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How to Convert a Control Line Model Airplane to RC

Many RC pilots started in the hobby with a control line plane. Control line planes were made popular by .049 ci engines. In the mid 1970s plastic control line models were very common and inexpensive compared to their RC counterparts. Control line planes have a fixed vertical stabilizer and no throttle control for the motor. The only control the pilot has is up and down via the elevator. Larger control line planes were balsa built and covered with tissue paper. Internally, the control lines attach to a bell-crank that translated the line movements into elevator movement.

Things You'll Need

Receiver
Servo
On-board battery pack
Switch harness
Pushrods

Instructions

- 1
  Mount a servo in the wing or fuselage that will allow you to attach pushrods to the elevator bell-crank. Leaving the bell-crank and elevator pushrod in place prevents you from having to open up the fuselage.
- 2
  Attach the pushrods to the bell-crank and the servo arm. Make the rods adjustable by putting "V" bends in the pushrods or by using adjustable mounts on the servo arms.
- 3
  Install the receiver in the fuselage. Wrap the receiver in foam rubber to protect it in a crash. Plug the servo into Channel 2 for elevator control. Route the antenna wire through the fuselage and attach it to the fixed vertical stabilizer.
- 4
  Mount the on-board battery pack inside the fuselage. Mount the pack firmly; you do not want it to shift in flight.
- 5
  Mount the switch harness to the fuselage so you can turn the system on and off easily. The harness will have a connector so you can charge the on-board battery; keep this connector accessible.

Aviation