 years ago for my niece to learn and doubled the thickness of all the control surfaces. Powered it with an Enya .09 on 42 ft. lines and it flew like a wild banshee.

[howardwilliams]

I've flown 1/2 combat planes with Fora's on 52' lines, but that's a whole different animal. Super cool, thanks for sharing.

[bluetopguitar]

The wizard was the first control line I really learned to fly on. Better than my Cox mustang I wrecked on the first flight. I had a bunch of 049 stunt planes when I was a kid in the 1970s. Awesome fun.

[charleshill]

Crazy line length. Probably alot of fun keeping it in the air!

[steveb]

My Cub Scout pack built 3 of these back in the spring of 1973. Once finished, we had a picnic where all of them had their maiden flight. One caught fire, another crashed badly and the third flew half way around and the engine came off. That’s the one I got. I was hooked.

[LatitudeSky]

Nice to see this. I had wanted an RC plane since I was old enough to know what they were. But really wanted to fly RC helicopters. They were supposed to be really hard so I figured fly fixed wing first. By around age 12, I had finally saved up enough money plus bus fare, just barely, to go buy a Cox 049 control line plane. I proudly took it home figuring I would learn how to use it and show off. What actually happened... Built the plane, did all the stuff the manual said, got the Cox fuel, and so forth. And I sort of tied it down to do a test fire on the engine. The engine fired up and roared like crazy and quit after about five seconds. I was never able to get it to fire again. Tried everything. It was dead. No idea why. Tinkered with it but nothing changed. Had nobody to ask for help and no money to buy a new one so I just quietly put it all away before my family could ask where my flying show was. Never told them I killed the plane. Just blamed bad weather or whatever. They forgot about it and the plane ended up in the trash. Never had another flying thing until I got a DJI drone 40 years later. Successfully flew that for almost 2 years with no crashes before selling it to pay medical bills. Not a ton of skill of course. I was just a very careful pilot thanks to being told when I was kid that I'd just crash and to expect it. Showed them!

[jims]

My friends and I first learned to fly this airplane, then we could fly the Cox PT-19 without crashing it! Brings back a wonderfull summer from 50 years ago!

[simongrey]

I had one of these in the early 70s. Probably the best flier of the Goldberg kits. It came with a cambered wing and the break away firewall. After the first few flights most of us threw away the break away firewall.

[briansturges]

This was my first flying model in 1983- such great memories. Landings on grass were never pretty, but that solid balsa airframe could sure take the punishment.

[SSmith-fmkg]

Had a Goldberg Li'l Jumpin' Bean that I built as a kid. We were flying it and it crashed, breaking the right leading edge spar. I broke off the entire right wing, fueled it back up with Missile Mist, cranked the Thimble Drome .049 back up, and the plane flew perfectly with just the left wing. Awesome.

[DelK]

Thank you for including a "pilot's view" of the same flight and landing. Though the aircraft is clearly well trimmed and balanced, it took a fistful of "full up" to achieve the landing we got!

[rapidrrobert]

I grew up in this time period. Memories.

[toddfrendell]

Why do I keep watching you guys? Because I just want to say, "lean in that engine 'til it screams" ? YES! More power, folks, common.