ejp,

Rubberbands are good for trainers during the first few flights because of wing tip touches and a few other student issues. The key is not to use too many or not enough.Too many and they will not snap off during one of those inevitable boo-boo's but not enough and the wing may shift in flight or even worse, come off.

The other thing is never reuse rubberbands that have been fuel soaked and not cleaned as the fuel eats at them. It's best to store rubberbands in a jar of baby powder. This helps soak up fuel plus keeps them from drying out.

Granted bolts are better in the fact that the alignment will be spot on everytime, but when using rubberbands, all you need to do is make a mark at the front and back of the wing on both the wing and fuselage to help with alignment. A Sharpie or even 1/8 trim tape will work well although the Sharpie will come off when cleaning the plane.

If you do go with bolts, please use 1/2X20 NYLON, not steel, you want the bolt to snap off in an accident and do not tighten them too tight. There is no need to worry about strength. You will find allot of 1/4 scale and larger planes using nylon bolts to hold on the wings.

Just to give you an example, I had the Extra Easy 2 from Hangar 9. I used 8 bands and never had an issue. I pile drived it into the ground because of dumb thumbs. When I walked out to pick up the pieces the rubberbands had done their job and the wing and wing saddle were in one piece with only very minor damage to the covering. but the rest was a total write off

I then replaced it with an LT-40 with bolt on wings. I tip stalled it and the nylon bolts did not give and when the wing twisted around it took most of the fuselage with it. It was repairable and lived to fly again.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages for a new student and as Bruce has mentioned it is your plane so do with it what you wish. We are just making points to help you out.

Good luck with your training.

use 1/4 x 20 not 1/2 x 20. Just a typo I'm sure.

Yep, it was a typo, just allot of C.R.S today.

Thats what I got. I am gettting it tomorrow It is sitting at Fed Ex about an hour from my house. I called them and they said I can come pick it up. I can't wait till monday!!

This comment was me being stupid. Wierd night. My bad guys..

newbtoRC- May I assume you are jesting?

Bruce,

Just a suggestion, I would let it go.

I agree. They were just trying to help you out. I think they took it with totally the wronge approach though. They should have just said: You know that it can be extremely dangerous to fly in populated areas, Highly populated or not even very populated.

Did you ever think about building it to use both rubber bands and bolts then you can use the rubber bands at first and go to the bolts later, if it last that long and I hope it does. Good luck.

Well, that is what I ended up doing. I am just going to rubber band it for now and if it is still in the air in a month then I'll screw it down. Here is a pic of the plane almost built. Man do my legs hurt from standing.

My back hurted from sitting, while I was building. lol

(I think U should use more rubber bands, if you weren't planning on putting some more on)

I just had 2 to hold it on for now. I wll use more when I go to fly.

If you used that stool in the picture maybe your legs wouldn't ache so much. Just kidding !!
Looks good, get the instructor and go enjoy!

ejp,

Nicely done.

Now go have a blast with it.

Good eye. Those are also the cabnet boxes for our house I talked to the guy who is going to teach me to fly. He told me to bring my plane but at first we will use one of his crappy old trainers and if we crash it it is not a big deal Man I hope I can fly soon. Maybe this weekend coming up if the weather is nice Thanks for all the compiments too.[8D]

I would suggest using a low-pitched prop to keep the speed down while learning. An 11x4 would be about right in my opinion. Good Luck on your maiden!

Nice looking plane, should fly well. Good luck.

Yeah, I think I am going to fly this weekend so hopefully I'll have some pix of other planes flying there. I started it up tonight and it ran like a champ. I can't wait to try it out. Even if I just taxi it around I think it would be fun

2 rubber bands per pound of aircraft. Ex. my Avistar weighs about 5 pounds so 5 pounds X 2 rubber bands per pound = 10 rubber bands.

Math, huh?

So that's what it is. When I answered him I was trying to remember the math [:'(] and as was usual this weekend I was having severe C.R.S. moments

o.k. The manual says to use 12 rubberbands.

And how much does that airplane weigh? If its another 5 pounder, 10 is enough. The other 2 are just weight.

I have seen different quality (strength) of #64 rubber bands. This would make ANY formula just a starting point. One thing you do not want to have happen, which I have seen, is to pull too hard in a maneuver and have the wing lift off the saddle(one of the few reasons for bolts on trainers). The possible change in wing incidence can cause a MAJOR change in handling briefly, enough to lose the plane. Your instructor should be able to show you how to check for sufficient rubber bands. BTW, if your plane can't carry 2 more rubber bands, it has other problems that need looking into. Lets get real IBrakeForNobody, we are talking about a trainer. Who knows what he is going to put this poor plane through.[:@

I use staples brand #64 rubber bands. They are not good quality...they soak up fuel like a sponge then break...

All the more reason for extra caution. I have some I bought at LHS last year, inferior to those I bought a couple of years ago. My supply lasts awhile as most of my planes use bolts. Also, if your wings have long chords, you stress them more. Many trainers have long chords. I'm just suggesting to exercise caution and not to get trapped by a formula.