I have been looking at some trainers, like the alpha 40. I am concerned by the way the wing is held on with rubber bands. Is this dependable? Are there alternatives to the rubber bands?

I really like the Alpha 40, but just worry about the wing coming off................

The rubber bands are fine if done right. The idea being if you bang a wing tip while you are learning. The wing moves instead of breaking. Just get some good #64 bands. Run 4 on each side straight back and forth. Then two more each way diagonally. Also be sure to replace them when they start to loose their stretch, and keep the used ones in a zip lock bag with a little corn starch between outings.

David

Been flying helis for a year, so planes seem to come easy (with fewer orientations), so hopefully I wont stick any wings. I am buddy boxing my wife and teaching her, and like that(Alpha) plane. Is there another alternative, or are you stuck with rubber bands? If so, where do you get them at? I have seen a fuselage separate from a wing and come at us like a scud missile! I think this was poor preflight and pilot error, but still had to clean out my shorts! It was an old plane picked up at yard sale, and this guy just wanted to fly it.....................

You are probable right about the poor preflight.
I have been flying with rubber bands for years with no problems.
Just put them on as Dave said and you will have no problems.
They will save your plane in a bad landing, and if you are still concerned just add two more bands.

Tim

We've been doing it that way since the 70's when I learned how to fly. If done correctly it works like a champ.

All of the office supply companies sell #64 rubber bands. WalMart probably has them. You can buy "RC" rubber bands from Hobbico or SIG. I bought a one pound box of Hobbico bands for about 5 bucks. I keep a small container in the toolbox and the rest stay at home. I throw the used bands away at the end of the day. Talc, cornstarch, kitty litter: all are probably good to extend the life but they are so cheap I toss them.

The Hobbico box recommends using two bands per pound of aircraft weight. The Alpha probably weighs 6 to 7 pounds which would be 12 to 14 bands if you follow their recommendation.

Some planes can be converted to use screws (usually nylon) to hold the wings. Many ARF/RTF models do not have a lot of "structure" so they may or may not be easy to convert.

Go with the rubber bands.

You can get #64s by the pound at any decent office supply. Throw the used ones out after a few uses.

It's easy or not to modify a model depending on the design of the fuselage just forward the leading edge of the wing. Also depending on your model building skills. You've got to create some type of latching at the LE, and a means to hold the TE down. Not too hard for most who've built models, but not easy for most who have yet to buy any modeling tools or wood.

You can rig up a bolt mounting. The cross members, 1/4" ply will need to be added, one under the TE of the wing, and one under the LE.Use some tri stock, 3/8" minimum to give a better grip to the ply.

It is going to require some opening up of the wing, get under the top sheeting so you can add some balsa, preferably end grain, for the screws to tighten on. Sand the fillers flush with the top sheeting and cap with some 1/16" ply.

Rubber band the wing down tight and drill one hole through the wing and new 1/4" ply with a #7 drill. Remove the wing and redrill the hole in the wing with a 1/4" drill. Mount the wing back on the fuselage with rubber bands, and then tap the ply using the hole in the wing as a guide. put in a nylon bolt and then repeat the drill, tap sequence on a hole on the other edge of the wing. Now with two screws in place, drill the other two holes, and tap them. Now, take the wing off and run a generous amount of THIN CA in the tapped holes. Hit is with some accerator and then re-tap them, being careful to not cross thread. This hardens the threads up for long life. Bolt on the wing and go fly. Opps, cover the ply with some covering, then go fly.

Don

If you do not want to deal with rubber bands, and do not want to modify an Alpha, I know of two ARF trainers that have bolt on wings:
SIG Kadet LT-40 http://www.sigmfg.com/IndexText/SIGRC67ARF.html (may or may not currently be available)
World Models Sky Raider Mach I http://ecsvr.com/abm/shopexd.asp?id=2925
There are probably others, these are the ones I know.

I've had a couple of Alpha's and taught several students on them...nothing wrong with the rubber band hold down. If it's an Alpha 40, use 12 rubber bands, the Alpha 60 will require 16 rubber bands, but also comes factory with a bolt-on wing option.

Hogflyer

I have been doing some this way since the 70s. As they say, alternate crossing them and straight. I tend to throw them away after I use them once. they are cheap and I don't like the mess. Used to put them in cat litter. It cleans them up like new, but they get weak after a while. I use about the same number on any size plane. Put them on until you can't lift the leading edge. usually 8 to 10 does it.

Everyone will have their own opinion, just do what feels right, but make sure it is tight.

I have the Alpha 40 DSM II version, and the rubber band arrangement is seriously strong. I use a criss-cross with 2 bands, then 3 each side, then another 2 for criss-cross. Never had any kind of issues. As suggested above, go to Staples of OfficeMax, whatever, and buy a big bag cheap. I usually replace them after 2-3 days use or so but will toss them at the end of the day if they've gotten slimed badly.

As a testament to how strong this arrangement is, I tried to make the field wider by about 18 inches one day with the Alpha. The wing clipped a tree and brought the plane down fast. I lost the 18 inches of wing but it stayed attached after the fall. The area of the Fuse behind the wing buckled some but the wing stayed put.

Bottom line, no worries with the rubber bands if you pay attention and make sure they're fresh.

I put some power in my alpha 40 and even with 4 rubberbands on each side i could swing it through some pretty hard maneuvers. Ive started to go with 10-12 rubber bands though now that im real comfortable with it and fly it like my sport plane lol. a box of rubber bands is 3 bucks if your uncomfortable add more. but trust me with 4 on each side you can grab it by the wings and shake it violently and they arnt coming off. and they only have to support the weight of the plane at 1 g maneuvers and even if you could put the plane through 3-4 g turns 8 rubber bands can support that 20 ish pound force.

All sources of rubber bands are not equal. The last ones I got at Staples were very poor, not very stretchy and quite weak. It is hard to beat the ones you get from SIG, a much higher quality.

rubber bands are better than bolts because if you crash there is less chance of tearing the wing out and making more damage. In theory if you crash a model with rubber bands they are easyer to repair. If you had bolts you could have problems with the bolt mountings coming loose. Ihad mine come off and destroyed the plane cuz the wing bolt mounting plate came off during flight.