cheap control rods

by cade861 | February 5, 2013 | (19) Posted in Tips

I found that the flag that people use to flag off anything in the ground or even a foundation for house make a great push rod there not very heavy and fairly stiff they do have give to them so if its to much distance either the ziptie or straw works amazingly well. they can be a little hard to bend but for around $10 for 100 of 30" long control rods you cant beat that. and readily available at most hardware stores or farm stores.

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COMMENTS

Mizzster D Double-a on February 5, 2013
Wow i thought i am the only one that use this flag lol,
I really love it, i used it since i was started to get in to RC(first rc plane scratch build), this was the first control rods that i can find locally at that time. than later on i started to explore the Hobby store around my area. But overall this is a great method and cheap to get my Aileron flapping ;)
Really Recommend it.
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Miracle Air on February 5, 2013
Genius! I'm doing this.
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leadpipe58 on February 6, 2013
How thick are they? The min connectors by dubor will take A .047" rod.Will these work?
Great tip.
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cade861 on February 6, 2013
im not sure i dont have a micrometer to measure them so maybe somebody that does can chime in on what they are. they work nicely though I have used them on all my scratch built planes i have done I found that if it doesnt fit in the control arm I take a section of the rod heat it up and slide it through and makes the hole the perfect size.
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Tactical Ex on January 3, 2014
i cant find the packaging right now but the marker flags I found in the trash fit this item perfectly.

GPMQ3801 2-56 12 pcs.

http://www.greatplanes.com/accys/gpmq3710.html
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earthsciteach on February 6, 2013
You can drop them like lawn darts from RC planes, too.
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cade861 on February 6, 2013
yes flitetest has done that as well it was a good epsiode and another use for them.
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panther3001 on February 6, 2013
I never thought of this. very cool idea. I'm buying some for this purpose now :)

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rc me on February 7, 2013
thats what i yous
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mattplaneflyer on February 8, 2013
great idea!
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casehatter on February 9, 2013
Yea man I use them they do fine as long as you keep them as short as you can, but I've used long ones with a tie strap mid way. They work pretty good. Don't use them on a 3D plane though.
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Kiowa Mech on February 10, 2013
I have also used the "ribs" of old umbrellas for push rods. They are light weight and pretty strong
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MIdwestGoof on August 28, 2013
Just curious as to how they are named on package for search, when approaching local hardware or industrial supplier?
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cade861 on August 28, 2013
Most places just call them "marking flags"
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Navet97 on September 15, 2015
Great tip, I use these as well!
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nashville337 on February 15, 2016
I have been told that the spokes in bicycle rims are great to use and the threads fit the DuBro threaded connectors perfectly.
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cheap control rods