Heaven Rubber Bandit

As of March 2024, I now have the necessary time to get the Rubber Bandit flown for an official FAI record. This flight is owed to the volunteers and sponsors that made this plane possible.

     When an aircraft is disassembled and stored for extended periods of time, the plane ends up with considerable hanger rash. I am now going through the plane one piece at a time to find out what needs to be fixed and what needs to be replaced. The first step was to go through all the boxes to sort out the special tools, small parts, drawings, paperwork, pictures, and videos. Next, I took some videos to be digitized. I have Hi8, Beta and VHS (and a lot of it). Most of this footage dates back to the project’s inception in 1994. The next step is to get the website built. I will give an update about once a month and provide details of what is being done on each part I work on.

     Two new volunteers, James Capra and Marcus Capobianco, have also joined the project. James is administering the creation and implementation of the website for the Rubber Bandit. Marcus is assisting as writer and editor of content.

     I thought the website would have been up before now. Unfortunately digitizing and editing the video took longer than expected. The Futaba radio control for the full size is in working order. I intend to use the original radio even though it is 26 years old, which was going to be used in 2000 for the FAI record flight.  The ¼ scale radio is corroded as the battery was left in it for 21 years. So, I will get a new radio to fly the ¼ scale 1 or 2 more times before going to a museum.  I have been working on restoring the ¼ scale model since it was damaged over the last 21 years. Models must be worked on in the house when temperatures are 110 to 115 degrees the garage is a little too hot. I will post photos when finished. I have been asked a lot about the 1/32 model, but that model did not survive 3 hanger moves. I believe it was destroyed by 1998. Because of the interest in it I decided to make a new model and I am about halfway done with it. Now it will have the correct wingspan of 28.5 inches and a 7-inch prop.

     If you go to Heaven Rubber Bandit – Wikipedia it is listed as a 1/25 scale model. I do not know where that came from since it has always been a 1/32 scale model. I have also inspected the support equipment which is necessary to work on the full-size aircraft, but it needs some work after 24 years. There is the tow bar, tail assembly and winding stand, the assembled tail stand and the airplane assembly stand. Most parts are aluminum, some steel, but the steel parts are rusted and need to be cleaned and painted. The aluminum parts need paint only. I am not sure I will restore the airplane assembly stand. I now have a much easier way to assemble the aircraft which is never a simple task to do. The equipment was built to operate off asphalt and concrete. It will now have to operate off a dry lake so I will install larger wheels on the equipment.