Watch Your Rubber Bands - I Paid the Price! (VIDEOS)

CustomRCMods

Elite member
Alright guys and gals, today I got my reminder to always check my equipment, in this case my rubber bands.

I just built up a new FT Bushwacker (BUILD VIDEO) to fly, and pulled some old rubber bands out of the drawer to use on the plane. Unfortunately I didn't check for dry rotting, and here's what happened:

Yep, very stupid of me to only use two, and to not check them beforehand. Anyway, I got back home and fixed it right up!

And soon enough I was back out at the park and I successfully completed the maiden!

Although the crash was devastating at first, I realized I got off pretty lucky in the end and learned an important lesson through it. Thankfully the area was clear of people/property, and no onboard components were damaged.

Make sure to check all over your planes for wear and tear before flight!
 

danskis

Master member
Been there done that...you're right and I've found the longer you have a plane (and crash) the more stuff you have to check including motor/firewall, servo mounts, hinges (the paper pulls away from the foam) and pretty much anything else that can go wrong.
 

CustomRCMods

Elite member
Been there done that...you're right and I've found the longer you have a plane (and crash) the more stuff you have to check including motor/firewall, servo mounts, hinges (the paper pulls away from the foam) and pretty much anything else that can go wrong.

Yep, just learned that lesson too actually... went flying with my trusty ft arrow and the servos were coming unglued and the control surfaces were horribly delaminated from the paper... of course I found this out after the flight...

(notice me talking about it needing trim/sub trim, then completely losing control of it when it when it crashes, not due to brown out... you can hear me backing off the throttle as the doomed plane speeds towards the turf)

 
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Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
That's a bummer,
What I do to make sure the rubber is still good, is to just give them a stretch and check for any rotting. If it is rotting, when you stretch it you'll see holes and cracks in the band.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I always put new rubber bands on my wings. I've seen too many guys have failures. And if I'm not sure how old they are, i head down to Staples or Office Depot and pick up a bag of #64 rubber bands. Roughly $4/bag...MUCH cheaper than having to rebuild.
 

CustomRCMods

Elite member
I always put new rubber bands on my wings. I've seen too many guys have failures. And if I'm not sure how old they are, i head down to Staples or Office Depot and pick up a bag of #64 rubber bands. Roughly $4/bag...MUCH cheaper than having to rebuild.

Yes, good advice. I started running 4 rather than just 2 now, which will also help and prevent total catastrophe if failures occur.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Yes, good advice. I started running 4 rather than just 2 now, which will also help and prevent total catastrophe if failures occur.

Same here. I run one on each side parallel to the fuselage, and then one from the top right to the bottom left, and one from the bottom right to the top left to form an X pattern. Holds the wing on nicely and doesn't allow it to twist. :)
 

CustomRCMods

Elite member
Same here. I run one on each side parallel to the fuselage, and then one from the top right to the bottom left, and one from the bottom right to the top left to form an X pattern. Holds the wing on nicely and doesn't allow it to twist. :)

Yep. Solid Method. I have also recently learned not to attach them too tightly, as it will "fold" the wing (long ways) curling up the airfoil and changing the flight experience completely.