Anyone fly without the landing skids / landing gear?

[Mindbank]

hi
try a set of these ,easy to make , cheap water pipe foam insulation . i use the same skids on my Blade 350 QX for over 3 years , keeps the Q 500 from tipping backwards and breaking a prop or two also when you land it has a longer and a little wider skid bottom .
another trick i use on windy days is when you touch down , pull the safe ,angel switch down to RTH the motors will stop quicker than pushing the red arm/disarm button , just make sure you are on earth and not in the air , then it will go into return to home mode .
View attachment 335



fly safe View attachment 335

If you use the RTH switch to stop the motors, make sure you are at least 26ft away or the bird will jump to get away from you. Learned from experience.

 

[Eyewingsuit]

Works for me. As you say, concentration is key, although if you still have all ten fingers attached, I hope they stay that way.

Truthfully, I don't like the way the Typhoon "bounces" when landing due to ground effects? My other bird DOESN'T do this, so this method of retrieval should add longevity to props and birds.

Can you post a pic of the "Ty-Rap" device?

Safe flying!
DS

Why *I* Don’t Catch my Drone

Be careful out there.

 

[Ddraiggoch]

I have seen many discussions/advise regarding landing.

The use of a landing pad that allows the displaced air through it, i.e. Via holes, mesh etc., seems to be quite popular.

The theory being that the turbulence/vortex/pressure that causes the "bounce" is disipated through the holes/vents in the helipad and, apparently, makes for a smooth landing with no bounce.

A bonus is that no or very little dust is thrown up to intrude on the motors.

 

[Mrdronenut]

Works for me. As you say, concentration is key, although if you still have all ten fingers attached, I hope they stay that way.

Truthfully, I don't like the way the Typhoon "bounces" when landing due to ground effects? My other bird DOESN'T do this, so this method of retrieval should add longevity to props and birds.

Can you post a pic of the "Ty-Rap" device?

Safe flying!
DS

I did a mod to the Q500 saving 133 grams of weight, or about 7.5% of the weight! I removed the landing skids (137 grams) and replaced them with a simple grab handle made of 4 grams of Ty-Rap. I figure this will add valuable fly time and better wind performance to the aircraft.

So I have broken one blade on a landing so far, no big deal, but it just does not seem worth the risk to 'traditionally' land the craft each time, so I simply hover it above my head and reach out to the added new 'Ty-Rap handle' and grab it, then hit the kill switch on the remote with my left hand. NP so far, EZPZ to do, and less risk to the craft. I know many may squawk over that idea, but it works for me! One MUST watch the aircraft at all times doing this. No loss of concentration allowed. (You should be watching it constantly anyways). I'm not sure 'grab landing' its really that riskier than 'traditional' considering what can happen if it tips over (often) and results in a prop strike. The broken prop pieces go flying creating an obvious hazzard.

I place the Q500 resting on its original landing skids for take-off / preflight. They are not attached, so upon lift-off, they stay on Earth. 'Grab landing' on return...

Thoughts?

My q also bounces. But ,my Blade Chroma comes in so fast on RTF, that I have to switch to AP mode so it won't break it's legs.Any thoughts?

 

[jeep2liberty]

Cool idea. Can you post a vid of this in action?

Those bloody finger pix (real or not) are a good reminder about the danger. At first I thought, how much damage can a little plastic prop do, but obviously, a lot. And a hand is bad enough, but face, eyes, other body parts could be even worse. I have seen many vids with DJI birds being caught by hand and it seems pretty easy, but they have a smoother landing gear. The gear on the Q500 is a little sharp edged anyway for catching/carrying.

The extended foam landing gear is a good idea. Simply having a wider base makes for less likelihood for tipping over on landing (as long as they don't compromise the flying ability. Broken blades aren't the end of the world, but still an extra expense.

I have seen a couple of vids where people used modified pool floaties as landing gear and were able to take off and land on water.

Don't know the real advantage on such intentional take-offs/landings but might be a good safety feature if you are flying over water and are forced to land unexpectedly.

Sorry it took so long, but I continue to launch this copter this way with no issues. I did UL a video t YouTube. Here ya' go!

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[Daniel O]

Has anyone devised a hack to easily remove and reattach the landing gear? Without those on, packing for travel is a breeze. I know it's only two screws, but has anyone devised a click-in, click out or hinged system?
(Leaving the USA for a year, travelling to Croatia, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia, maybe Morocco, etc. Uncharted year abroad with my partner and my drone) The bird fit perfectly in the cabin Max bag, with 5 batteries, extra props and spare landing gear and spare camera. Fits EASILY with landing gear off. I just don't want to have to attach and unattach landing gear for each use. Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Satellite View]

Hi All, As part of my business I train new pilots and I always strongly advise NEVER to grab a quad out of the air it is stupid and very dangerous.
I can never understand why people start messing with the design of a quad and any aircraft for that matter they have been designed for a purpose
and if any changes are made it changes the behavior of the aircraft.
So please stop grabbing them out of the air do not mess around with them for your own safety and prevent other people from paying your
medical bills because of stupidity.
Cheers JV

 

[jeep2liberty]

It's nice to have comments from people who know it all, tell it all and don't mind calling others "stupid". Thanks (for nothing)

 

[CharlzO]

For the record, I'm a new pilot myself, having about 6 flights under my belt with the 4k (I had a Parrot AR2.0 a couple years ago but didn't do much then either). However, in my case, I have a somewhat small (26') sailboat that I am working on taking pictures of. And while I have a solar panel on the stern rail that I can take off from, there's no practical way to land aboard, with all the rigging in place. The only feasible way to land is retrieval by hand. Obviously if I had a larger boat with more surface area, that would be fine. I've even heard suggestions to tow a "platform" behind to land on, but, that's not exactly practical. However, I do find it best to do so with a helper, have them retrieve with two hands, one on each landing skeg, and hold it above their head until the blades have stopped turning. I know it's not the safest, but it's the "safest" I can make it in the circumstances.

 

[ChillyCat]

Has anyone devised a hack to easily remove and reattach the landing gear?

Clamping Knobs, Star Knobs, Metal Knobs, Wing Nuts, Wing Screws, Thumb Screw and Rim Knobs – Section 8

They have 1000's of male threaded knobs. Surely, they've got what you're looking for.
I've dealt with the company several times. Huge inventory of hardware

 

[Daniel O]

Great take off. How do you land it without jeopardizing your hands or the camera?

 

[jeep2liberty]

Great take off. How do you land it without jeopardizing your hands or the camera?

Let it hover *above* head height, then grab the Ty-Rap under the quad (away from the blades) with my right hand and then using my left hand, hit the kill switch. (See my post earlier in this thread for a photo). I launch it this way sometimes. I don't understand why my V1.07 allows me to do this, but am not complaining. I enjoy longer flight times due to the shedding of weight. Also less 'profile' in windy conditions improves performance.

Many have called me 'stupid' etc etc for doing this, but each to his own. I'm not sure why folks want to assert their 'know it all' attitude on a topic of performance improvement of an aircraft. Yes, I acknowledge it isn't for everyone and it involves risk. With this type of 'fly-by-wire' aircraft, it could do anything at any moment anyway, so flying it "per the book" also involves risk.

Others wonder why someone would tamper with a design of an aircraft etc. If the Wright brothers would had had same attitude, where would we be?

 

[Jason OBrien]

Anyone know if the gear causes increased vibration to the camera gimbal?

 

[Jafo]

A couple of months ago, Popular Mechanics did a story on "How to fix your drone". At the end of the article they gave 5 recommendations to avoid a crash. Number four was "Don't land" and advised grabbing the drone out of the air from a hover above your head.
I wrote back and claimed that this was some of the worst advice I had ever seen from PM. I sent them many pictures from the web of people who not only got injured but one pic of a guy who was blinded when his quad got away from him and the blades got into his eyeballs.I sent pictures of cut up arms,fingers and hands.
I wrote...Imagine a newbie trying this. It can never be a good idea to advise someone to be so close to at least 4 high rpm spinning blades next to your head.
So many things can go wrong for someone who isn't experienced. A good gust of wind at the wrong time is all it takes to ruin your day and your drone.
When you grab the drone, the first thing it does is try to overcome the sudden loss of maneuverability.When you start to pull the drone down, it tries to overcome that and the motors start spinning in ways you can't plan for.
It's just a stupid and dumb idea IMO and your looking to get you or others hurt.

 

[Jason OBrien]

To be honest. I do catch my drone occasionally. I do building inspections and sometimes that means me being in confined spaces along the building. I don't have the option of landing my drone somewhere on the ground. So, I have to grab it. which I do as carefully and as safe as possible

 

[NRRTRAINS]

Anyone know if the gear causes increased vibration to the camera gimbal?

is your video jumping or have a jello playback , if it is the props may be out of balance or one or more motors may have a problem .