Derby Talk

How do I identify the rubber bands that come in the Space Derby kit? Are they graded,numbered, etc.

Is there a replacement used for model

Well they sell a kit of many bands and a glycerin solution. That would be the way to go....

Thanks for the response PBT.

I guess what I am looking for is a system that identifiies the rubber bands by length, width, strength or something.

Then I want to know if there is a rubber band out there that would perform better than the ones that come in the Space Derby kit and could I use the identifier to match them up.

I'm thinking that the rubber bands used in model wooden airplanes might be an advantage. However, the rubber bands that come in the Space Derby kit might be the same thing.

Denny

If you get an entire box you can high grade them...

I forget what criteria I used to do that...

Personaly I don't think your gona find any better rubber bands than the ones that come with the kits.
Just be sure to soak them in glycerin befor the race.

We are getting ready for our first space derby and was just at the local scout shop. All the rubber bands, whether in the space derby kit or in the box of 24, are the same. I'm sure there are some slight differences. Watch the rules as our pack rules state we must use the bands in the kits and they cannot be modified.

skitdc

Thanks guys.

So how do you know if you have wound the rubber bands: not tight enough, tight enough or too tight?

If I buy the box of rubber bands, will they all be the same length?

If there are different lenghts, do I use the longer ones or the shorter ones?

I just bought the box of 24 and they are all pretty much the same length. I am finding that the longer they are the easier they wind and you can get more winds out of them. You should find that as you use the same bands they stretch quickly. Not sure yet if longer or shorter are better.... am still trying some different things. I have noted that lubricating the bands helps them last longer. The dry bands stick together and break faster. I am trying a couple of different oils but so far the oil that comes with the 24 pack is working the best. I will let you know what I find.

As for tightening them, I took the advice of the other guys and started at 50 and worked my way up to 150. As you wind it up you can feel the resistance but by going up slowly you reduce the chance of breaking the bands and you can see how well it flys with the different wind amounts. I would definitely suggest setting up a line at home to test things out. So far I have found 150 has produced the best results.

Skitdc, thanks for the info. I will be very interested in what you find.

I am sure our pack has a certain number of winds they use on race day. If for example, they decide to wind every space derby vehicle to 150 winds, would it be better to use the shorter bands? My thought is no matter what winds they use, are you not storing up more energy in shorter bands than longer bands given the same amount of turns?

sirslotalot1, I think you are right by stating the shorter the bands, the more energy to have. The only complication to that idea is the ship has to be able to withstand the force of the wound up bands. The other people on this site state you should get as much weight off your ship but the more you do the weaker it becomes. Shortening the bands will increase the force the ship has to deal with and could break the ship.

What do you think about covering the rear of the ship, especially the notched area with epoxy for extra added strength?

I used light coat of superglue and then sanded down. This made the ship more rigid. I also used sanding sealer which did the same thing.

With the bands....I found that dry bands did not last long and ended up breaking quickly. I also found that soaking the bands overnight made the bands too flexible and did not produce as much power unless you wound and wound. I had a problem with the bands slipping off the hook of the prop assembly when I wound too much. I ended up rubbing the bands with the lube which came with the 24 pack about 3 hours before the race started and only warmed the bands up once by winding to about 50-75 turns. I did not do any practice runs at all. I also prepped 6 extra bands and changed out the bands after the second race as the bands were stretching too much. A couple days before the race I tried a teflon oil for gun lubrication and found it to work about the same as the oil from the 24 pack. Before prepping the bands, I decided to go through the 24 pack and pick out the shortest bands and use them for the race as I thought they would do better even though the differences were small. Hope this helps.

If you have any control over the track set up please make sure the lines are as tight as possible. Our lines were very limp and none of the ships made it all the way. We ended up winning the derby and our best finish was only about 3/4 of the way. At home with the same ship, we were still accelerating at the finish. The only difference was our home line was as tight as possible.