Making the stock skids last ALOT longer

[faber]

I am in the process of remaking my steel skids and decided to throw some stockers on until I had my steel ones perfected. I put a 3 inch long strip of scotch tape sticky side up on the table, places the skids down onto it and folded each end over the skids. This keeps the skids from flexing outward on a hard landing or during a crash. I am AMAZED at the improvement in skid life. I have been really pushing hard to learn inverted flight and low altitude flips and rolls so I crash constantly. Today I broke the canopy mounts off the frame, cracked the msr canopy I was using, and snapped the front of each side of the skids off but the skids are still intact. 1 peice of scotch tape has improved the life of the stock skids by quite a margin. Just fyi! ymmv.

[catpainkev]

"I have been really pushing hard to learn inverted flight and low altitude flips and rolls so I crash constantly"

I'm with you there brother ...I got my Nano specifically to hone this skill indoors in my front room over the winter......it's a whole other world to when you've got oodles of sky around you and no walls/ceilings

So far I've only broken my swash, but good luck with your scotch tape mod

[tchilds]

I like your idea on preserving the form of the stock skids but they just aren't heavy enough or strong enough to do the job properly. There are a lot of benefits to bigger heavier skids that are worth it for the extra 0.5g.

I'd bet money the edges of your canopy got cracked by the main board striking it due to your skids being soo flexy and bendy. Check the lower corners of your main board and see what condition they are in. My dead board has a rounded off lower corner for one.

Try some airtime skids. Get the standard ones if you want height, or the low pro., The low pro are so wide that even though they're shorter, they protect the board better. I can fly canopyless now with a couple zip tie crash bars protecting the board, in a gym anyway.


Just because the skids don't break it doesn't mean your board and servo's are safe.

[catpainkev]

"So far I've only broken my swash"

Ha...who am I kidding, I'd forgotten that the skids broke at Christmas...I always use UHU Por adhesive on MCPX/NCPX where a strong/flexible/semi-permanent repair is required so had forgotten about it !.....and then I'd also forgotten that my hollow boom had splintered not long after..

But all told...my little Nano has taken such a bashing between 4 walls since Santa brought him....I am without doubt impressed.....and maybe it helps a little that I'm like the fastest of gunslingers with the TH

[tchilds]

Haha I've been practicing a trick that definitely destroys stock skids Anything that holds them together is a good idea.

[catpainkev]

I don't know if you guys get UHU Por or something similar across the pond...I swear by it..when dry I can only liken it to a really sticky booger...it's perfect for ncpx/mcpx repairs

[CAMOMAN]

Lol

[JCarter]

Platidip. Works wonders on the stock skids

[profilefan]

Originally Posted by JCarter

Platidip. Works wonders on the stock skids

+1

[Bhujang]

Originally Posted by JCarter

Platidip. Works wonders on the stock skids

Sounds heavy?? What weight do they end up at ? any pics?

[Varc]

How many colors does Plasti-Dip come in? I should try this stuff.

[JCarter]

I'm not sure on the weight since I dont have a scale but it's nominal. I cannot notice any difference in flight characteristics whatsoever. I used the stuff in a spray can, so I'm guessing it would weight about the same as if you spray painted your stock skids a different color. And thats pretty much what it looks like too. It looks like I spray painted them. I used the black plastidip so you cant really even tell they are different than stock unless your're looking at them closely. I think the stuff cost about $7/can and I havnt broken a set of skids since

[profilefan]

I did not use the spray, just dipped the landing gear into the container.

The longer you leave it in there the thicker the coating will be. So you can just dip it for a few seconds and it will have a nice light coating.

Have fun!

[jyriker]

I boiled mine for 90 seconds, then let it cool in the water till room temperature. Skids are now very flexible, and I don't see how I could break them now :p. Old trick from my T-Rex days, that some one on here reminded me about when I read another post... But whatever works

Johnny

[profilefan]

Originally Posted by jyriker

I boiled mine for 90 seconds, then let it cool in the water till room temperature. Skids are now very flexible, and I don't see how I could break them now :p. Old trick from my T-Rex days, that some one on here reminded me about when I read another post... But whatever works

Johnny

Hmm i have to try that one Johnny! Thanks for the tip

[nicholask1993]

Maybe I'll boil one set, Plasti-Dip another, and then boil and Plasti-Dip one for the ultimate skid.

Hopefully Plasti-Dip comes in a blue that somewhat matches the blue canopy.

[jyriker]

One note on boiling... you need to suspend it in the water. Do not let it touch the bottom... or you will have a new flexible design skid that is deformed :p ... I used a coat hanger...

[mixfisto]

I sprayed clear plastidip on my KBDD orange mcpx skids. Adds a hair of weight between the spray and mcpx skid, but I've crashed a million times and only had to fix a crack in the skids.

I also spayed the inside and outside of the stock canopy...again, it adds a little weight, but I still have a working canopy (not the prettiest, but still doing the trick)

[zvman]

I used thread and epoxy to make my stock skids stronger. What a differerence! I wrapped and tied thread around each corner of the skid legs where they meet the battery area, then put a bit of 5min epoxy to cover the thread. I also wrapped some thread around the 2 front legs to act like a brace across the 2 skids and put epoxy on that. Now takes so many crashes and has not broke.

[in2deep]

Here is my take on strengthening the stock skids:

I started by cutting the rails on my broken skids



Then I trimmed the curved part, so I had a straight section to work with


I kept trimming a little bit at a time until I had the perfect length


Where the rails meet the legs on the landing skids there is an indentation on the inside of the structure. When trimmed to the right length, the reinforcement will rest in the indentations. A couple drops of super glue and it looked factory made.



I originally intended to do both the front and the back, but after looking at it I thought the back would conflict with inserting and removing the battery.

Not sure if this will help or not, but it cant hurt.