Rubber

[andrewwski]

That judge didn't read the rules then. Part of rule 2f says that you can lubricate the motor after check in.

[jcollier]

At my state competion the judge had me add lube prior to the weight in and said that I could not add lube after the plane and bands went through the official weigh in. Does anyone know if at Nats we can weigh dry bands then lube right before the test/official flight? I have all my cut bands soaking in individual sandwich lunch bags labeled with size, weight, and nuber of flights used. Its just easier to pull out a lubed band out of a bag, then to spray it before each flight. What then is the proper technique to add lube to the band ? Should I dry all the bands out to see if weight changes? Thanks, MG

I agree with Andrewski, you are allowed to lube after weigh in. Most bands for competition will be pre-wound as previously discussed. You can put some lube on when winding, but you should not need to soak them in lube. It is a shame when supervisors don't know or interpret rules the way they want to at the expense of the participants. Know your rule book and have a coach present when something like this comes up again. I seriously doubt there would be a situation like this at Nationals. The supervisor there will have it together.

[blue cobra]

Is jander14indoor the National supervisor? I believe he was last year, but I may be mistaken. But for Nats they'll definitely get someone who knows what they're doing. My guess would be that it can be difficult to find anyone familiar with these planes and so for your State competition they kind of had to make do.

For States, might it be a good idea to save a motor or two until the day of the competition, and then trim with it and then fly with it, so you have a fresh band?

[andrewwski]

My guess would be that it can be difficult to find anyone familiar with these planes and so for your State competition they kind of had to make do.

Not an acceptable excuse, in my opinion. It doesn't take a genius to be able to read the rules. The supervisor need not be able to build a well flying plane, but they should have no problem reading.

Of course, it doesn't always happen this way...I had a supervisor one year who evidently didn't understand what "non-transparent" meant.

[eta150]

I had a supervisor one year (during BLG) who straight-up broke my wing before I could fly. It went from a top three plane to 5th.

[mg]

Thanks for the help. I was going to cut the bands to 1.48 to acount for lube weight. I have kept a table with band lenghts and weight to help me cut fresh bands to weight 1.55. Then after tieing and trimming hope to get 1.50. I have noticed there can be an inch or more change within one batch of rubber for a given size. So if I have two motors (.088) that weight 1.50, but one is an inch longer, would I get more winds with the longer motor and a longer flight time? Or is the longer rubber is cut thinner or less dense so the longer band would not necessarily mean a longer flight time? Also do most people just spray on the lube right before the flight or is the some lube technique like wiping it on? mg

[Taran]

Is a 15:1 ratio fast enough for winding to like, 1200, or should I get a larger ratio?

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Wright Stuff
Can't Judge A Powder
Meteorology

[smartkid222]

15:1 is fine and it's what most people to use....larger ratios are also a bit harder to find.

[Littleboy]

I use a 30:2 winder

[eta150]

I use a 30:2 winder

Do they advertise it that way? Because that's the same as 15:1