tying rubber motors

Indoor rubber powered model airplanes typically use a rubber motor made of a single loop of stripped rubber whose ends have been tied together with a pair of knots. In this video I show the process of tying two reverse overhand knots in the ends of a segment of Tan Super Sport (TSS) rubber and cinching them down to minimize waste and get close to a target weight, e.g., 2-grams. This process is valuable in indoor duration flying events such as F1D, F1L, Limited Penny Plane, A-6, as well as the Science Olympiad Wright Stuff and Flight events. It is not necessary to apply CA to the knots.

[@BansheeFifteen]

Oh my gosh. I've had so much trouble tying a knot that wouldn't slip. That is so simple. Thank you for making this video.

[@collinmccallum]

thank you!

[@UguysRnuts]

I use a "Fisherman's knot", which is just a pair of overhand knots, one tied in each end, but around the standing part of the opposing end. It is no more complicated but has the benefit of being symmetrical and compact with the tails running parallel with the motor instead of protruding to one side.

[@wdtaut5650]

5:45 "...lube it after the check-in process." That may be OK for Science Olympiad, but AMA and FAI limit the weight of the _lubricated_ motor.

[@fpeco80]

Awesome

[@jhs9257]

Hi I noticed that there are 33 Light and 33 Medium. Which one would you recommend?

[@calgoddard8677]

Either will work fine. I don't like lube that is too thin if the rubber motor is mounted inside of a fuselage of a model. I don't want thin lube being thrown off against the tissue or Polyspan covering that covers the fuselage frame.