Landing skids?

[Soul]

Anyone got recommendations for landing skids to suit something the size of my 450 deadcat?

I';d like to take the weight off the arms and onto the main frame so figured I';d just bolt heli landing skids to the bottom, but there are a lot of choices.....

[robshaw]

Align 550 help skids are prefect for the job.

[robshaw]

Sorry 600.

Check out this item I found on eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=351000646870

[Soul]

Added to watch list. Thanks mate!

[Col_M]

You shouldn';t need to take the weight off the arms. When you';re flying you';re essentially suspending it by the arms and they';re plenty strong enough for that

[guest325]

+1 for Align 600';s; got them on my 450 Flamewheel they make a very nice stable take off and landing platform.

[Soul]

You shouldn';t need to take the weight off the arms. When you';re flying you';re essentially suspending it by the arms and they';re plenty strong enough for that

It';s more for when it';s sat on the ground loaded up with batteries. Plus I broken the tip off one of the feet at the weekend and they';re not esaily replaceable. Figured skids might be more durable 

[Col_M]

It doesn';t really matter if it';s in the air or on the ground though.

In all cases the force on an individual leg is the total mass of the quad divided by 4. The forces suspending the mass of the quad are always acting at the ends of the arms, the only difference is that on the ground the force is pushing up on the arms from the ground and in the air the force is pulling up on the arms via the prop/motor.

We';ve been making a big assumption though, this is assuming the forces are ststic, when flying the arms are subjected to far higher dynamic forces than when the quad is sitting on the ground static.

Your issue is that you need stronger tips on the feet  Adding landing skids is a way to avoid this but you introduce other problems like more drag, more weight and a smaller footprint with the weight of the motors hanging over making it tippy.

[robshaw]

The 600s have a bit of springiness to them and serve very well to protect your arms etc. Can';t recommend them enough.

[Col_M]

The thing is with using skids to protect arms you';re using a $3 part to protect another $3 part (at least in the case of an SK450, if you have DJI arms it';s still only £4). There isn';t even a guarantee that it';ll give any protection either as when things go bad quads tend to fall in an uncontrolled tumble and can hit the ground in any orientation.

Unless you have an underslung gimbal to protect skids are just another thing to break, reduce flight times with weight and cause you to tip over and break props.

All IMHO of course but I tend to take a very "Spock like" logical view of things 

[barneyg]

The difference is in a heavy landing my $3 clone 450 arms snap while my $3 landing skids flex and the quad bounces back into the air  and the skids are still ready for more ... so after 2 heavy landings I';ve saved money - and trust me I';ve made lots more than 2 heavy landings  ;D

The material the 2 are made from is very different ... and suited to different purposes.  I wouldn';t us the plastic from the skids to make quad arms - to flexible ... but that is what makes it perfect for landing skids.

[Col_M]

Being made of a tougher material is great if it lands perfectly on it';s belly.

I had the problem with 450 clone legs snapping all the time too, the fix was spending a little more money on genuine DJI ones and I haven';t broken one since despite all manor of heavy landings.
That fixed the problem without having to add skids and adds the added peace of mind that the arms are less likely to break if it crashes in any of the 5 other orientations other than belly down.

Soul has a SK450 and their arms seem to be just as durable if not more so than DJI ones.

[Soul]

I can';t just get new arms though. I can only buy complete SK450 kits IIRC. HK are always out of stock of the arms

[robshaw]

You be hard pushed to break the align 600 skids. They bounce well.

[Soul]

Yup think I';m going to go down this route....

[guest325]

You will not regret it!
Here';s mine:

[Soul]

Nice! Should look good slung under a deadcat :)

[pete-c]

I use align 500 on mine.

Pete