General Rubber Bands For Holding Wings On

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
Where is the cheapest place you guys have found these? Is one type better than the other? I had some red ones but they were not as good as I had thought. They broke easily as they were almost rotten. I can't fly my RCH Trainer until I get some. What is a good general size to get?
 

Tony

Staff member
I just pick up a bag of them at walmart and call it good. I never use the plane specific bands. Not going to pay that much money for rubber bands lol. And as long as they are halfway new, you shouldn't have an issue with them.
 

Admiral

Well-Known Member
In Australia you can buy suitable rubber bands at any Office Stationary store or News agent.
 

Tony

Staff member
Yea, the thin ones are not that great. I try to use the thicker ones in the pack before the thin ones.
 

ShinySideUp

New Member
Where is the cheapest place you guys have found these? Is one type better than the other? I had some red ones but they were not as good as I had thought. They broke easily as they were almost rotten. I can't fly my RCH Trainer until I get some. What is a good general size to get?


bigone5500,
I never thought much about rubber bands or their cost when I first got into the RC hobby last year when I bought my 48" wingspan trainer with a removeable main wing. But after doing the math I started looking into where I could buy them cheaper. You may want to contact the RC shop where you bought your trainer and ask if they have rubber bands available for it. Here's a few links for rubber bands, however, they are specific to my trainer as to their size.

Horizon Hobby
https://www.horizonhobby.com/rubber-bands-(8):-apprentice-15e-efl2738
With shipping to me the cost equates to $.75 per rubber band for a package of 8.

Motion RC
E-flite Apprentice S 15e Rubber Bands (8)
With shipping to me the cost equates to $.87 per rubber band for a package of 8.

I found that a little pricey for something that wouldn't last that long so I did a little research. I found a company in Ohio who sells rubber bands by the pound. I carefully took measurements of one of the bands that came with my trainer and contacted them. For a pound of service grade rubber bands (how the sales rep described them) containing about 275 bands, size being 5 x 1/8 x .062, was $12.00 total...$5.20 for a pound of the bands plus $6.80 for shipping. That equates to just slightly over $.04 per band. They are red in color if color matters.

Since I have a substantial investment in my trainer now with control surface re-enforcement, nylon hinges installed for all the control surfaces instead of foam and a repaint I didn't want to trust my trainer in the air with just office grade rubber bands. Murphy's law being what it is I could see my main wing coming off in mid flight. While my plane is a trainer it does have the power/speed to do some mild aerobatics if I choose to.

Here's the contact info for this company:

sales rep: Richard (Rick) Michelson
Keener Rubber Company
14700 Commerce Street NE
Alliance OH 44601
phone 330-821-1880
fax 330-821-4246
rickmichelson@keenerrubber.com
www.keenerrubber.com

As a side note from what I understand the two enemies of rubber bands are the sun and exposure to air over long periods. They begin to degrade over time. I've taken a bag of office grade bands out of my desk drawer to have them crumble. I got the idea to use my wife's hand-held electric food saver baggie evacuator to seal my bands in one of her baggies. They're now in a super air tight bag and have no exposure to air. This cheap food saver gizmo is available at Walmart for about $20. When I need some bands I just reseal the bag.

Hope this helps. I know buying a pound of rubber bands is obviously overkill but they'll last me the rest of my life.

SSU
 

Tony

Staff member
SSU, you have to understand this is for a foam trainer lol. It's cheap, it's very light and is the reason I suggested the cheap rubber bands. On a balsa plane or something that you really care about, I can see going the route you just posted. But for a $3.00 plane (literally, the plane is 3 sheets of foamboard costing a total of $3.00 not including electronics), the cheaper the better for those just trying to get into the hobby to see if they will like it.
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
I actually built this trainer from plans here on RC-Help. Here is the link: https://www.rc-help.com/pages/pdf_plans/

I don't have much money invested in this plane. Less than $100. It's held together with tape and hot glue. That's why I'm not worried about the $1.25 a pack bands breaking. I'll use them a few times and trash them. If this was an expensive plane and I wanted a more secure attachment, then I would opt for a bolt on wing. I did try it with this one but the thing weighs almost nothing. I'd say about 5lbs or so. I can get bands from hobby town but they are expensive compared to walmart. About 4x higher.

Thanks for your post though. I appreciate it!
 

ShinySideUp

New Member
I understand, Tony, and your logic makes perfect sense. For someone new to the hobby it's the way to go. I wasn't aware that's the type of plane bigone5500 owned. However, with the money and time I have invested in my trainer I just wouldn't trust cheap rubber bands when I fly it. Rubber bands were the last thing on my list when I first bought my trainer. Who would have thought? Maybe my post will help somone else. Thanks or the reply!

SSU
 

Grumpy

New Member
You can buy a bag of #64 rubber bands at Wally World for next to nothing. That is what I use on my Alpha 40 Trainer.
When you take them off put them in a plastic bag out of the sun and away from heat and squeeze the air out of the bag.
A trick that Old Timers use on their rubber band powered planes was to put a little talc(baby powder) in the bag.
 

Tony

Staff member
I completely understand that SSU! If ANY of my balsa planes had rubber band on wings, I would definitely get much better rubber bands for it.
 
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