I read that you need 14, so thats what i have been using, but to you really need that many? (for .40 size trainers, and the Avistar)

I always used 12 or 14 on my 40 size trainers, on something like an Avistar with a 46, 14/16 would be what I would use. having to many might hurt your wing more in a crash... not having enough could give you a lawn dart I also removed my rubber bands with a Knife at the end of the day... I've seen some guy's that would wash them, dip them in talc/corn starch and so on, so they could reuse them... If 3 bucks worth of NEW rubber bands is to much to spend a month your in the wrong hobby.


John

I always used a 2 per pound rule of thumb. Don't know where I got it from but that's what I did....

5 pound trainer = 10 rubber bands
6 pound trainer = 12 rubber bands
7 pound trainer = 14 rubber bands

I cut mine at the end of the day too....

I have a Magic with a Saito .56 in it, I fly it flat out from start to finish doing everything you can think of and some you can't. I use 8 rubber bands in an X pattern, never had a problem.

2 bands per pound of plane. Been using that formula for years and never had a problem yet.

Man, I've never used 14 on my avistar and I have a TT 46 pro and fly the bageezes out of it. Inverted loops, flipa-majigz, and more. I usually use 8 or 10. The reason you even use rubber bands is so the wing can move(or even come off the plane) if you were to have a hard landing or smack the wing into something. You might as well epoxy the durn thing on there if you are going to put 16 rubber bands on it. I'm surprised it doesn't break the wing in half!

I'm with ptarp on this one. If you put so many rubber bands on there that the joint has no 'give' then why use rubber bands at all? I fly a TT Lazy P51 (OS 40LA) with 6 uncrossed. I do use new ones each time I fly just because the fuel has a tendency to degrade them. As a test, we did fly it once with only 2 per side and still had no ill effects including outside loops.

Kingsalomon:

I am an instructor, when using .40 trainers, I make my students use only 6 rubber bands ( 3 per side) when they are learning to fly and specially to land, this system allows the wing to get loose in a hard car wheel type of landings avoiding wing and wing bed damages most of the time.

When they are ready to start loops and stall turns we go up to 8 and finally up to 10 when going to full aerobatics which in a trainer are spiral spins, rolls and high speed you name it!!

I even fly my Magic with 10 rubber bands and I do big time aerobatics with it!

Stay away from 14 rubber bands in a trainer, your wing will be happy!!


pd. I use rubber bands # 64.

Hi,

I think this depends on the size of the rubber/elastic bands. My bands are 1 in wide and 8 in long. I bought them from Indy RC in Indianapolis when they were in business - the package stated they were specifically designed for RC Aircraft.

With these bands, I use 6. Two on each side (total 4) and 2 crossing the top in an "X" as a safety locking the others on.

After each flight they were put into a clear peanut butter jar with corn starch to absorb the excess fuel residue from the bands. This year I started to put them in a jar with raw oatmeal as per a suggestion here on RCU - the oatmeal is not as messy as the corn starch. Removing the residue preserves the bands.

I think everyone needs to state the size of the bands, as well as the number of bands, so everyone knows what is being used.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Wayne Miller

Yes, I guess we should clarify that we are(I'm talking for most of us I assume) using #64 standard R/C aricracft rubber bands.

Wow, like most other questions on RCU, we got guys using 8 and others using 16....I don't have any planes with rubber bands but I think I went with 8 or 10 years ago. Maybe average it out....8 + 16 = 24 divided by 2 = 12. Nah, just go with 8! LOL By the way, even just a few rubber bands dont give much in a cartwheel, I say modify that thing for wing bolts and don't cartwheel it!

I fly off a grass airstrip with taxi lights that stick about 1.5ft out of the ground. I was landing my avistar and smacked the wing right into one. All it did was put a small dent in the wing because the force was dissipated breaking the rubber bands. If I had 16 bands on it, it would have cracked the wing in half for sure.

Actually, you might be able to get away with simply using 3 pieces of strategically placed bubble gum(grape flavor only).

Aviti:

Do you remember your first 10 landings???
How were they???

For (2) years that I owned Avistars, I always got away with using (8) bands. I just refinished an AeroStar-40 (see my gallery!) and nearly lost the wing just being pushed around by the wind (15-20 that day!). I now run (12) bands and that seems to be about right. Of course, if I had bothered to read the instruction manual I would have known that all along!

If you want to be really safe, there is nothing wrong with using 10 bands. Do the 1st (8) front to back, the last (2) crisscross to make sure the first (8) don't vibrate off. Pre-stretch your rubber bands once or twice before attaching. It is better to find a bad rubber band on the ground than in the air!

I agree, I think 10 is a good number. I have found a broken band on my avistar after a post-flight check. If another would have broken(leaving 6), I could have been in trouble.

i only ever use 4,1 either side front to back,1 either side crossed.why use more?have you ever tried to snap a new band with your hands-they're strong as hell!

Maybe, but in that case, why not use 2? The reason is even though you don't want the wing pressing against the fuse with 2000lbs of force, you DO need the wing to stay in place through your maneuvers. I guarantee 4 bands will not keep the wing secure during a tight loop.

i used to fly 6 on my trainer and never had a problem i think 3 really hold it and the other 3 gives me room for them to break?
or
do some kit bashing and mount a piece or wood with some 1/4 blind nuts on the frame and attach the wing this way and kick the rudder bands to the curb. Then install a 1/8 piece of lite ply on the wing side for the 1/4-20 nylon bolts.

I put 10 on my 40 size trainer. I used to give it hell too and with no problems. Sometimes I used to fly with 8 still with no probs.
I would think more than 10 is overkill but hey its not gunna hurt.
I also cut them off at the end of the day, rubber bands are cheap to replace.

I always used 12 on a 40 size trainer.Some of the guys used to laugh because I put so many on but 2 of those guys also had wings come off of there airplanes because they didn't have enough rubberbands on. I got the last laugh.

Randy

6 and i am not changing my story[8D]

I got some rubber bands at office depot and plan on disposing them at the end of the day. However, the ones I bought aren't that thick. Should I return them and get something else?

They're size 64 by the way.