Originally Posted by
FlyerInOKC
I'm building the DR-1 right now would elastic cord work as a substitute for rubber bands? The bands seem to be the weak link to holding the lower wings on.
It's been a lot of years since my VK triplane but I recall that the rubber band worked just fine. In fact it probably saved the lower wing on a number of occasions due to my wonky landings. The CG of the aircraft is high up and that gives a lot of leverage for dragging a wing tip when it ground loops. The lower wing struts got repaired several times but since they are a simple piece of strip balsa sanded to shape it was pretty easy to look at them as a sacrificial piece. The best insurance is to use a fresh rubber band every trip to the field.