Bob Mears' lil' planes

Bob Mears of Lubbock, Texas, maintains an extensive museum of Combat and Combat-style airplanes. This photo shows three vintage beginners' kits and the planes built from them. See more about the Mears Combat museum. Bob Mears photo.

Jeff Cleaver's Sweet Sweep

Jeff Cleaver of Port Ludlow, Wash., has joined the vintage Combat plane fun with this Sweet Sweep. He explains:

Always admired swept-wing models. Acquired a Walter Umland kit several years ago. Worked off and on and finally finished model this summer. Definitely not your easy Combat build. Could have built half a dozen Voodoos or Sneekers in same amount of building time. Just duplicating the motor mount/center rib on band saw was time consuming. Ended up just building kit. Keeping warp free is also quite a challenge. Anyone who built these for Combat was part masochist. Gives me nothing but respect for 1950s modelers. With silk and dope finish, Johnson .35 and hard tank, weight is just a shade under 17 ounces. Flies much like a Flite Streak.
Jeff Cleaver photo.

Jess Walls' Dora

And now for something completely different!
Jess Walls of Gresham, Ore., likes to keep the fun in control-line flying with unusual projects. Here's his description of this one:

  My favorite plane is always the one I'm currently working on trimming! Once an airplane is trimmed and flying well it gets boring (or frightening depending on how I'm flying that day). This is my current obsession. It is "Dory" from the Disney movie "Finding Nemo." Hobby King sold these as RC planes a few years ago. They originally offered both Dory and Nemo. Neither is currently available through any source that I can find. Not even eBay. They flew OK as RC planes but I had a hard time seeing their orientation when they were farther away than about 40 feet. They were also designed to be 3-D planes and my flying skills were never up to that level. My solution was to convert it to control line. Now it is never farther than 40 feet away. They are made of EPP foam which is quite flexible and light weight, 19 oz. with battery. The wing span is about 24" and length is about 26." I am flying with RC throttle on 37-foot lines. The wing is just a flat plate. Dory will loop inside and outside (4-foot diameter!). She flies (swims) inverted about the same as upright. I am still dialing it in because it gets pretty light on the lines in overhead maneuvers. It has an "auto rudder" and without that, overheads are more of a free flight event. She doesn't like wind. Wheels are currently two in tandem because of the fuselage being so flexible even with 1/32" plywood doublers. She flies like a lightweight, low -powered, Bi-Slob. It is intended to be a sport plane, not a precision aerobatics model. Ask anyone who has seen it fly, it is fun and different.
Jess Walls photo.

The picture at right shows Dora in flight at the 2024 Zoot Ranch Fun Fly. Flying Lines photo.

Bill Whitney's Corsair

Bill Whitney of the Seattle area built this Corsair from a J-Roberts kit about 60 years ago. Bill adds:  "After high school, I phased out of model airplanes to begin my flying career.  And this was the last control line airplane I ever built. It recently got new paint, a new canopy and new prop. It has a Fox .36X motor with no throttle, so it was built with a two-line bellcrank." Bill Whitney photo.

Terry Mitchell's Baby Ringmaster

The Baby Ringmaster is a classic variation on the original Sterling Ringmaster, and people are still building them today for fun flying at local control-line fields. This one was built by Terry Mitchell of Winston, Ore. It's made from an Estes kit; wing is covered with Monokote and the rest is painted in Rustoleum. Engine is a Cox .049, of course! Terry Mitchell photo.

Jerry Eichten's Ringmaster 576

Jerry Eichten of Newberg, Ore., made the maiden flights on his new Ringmaster 576 at the 2026 Lucky Hand Fun Fly on June 20, 2026. The electric-powered plane is a Pat Johnston design. Flying Lines photo.

Don Curry's Fireball

Don Curry of the Northwest Fireballs built this vintage Jim Walker Fireball from a kit from the estate of the late Dave Royer of Portland, Ore. The Fireball was kitted between 1948 and 1950. The plane is finished with automotive paint and is powered by a K&B .18 Greenhead. Don plans to give the plane to Dave's widow, Alice Cotton-Royer, after it has been flown. Flying Lines photo.

Mike Haverly's JD Falcon

Mike Haverly of Auburn, Wash., flew to first place in Classic Stunt with this JD Falcon at the 2026 Jim Walker Memorial Spring Tune-Up in Portland, Ore. Flying Lines photo.

Colin McRae's Yak-9

Colin McRae, who lives in the San Franciso Bay area built this Yak-9. He explains the project:
I wanted to build a smaller warbird model and power it with a  our-stroke engine. I ended up selecting the Yak-9 with an OS .26 Surpass engine. The Brodak kit is a replica of the original Sterling model. In order to maintain Old-Time Stunt eligibility, I used fuselage-mounted landing gear and did not upgrade to wing-mounted gear and adding wing dihedral.
The four-stroke engine uses the stock OS carburetor and is set up with a manual throttle adjustment system where I can start the engine at 1/3 throttle for a brief warm up, then set to full speed for the takeoff and flight.
Vitals: Brodak (Sterling) Yak -9
; 40" wingspan
; Stock OS 26 Surpass 4-stroke engine
; APC 9-7 sport prop
; 10,000 rpm launch on 12.5% nitro VP Powermaster fuel
; 2-oz. oval profile uniflow tank
; ram air tank pressure (no muffler pressure)
; Operable flaps
; Carbon fiber pushrods with ball joints
; model weight 32 oz
.
Colin McRae photo.

Gabriel Cismondi's Gtres

Flying Lines reader FL reader Gabriel Cismondi of Rosario, Argentina, sent this picture of his latest Precision Aerobatics airplane, which is powered by a PA .61 engine with pipe and weighs 59 oz. Gapriel has won the Argentine nationals several times. Gabriel Cismondi photo.

Chris Cox's 2026 Hellcat

This is Chris Cox's 2026 Precision Aerobatics plane, an electric-powered Hellcat. Chris Cox photo.

Stan Olzaski's P40C

Stan Olzaski of Roseburg, Ore., flew this Pat Johnston-designed P40C 502 at Oregon Flying Fun No. 2 in Roseburg on Feb. 7, 2026. Power is a Badass 2814-870kv motor using a Badass 40 amp ESC. A Climb and Dive timer from Tindie allows for very graceful slow aerobatic flight. Flying Lines photo.

Mark Miller's All American

Mark Miller of Seal Beach, Calif., built this vintage Speed plane called the All American. Power is a McCoy .29 and control is monoline. Small photo shows early artwork for the original. Mark Miller photos.

David Loveday's Gieseke Nobler

David Loveday of Vancouver, B.C., built this Gieseke Nobler from a kit and powered by a vintage reworked Fox .35. It has and adjustible wing flap to elevator link and is covered with Monokote. David Loveday photo.

Steve Wolf's Magician 15

 Flying Lines reader Steve Wolf of Dallas, Texas, built this slightly modified Magician 15 with reverse bellcrank 1/4-inch control surfaces and closed front end. Engine is an O.S. .15FP with tongue muffler and adjustable tank. Steve Wolf photo.