ORIGINAL: aspeed
There are some bladders that are being used that look like a kitten sized condom. They are used for resealing caulking tubes and are available at Lee Valley Tools in Canada for about $5 for 20 of them. They are a very thin wall, low pressure balloon thickness pretty much like a pacifier. They don't last too long but are ok for a couple of sessions likely. A normal needle could be used because of the lower pressure. I just bought some latex tubing from the medical supply store that is surgical tubing with a 1/16'' hole and a 1/8'' OD that I plan to use for a bladder. We used to use a cigar aluminum case or a suitable sized syringe without the plunger that was trimmed and screwed on to the side of the plane's profile fuselage. It could be stuffed into a combat likely too, or just attached to the top of the wing somewhere handy.
Hi aspeed, I've used 1/8" OD surical tubing for 1/2A combat and 1/2A speed bladders before.
That size basically has pressure that is to high for easy and consistent needle settings. I
then switched to 1/32" wall by 3/16" or 1/4" OD and the pressure was much easier to set and
the bladders lasted MUCH longer! I was using Dale Kirn's and Joe Klause's fine thread needle
assys on my TD 049s.. These were encased in either 7/8" or 1" rocket tubes. exposed external
floppy tubing tanks are subject to cutting breakage or impact hysterisis(reduced pressure) caused
by bumping the airframe, by glancing opponents models.
Tony