I am new to planes ( fly heli's ) and was wondering why they use rubber bands to hold the wings on and not a more permanent method. I understand that it makes it easier for transport with the wings removed but there must be another way that would secure the wings better and still be easy to remove at the end of the day. dennis
Rubber bands are traditional on trainers because in the event of an "arrival" (as opposed to a landing) it allows some "give" in the wing mounting hopefully resulting in less damage to the wing and fuselage if they part ways. That said, from what I've seen of recent trainers, bolt-down wings seem to be becoming more common - in some cases nylon bolts are used that are meant to shear off offering similar protection to bands.
Most of the time a permanent method is not desired. Some smaller aircraft have fixed wings and for most it makes them more difficult to store and transport. Imagine how it would be if we couldn't fold the blades back on our helis. Rubber bands are often used on training aircraft. This makes them more forgiving on an ugly landing. I remember some ugly landings with my Sig Kadet MkII when I was learning in which I knocked the entire wing off the plane with no damage. With the ugly landings behind them most flyers don't want to mess with the rubber bands and prefer to attach the wing with either metal or nylon bolts. Bolts also "look" better and attach the wing more securely for 3D type flying. Rubber bands are not generally used on planes larger than .40 size.
R/C sprang from Free Flight. In free flight, even back in the olden days, weight was of prime consideration. Also, free flight developed during the Great Depression. There weren't many drills and drill sets available. Plus, there were no nylon bolts to be had. Nylon had not been invented in this form at that time.
Rubbing banding on a wing is simple and it doesn't require any fancy building.
On the other hand, bolting on a wing is a bit more of a building challenge, when building from scratch or a kit.
I like bolt-on wings because it keeps the plane in trim from flying session to flying session.
If you use enough rubber bands to fly safely, the idea that rubber bands will cause less damage during a crash is dubious.
Ed Cregger
"Nemo" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@enews1.newsguy.com:
Though it's never discussed in this context, I've always thought that was another reason to use bands on trainers - if it's a guy's first kit, we probably shouldn't count on him getting everything lined up well enough for the bolts, not crushing the sheeting, getting glue into the blind nuts, etc etc. Easier to just stick some dowels through the sides.
And the bands & dowels look so ugly!
Particularly on a .40-sized trainer, I think you have to crash pretty carefully to get the bands to save the wing.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.