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This brief piece from the
October 1950 issue of Air Trails magazine was a springboard into
articles on control line models for beginners. The
Peppy Trainer, for
example, is 28" wingspan, flat−bottom airfoil control line model with a solid
balsa fuselage and tail surfaces. It used a .09 engine - which would typically
be easier to adjust and keep running than a standard .049 engine. That article
also recommends more than a dozen other good trainer models to server both the
rank control line beginner and someone just getting into control line
aerobatics. Many have built-up fuselages, which the experts claim is best for
high precision maneuvers since the rigidity of the 3-dimensional structure
minimizes twisting, keeping the alignment between the wing and horizontal
stabilizer consistent. There are low-wing, mid-wing, and high-wing
configurations, both scale-like and non-scale, so a model airplane for just
about any taste is available.
Getting Off to a Good Start
 In model aviation, as in any other hobby or sport, starting right is half the
battle. With a majority of aeromodeling interest centered in control line flying,
most of the new recruits now start off in that phase of flying. It's fortunate,
then, that the American manufacturers have emphasized training-type sport models
to the point where the novice has a wide and appealing selection from which to choose.
On the next two pages Air Trails presents a representative group of 17 control-line
kit models which qualify as trainer-sport craft, and in some instances are capable
of moderate or advanced maneuvers. For the overseas readers who may not have the
benefit of our kit models, and for that relatively small band of enthusiasts who
build only from plans, we offer the Peppy Trainer which embodies many of the features
or the average primary trainer. It might well be described as the "All-American
PT" Model.
About the best word of advice that could be given to a newcomer is that he link
forces with an experienced flyer. Most modelers, when approached, are more than
willing to pass on their suggestions, and it's a wise recruit who has an experienced
man check over his control mechanism and the force and balance set-up of his ship
before that glistening new plane takes to the air. A good policy, too, is for the
novice to run his engine before the critical eye and ear of an expert.
Another good assurance of getting off to a good start is to seek out your nearest
model club. Get acquainted with all the modelers in your neighborhood. If you can't
locate a club, ask your dealer. And lastly, read with care all directions furnished-then
heed them.
Al Lewis(?)
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