I've updated the Rubber Turns Calculator for any newcomers to FF rubber. With the way rubber can change throughout the years, this chart will give you a good place to start. Use it only as a general guide. hallmanstudio.com/rubber_turns_calculator.pdf
These videos you are making, will become the greatest reference for this hobby. It shows the straight way to go for beginners and also for who is in the hobby for some time. Thank you. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Good Grief, no wonder averaging only 10-15 flights per motor using stock hooks, no silicon tubing or dental bands. With these fantastic, instructional videos you’ll make a rubber free flighter out of me yet! Thanks again.
I tried S hooks from a couple of other youtubers that had aggressive circular bends that formed an actual S that was hard on my old hands with .047 and was hard to adjust but worked great when i got it right. After seeing this I went straight to my work bench and nailed it after a couple tries. The angular bends were a easier on my hands and easier to adjust and worked as well as the other method. I rarely comment on the many Tubers that I follow but these videos are really serving their purpose and upping my free flight game. Thanks again
Thx for the feedback, Duane. I too struggled 30 years ago when I first learned of them, trying to mimic the Reverse S design, using rounded needle nose pliers. It was so difficult to control their tapered roundness. At some point I came to realize that the sharper bend of the Z worked perfectly at any size, so I've never looked back.
Thx. Just doing what I can to take the mystery out of free-flight and show that it can be enjoyed with simple techniques that had been shared by my mentors. It's a great community...always willing to share.
Thank you for demonstrating rubber creep on a regular model hook! I tried a rubber motor on my recent build and I believe you have saved me certain heartache. Z bend shafts! So far I've got 1 out of 3 I can use without wobble. 1 out of 3 should provide a batting title. LOL! Thank you again!
I don't know how I've been missing these videos. They are fantastic. Every little step, you make clear to see. I am kind of getting that book I keep asking you to write.
I am making my reverse Z hooks thanks to this video. They are working GREAT! I've already known them by pictures but the emphasis you have put on showing the advantages made me decide the right way. Thanks Tom!
Thank you Tom for doing these lovely videos. They are educational and enlightening. You might consider this knowledge as petty, since you grew up seeing your dad and you grew up into this hobby. But for people like me you are the mughal, the guru or the Pied Piper. These videos will become the free flight bible. The editing, music and explanation are perfect. Once again thank you and God bless.
Love these Free Flight Basics videos, Tom:) The timing couldn't be better too, with the winter building season upon us. I've already adopted many of your techniques and it has helped improve my building experience! Just left my building board a few minutes ago where I was using some of your covering tips with greater success. Thank you, Barry
This is awesome! All your modells are so meticulously built! I'm building my first model and your content is giving me a lot of insights and methods on what to use and how! Thank you so much! I would love to learn how to build a propeller and a nose. Maybe one day you'll be so kind to share how you approach its construction! Thank you very much again!
I learned a lot today, this is invaluable help whe you live in a country where tere isn't anybody around that can give advice. I had given up, now I'm back to building... will fly. soon. Thanks!
Great video. For larger models I use a reverse S with a Tim White hook rather than looping the rubber over the prop shaft. It’s like a figure of 8 , one end that stays on the rubber and the other smaller loop fits on the winder or prop shaft. I don’t use silicone tubing in this situation. I often fly mini vintage and use one and a half hook to peg length braided to stop bunching.
Tom, this is very very helpful. Many thanks. In time, I would also like hear what you have to say about about prop shaft/nose block bushings. Your videos are literally note worthy.
Thanks for your videos. I'm learning a lot. In my club i am the only one who flies models whith a rubber engine. My next goal is to make them myself. Cheers from Spain.
Thx, John. The Z hook works well, and is the only one I've used for the past 30+ years. But many have said the same for the Czech hook, so it comes down to which is easier for u to bend. Have fun!
max i love you vids and as model airplaner for 65 years i never flew rubber or ff.. but.c/l ...r/c.. as a retired orthodontist you have a correct bending method ,,hold the wire with pliers bend with finger... my i suggest a birdbeak plier ..one beak round one flat not serrations not nicking the wire.. or polish the wire ..im learning about rubber from you ...thx
All up weight for a typical 20" FF model wound be around 28 grams or under an ounce. Depending on the builder, models can come in far less than that, or far more....so duration would become a factor. But regardless, all would fly.
@@maxfliart Thank you for your information! We would like to make a video together with you if you have a 3D Printer. We can develop a model together :D
If you are using a long motor like 4-5x prop hook to peg length can you put more winds on the rubber per inch than you would if you were only using 1.5x prop hook to peg length? I am asking because this situation would involve putting a larger motor into a relatively short fusalage.
So what is your preferred hook and why? Can't thank you enough for these super videos. I have modeled mostly alone for all the years that I have been into it, so most of the stuff I do I learned via trial and error. Now I see the error of my ways! LOL
My earliest models in the late 80s used the classic diamond shape, sometimes with a crocket hook. Didn't always work. Around that time I saw the Reverse S, and have been using it ever since. I've made 100s & 100s. Only recently did I learn of the wire version of the Czech hook. After testing last week, I see the benefits for many, and the ease of bending...not quite as tricky as the Z hook. I think either are ideal for most models. Thx for the feedback.
@@maxfliart I'm afraid I am becoming a pest, but I have a couple of more questions. You say that you make your prop hooks from both .032 and .047 wire; which wire for what wingspan of model? And now that you have done the back half of the prop hook are you going to do a video on the front half?
@@glennreach6930 Glad for the feedback. I usually go with .047 for anything between 22" and 40". For everything smaller I'd use the .032". Many of the props I use are plastic, which have a simple free-wheel ramp, so all u need to do is a 90º bend on the prop shaft, and trim it. I might do a film on the adjustable thrust plate, which has proved very useful throughout the trim sessions.
I found the tubing at MotionRC. I bought the 3.57mm. I've gone back n forth with the use of the crocket on z hooks or others, since the crocket already has a slight Z shape on the rubber end. Mostly likely it won't matter, as long as whatever hook ur using keeps the crocket centered.
I don't know, as I've not used them before, although I've heard some have successfully. Best suggestion is to try one on a stooge and see what happens after fully wound. Better there than in the model.
Thx for asking. In the case of the lube that I use (Dow Corning 33) the motor gets VERY slippery when the rubber is wound close to max, so much so that it can easily slip thru ur fingertips and explode a model. Sadly, I've had that happen. Ever since then, I've used a glove when winding the motor tight. I probably could have gone without it for the film, but when I saw that the darkness allowed the elements that I wanted show to stand out against the contrast, I kept it on.
I don't think the Z or reverse S is necessary. Simply having the bar perpendicular to the rubber will do it. Looks like a stirrup, or equilateral triangle. The motor won't twist off, but if the motor gets off center, it will swing around inside the fuselage and bang into things, wasting energy. I devised the "Czech" hook many decades ago and didn't use it because I liked to use an O-ring on the motor. It is also hard to get a tightly wound, lubed motor over that wide part. You can grip it a bit from the end and let some turns out, to form a loop, but I didn't like to let any turns out. If you watch how the rubber twists off the circle, you find that it gets off the side, perpendicular to the circle and therefore twists off in the direction of its twist. Which way it goes is determined by which side of the loop the rubber goes to. It can go up on the shaft or it can go off the end. If it goes up on the shaft it will still turn the shaft, but if it goes off the end, you will have a lot of damaged tissue paper and a motor that is tightly jammed inside your fuselage. Getting it out can cause further damage. I finally settled on a circle with the end overlapping the shaft about a radius. It is made as a right handed pigtail. If the motor goes around to the end side, it will twist toward the shaft, but be stopped by the overlapping end. If it goes toward the other side, it will go around toward the end until it is blocked by the shaft. The end must be spaced away from the shaft enough that the O-ring can get onto the hook. It occurs to me now that the square loop could be made in a right handed spiral with the end overlapping the shaft. One that guarantees keeping the motor centered is a T-pin, with the motor around the shaft. The problem with that is getting the loop of a tightly wound, lubed motor over the far end of the T. Again, letting some turns out will do it. You must be sure that the two strands come around from behind the shaft on the side such that the shaft prevents them from going between the two doubled legs of the T. Otherwise the motor can get off center.
I've never wound in this way, although many do, including the friend who showed me the wire Czech hook design. The Czech hook has never failed him. I would think if you were using a circle hook and a longer motor (2x - 3x etc) chances are high that the rubber would still slip off. Always good to test on the bench before risking the model.
