Control Line

Control Line is a simple, light way of flying a model aircraft, in which the model is connected to the operator by a pair of lines running to a handle, working the model's elevator to control its pitch and keeping the aircraft's flight confined to a hemispherical surface centred on the flier. The lines themselves are typically stranded stainless steel cable or solid metal wire between about 0.008 and 0.021 inches thick, though sewing thread or braided fishing line can substitute at the cost of extra air resistance; a third line is sometimes added to control the engine throttle, and further lines can work other functions such as landing gear or flaps on a scale model. A single wire variant called Monoline has the pilot twist the wire itself to turn an internal mechanism that adjusts the elevator, a less precise method than the two line system but one that reduces aerodynamic drag, making it attractive for speed flying; a model can also be flown control line without an engine at all, whip powered, with the pilot supplying the energy through lines attached to a fishing pole rod in a technique resembling kite flying. This wire guided practice is a distinct hobby from the live Free Flight Model Aircraft and Radio-Controlled Modeling entities already on this atlas.