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This is the site that Dave Kidd invited me to
view and which was referred to on the last ModelFlight. It's
title says it all, really, because nostalgia is what it is all about.
The site very accurately proclaims itself to be
"a nostalgic review of control line model aeroplane flying in
Australia covering its golden years, the nineteen fifties and sixties,
right up until today".
  And
nostalgia is what hits you as soon as the huge opening page comes up on
your screen - as you can see from this massively reduced view, running
right down the length of the page is a strip of wonderful old pictures
that just ooze the stuff! Take also this picture of 15-year old
schoolboy Dave pictured with his Thunderbird in 1953, which is taken
from a nice article by him recounting his almost 50 years in the sport.
There are many aspects of the sport dealt with
in this review, which has been contributed to by a considerable number
of enthusiasts, each with a story to tell. Topics covered include
Personalities, Engines, What control line is, Organisations and a very
interesting item entitled "What went wrong", being an
explanation of "why control line has declined from the most
successful form of aeromodelling to become a rare speciality
today". In addition, there's an on-line forum, links and an
explanation of each of the categories in control line flying -
aerobatics, racing, combat and speed. I must say, team racing sounds
hairy in the extreme!
The review does come right bang up to date,
though, with a report of the recent Australian National Championships
which were also covered here  on
ModelFlight on issue 34. This shot of Bob Fry and Ric Bellis at
practice really catches something of the intensity and concentration
that goes into flying these machines and, despite the comparative rare
specialisation of this branch of the hobby, it's clear that there are
still a lot of young devotees who will not let it die!
There's one other thing I must show you that I
thought was really novel! There's a page on the site entitled Aeromodelling
Postcards from which you can send a postcard over the Internet to
anywhere from Australian Contol Line Nostalgia. All you do is select a
picture from the ten on offer and follow the simple step-by-step
procedures. Great fun! The lucky recipient then receives an e-mail
giving him/her an address from which the postcard can be collected and
the sender receives a thank you from ACLN for using the service. Here's
one for all ModelFlight readers!
Congratulations are due to Dave and his friends
in the sport for a wonderful documentary on control line flying. Visit
the site and I'm sure you will enjoy it - I knew nothing about control line, but found it
fascinating.
http://www.dkd.net/clmodels
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