Missileman

I am ready to maiden my Kadet Senior but have a problem.
The #64 rubber bands seem to short.
The wing root is 17".
I can with some struggle stretch strait accross the root but there is no way I can get any on diagonaly.
How tight should rubber bands be?
What suggestions do any of you have?

bbbair

#1 Tight is good.

#2 If you need a little more length, loop two together and now try out the length for the cross lock.

Just be careful on how long you make them if they are too loose then the wing will move in flight and all sorts of problems will arise,

shd3920

I was told there was a #67 size rubberband that is longer and what I need for my wings. But they are hard to find. Anyone know where to find rubberbands of this size???

I bought a box of #64 bands also and I can not put them on any of my wings, they will cut into the wood being so tight.

staggerwing

My Feedback: (5)

Call Sig. They have them by the pound. You will have to call because they don't have them in their on-line catalog. You can also often find them at hobby shops.

ArmedZagi

My Feedback: (1)

I attached a pic of a simple fix Ive used before. take a thin sheet of aluminum (you can buy it at lowes, ace, hobby lobby...etc), cut a small section out and glue it over the TE of the wing...works great and it doesnt add enough weigh to even notice.

AZ

Ken Erickson

MissleMan,

#67 s are answer #1.

I'm, not sure if the correct number is 32 or 62, but there is a size equal in width and thickness to the 64, but shorter. I have used bands made of one 64 and one of these, looped together, on my LT 40. Worked fine. Looping two 64 s, on the other hand, even 5 pairs, let the wing move arould. Managed to land a "swing wing" LT 40 after the wing swung to 45 degrees. Exiting.

Ken, AMA 19352

Missileman

Thanks for the tips,
The suggestion of the #67 rubber bands from SIG spawned me to get out my SIG catalog and have a look.
They have an accessory kit for the Kadet Senior with #69 rubber bands. I will have to call them in the morning.

mduslick

My Feedback: (1)

It confused me at first too, until I re-read the Building And Flying Instructions again. On page 26, they have a section on how to mount the wing the fuse with rubber bands... they recommend looping two #64's together as others have stated. I use 12 pairs of these on my Kadet Senior, and the wing stays on rock solid, and there have been some VERY windy days lately. But the Kadet flies beautifully!!!!!

Missileman

Sizes from SIG catalog:
#32 = 1/8 x 3
#62 = 1/4 x 2-1/2
#64 = 1/4 x 3-1/2
#67 = 1/4 x 5
#69 = 1/4 x 6 (recommended size for Senior)
HMM read the instructions you say? (I feel sorta dumb now)

OBrien Paul

Tight is good but at the same time if you had a hard landing with the wings hitting the ground (cart-wheel) then you want some kind of give so you don't break your wings in two i would recommend a slightly bigger sized rubber band, it is how i've always flown my trainer and its saved the wings several times.

Happy Flying
Paul

mduslick

My Feedback: (1)

Instructions?!?! We don't need no stinkin' instructions!

My MO... build first, read later, then saw, cut, and glue to fix the things I should have read about. You'd think I would have learned by now.

shd3920

Although it is very hard to find #67 rubber bands on the NET I have found a place called QUICKTECH HOBBY (rubber bands & hobby supplies) that probably have every size bands you would ever need, including 3 different package sizes of #67 relatively cheap. I do believe I will be ordering from them. Will check them out in more detail when I have the time.

Here they are . . .

http://www.quicktechhobby.com/Mercha...Code=APASIGRUB

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

Maybe I just have bad luck, but I'm always looking for #67 rubber bands since that's what I really need for my Kadet, and I've NEVER actually seen them anywhere. Everytime I try to order them from Sig, Tower, etc, they're out of stock. So, I just get by using #64s and pre-stretching them...And to add to armedzagi's suggestion, soda cans are your friend. I have a Mini Telemaster, on which the trailing edge of the wing was being crusehd by the rubber bands--I cut two pieces out of a coke can and folded them over the T.E.--no more crushing!

stupidscreenname

what size bands do you use on your kadet? how many? diagonal or front-to-back? I'm just finishing building my first kadet senior, and I've been mulling over converting to a bolt-down system or using bands.

bikerbc

You could put both systems in Bolts on wing and rubber band ,that way if you get past the rubber band stage you are good to go...I personaly prefer bolt on but then I don't cartwheel down the runway as often as I used to...

R/C Skyjumper

Just for your info -we hold the wings on ours with velcro straps and use the plane for a rc skydiver drop platform and never have had one come off and no mods needed and saves all the wear and tear on the wing -PM or email and I give you a number to call me as how we do it very simple and it is used on almost of my planes less the bolton ones
Don

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Funny but I was looking for a box of 64s at the office supply store and all they had was 67s. I ended up just buying the smaller bands and looping them to size. As Paul pointed out, the bands are there to help save the wing and you don't want them too tight.

R/C Skyjumper

My thoughts are on the Velcro is -If ya aint tried it dont knock it -spearance from a 74 yer old one here

stupidscreenname

I'm not concerned with crashing or cartwheeling, lol. I'm more concerned with the wings coming off during flight. My kit for the Kadet needs alot of attention to building up mounts to be able to safely bolt-down, in my opinion. I'm interested to see what others have done, or if I'm over-engineering my supports. I'm actually a pretty good 3D pilot, so this plane is a lawn-chair flyer for me. But I've spent alot of time working on it and I don't want see it fall out of the sky in two pieces, haha.

R/C Skyjumper

Read my post

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

If you are going to put on so many or put the rubber bands on so tight that the wing can not move at all, you might as well just use a bolt on mount. I put enough rubber bands on that I can hold the plane by the wings and violently shake up and down and get a minor seperation of the wing and fusalage, like 1/8" or so. Any tighter than that and the rubber bands are not going to help any in a crash and they can put too much stress on the wing and dowels.

stupidscreenname

Can you elaborate on your velcro method for me?

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

There was a thread much like this one about a year ago. Somebody at that time suggested the velcro method (it might have been R/C Skyjumper). At any rate, I called him and he explained it. I tried it and have never looked back. It is really neat. The wing will not move using this method and you can't even rip it off. The only drawback is that there is no give. If you crash or cartwheel, you don't really want your wing held on this way becasue it would probably stay on the airplane just as if it were bolted on. It looks much better than a dozen rubber bands and it takes seconds to put on instead of several minutes. I always found removing rubber bands was worse than installing them.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Max, that's why you should keep a knife in your box!!Never have tried Velcro to hold down a wing but I would like to see some photos of it in use. For an experienced pilot I wouldn't bother with rubber bands, I would just use the normal bolt on system.

airraptor

My Feedback: (66)

You want just enough rubber bands to hold 3 times the weight at the leading edge of wing. Just enough so that you can loop the plane and not have the wing shift. Many times I have seen planes flying weird in flight only to find out not enough or tight enough rubber bands.

Also take a small black marker and put marks on the wing and the fus so you line up the wing in the same spot every time.