[corster360]

my plane came with 8 elastic to hold the wing down and i lost one and the other got soaked in fuel and broke so now i have only 6 is it safe to fly with that many or do i need the required amount to fly

[Bdegan]

The more the better to keep the wing from lifting or shifting during flight.
If one broke from fuel, the others are not far behind. The most ecomnomical way to buy elastics is at STAPLES. You can buy a large bag of them for little money. Its cheap insurance and you can replace them as often as you feel needed.
I would replace the ones on my sons plane after 2 days of flying.
UV rays also break down the rubber even when fuel doesn't touch them.



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[Ken Currell]

Get a can with a lid on it. Put a bit of kitty litter in it.

When you finish flying for the day put the used elastics in it and shake it up.
This will absorb any excess oil and the bands will be ready to use the next day. You will still need to change them regularly but they won't rot as quickly.

I always stretch the bands from the leading edge towards the trailing edge. It does make a difference. I learned this the hard way. I normally flew my old Senior Falcon with ten bands on the wing. One day I put them on and stretched them from back to front. I pulled out of a shallow dive at half throttle and the airplane suddenly did a tight half loop in about 1 second. The front of the wing had lifted with ten bands on it!!! The bands at the front weren't stretched as much at the front and thus didn't hold it down as well.

[hifly2104]

Originally Posted by Ken Currell

Get a can with a lid on it. Put a bit of kitty litter in it.

When you finish flying for the day put the used elastics in it and shake it up.
This will absorb any excess oil and the bands will be ready to use the next day. You will still need to change them regularly but they won't rot as quickly.

I always stretch the bands from the leading edge towards the trailing edge. It does make a difference. I learned this the hard way. I normally flew my old Senior Falcon with ten bands on the wing. One day I put them on and stretched them from back to front. I pulled out of a shallow dive at half throttle and the airplane suddenly did a tight half loop in about 1 second. The front of the wing had lifted with ten bands on it!!! The bands at the front weren't stretched as much at the front and thus didn't hold it down as well.

Not knocking Kens Idea about storing the Elastic bands,my choice was a zip loc bag with baby powder in it .

[voyager_663rd]

Both powders suggested induce micro tears in the rubber and may cause an earlier-than-expected failure.

Best just to wash/dry them after use, as we don't know if you're a "use 'em once and toss" kind of guy.

[skypupnut]

have been using the baby powder for years and it sure makes the rubber bands last a lot longer

[hifly2104]

Originally Posted by skypupnut

have been using the baby powder for years and it sure makes the rubber bands last a lot longer

Me Too How does it induce Micro tears Len

[voyager_663rd]

Both are basically ground rocks (kitty litter is a mix of clay and silica). Ever rub a rock against something like rubber?

I had exactly the same concerns (ground rock?) about using it when I flew with rubbers . The research I had done (many moons ago) made that observation and it certainly made sense to me.

Yea, they get slippery after a day of flying but hey, dishes get washed every night so it was a no brainer (for me anyways, maybe not wifey) to just wash them.

My concern about abrasion may be totally out to lunch but it makes sense to me (if no one else ).

[Nuker]

For myself, at $0.10-$0.15/day, I just used fresh ones. Wasn't worth additional risk to the plane and in the overall picture, wasn't expensive.

Bob

[voyager_663rd]

That's just it Bob. Whether you use talcum powder or baby powder or kitty litter or sawdust or a jar of alcohol (rubbing, not drinking), in some cases, the rubber bands last longer than the airplane or just one day's worth of flying, it's ok.

Whatever you want to do, it'll work (other than using the same bands for "one too many flights" may come back to bite you in the wallet).