crazy skids idea

[teeson]

so i dont know if im waay outta whack with this idea, but i've seen those water pontoons for landing on snow and water. would those lower the shock of landing? i am a newbie and am wondering if that would work for sazing many pairs of frames and skids. i havent tried it but if anyone could tell me im gonna wreck or bounce my heli by doing this that would be great ;)

[andeck]

are they inflatable or solid??

the best idea: don't land hard!

[Phoinix]

I agree with andeck. Landing is a part of your learning curve. If you can't land properly, don't do anything else until you can.

[jrohland]

I agree you should work on soft landings. However, if you want to put a bumper on your skids, I would look for 1/4" pipe insulation foam. That is much softer than pool noodles.

I notice many AP ships have their skids wrapped. I wonder if that is to protect the expensive camera gear from rough landings.

I auto ALL my landings from between 1 and 3 meters (3 to 9 feet). This is mostly for auto practice. If you can learn to do that, it will be a useful skill down the road.

jrohland

[Skiddz]

In modeling, just like full scale, takeoffs are optional. Landings are not. A lot of newbs slam the throttle closed when they get in trouble. With an airplane (plank) it's not such a big deal as you can just glide. With a heli in a hover, the heli can and often WILL slam into the ground. The faster you can break yourself of this habit, the better you'll be.

[Phoinix]

Just be careful using the foam. When touching down with foam on your skids, don't use too much cyclic. Foam will contract due cyclic force and you will have to replace some blades and shaft becouse of a tip over.

[GilUriel]

Hi Teeson ..

I have played a bit with building new skids (exectly for the reason of softening the landing)
3 important things to remember and consider:
1 - most important: Balance.
your skids must be balanced and keep the heli balanced when they are attached.
2. weight ..
3. Soft, still solid ..

let us know where your getting with this ;-)

[Billybuck]

I use the pipe insulation and it works great. I use it for snow, but it softens landings on hard surfaces as well.

http://vermontfisherman.com/images/20080102_1sm.JPG

[teeson]

well thanx for the input, i think billybuck has a good idea. The inflatables are going to bounce right? i havent tried anything yet.. im not even close to flying yet :(. Just out of curiosity will the foamies work in water?

[andeck]

I doubt it...not with 1kg of heli on top.

I don't think it would be very stable either, so you wouldn't want to risk your heli!

[Anti]

I would think that a hard landing on normal skids would have the same result as a hard landing on soft skids.....tail boom strike!.

Can't remember where I read it...

"Flying lessons £5.... Landing lessons £50"

:lol: