500 skids on my 450 or not?

[escsniper]

I'm about ready to pull the training gear off my Blade 450, and am wondering if it is worth it to put some Trex 500 skids on. I saw somewhere that they are compatible in size. So, my questions: Are they really compatible for easy installation? Is it worth it to change from the stock 450 skids? THANKS!!!

[Thalios]

I just ordered a set today, should be installing them monday.

I think it's a good idea, plus they look way cooler!

[upankatz]

I dunno, never had a problem using stock landing gear, and i land/take off on grass alot. Looks wise, i prefer the low profile look....

[rc-bender]

Seems completely unnecessary to me, unless you're looking for a new look. The stock ones work just fine w/ regard to take offs and landing. I'm far from a good heli pilot and have had no issues what so ever with stability on the ground etc.

[Thalios]

ONLY reason for me is look.

I don't like the lame plastic look of the stockers. They do their job great, but look like lame plastic cheapthingy.. My heli is worth 1k$ as it is with all the upgrades, better be sitting on some chrome 22" wheels?

[kevinl7778]

Originally Posted by Thalios

.. My heli is worth 1k$ as it is

are you for real, thats alot to dump into a eflite heli thats able to fly out of the box?

[upankatz]

Originally Posted by Thalios

ONLY reason for me is look.

I don't like the lame plastic look of the stockers. They do their job great, but look like lame plastic cheapthingy.. My heli is worth 1k$ as it is with all the upgrades, better be sitting on some chrome 22" wheels?

If you want some cool landing gear look into gorilla gear by msh...Perhaps 500 size low profile.....

[Thalios]

Let's see:

BNF: 299$
upgrades: 496$

You'Re right, 797$. not quite at 1000$, but with all the replacement parts i put on it, i have way more than 1k$ in it!

[kevinl7778]

I bought my (1st) 400 one year after on the market, used with hs65mgs and dx6i for $369ish. Later i put on the cncheli.com upgrwdes +$150ish and $40 full carbon blade set (main,tail,paddle) add throw in the trex white canopy and a few cans of paint and man i flew the balls of that thing for about another year and a half.

$369
$150
$40
$11

so i guess 550 for me, not to far from you but this was over two years time. Some upgrqdes are needed, this i agree with.

[InFocus]

Back to the OP:
You do have to drill new holes in the skid mounts (total of 4) to match up with the existing holes in the frame, but thats pretty trivial to do.

I think the larger gear saved me once, so I'd call it worth it. Besides, I like the beefier look.

[PauloG]

Pictures anyone?
:

[rneshat]

Personally I can't stand the blade 400 or 450 landing skids. It is the only thing that I changed ont he 450. The stock skids don't even look the proper dimensions not to mention how close the tail fin comes to the ground because of the skid height. I use the 500 skids both both 400 and 450 and as others have mentioned you need to drill new holes and also use longer screws. The 500 skids are thicker at the mound point.

[dbolt]

Love my 500 skids. Can land in tall Fescue all day long.

[magbarn]

I ran the 500 skids while learning to hover, but once I started doing FF I went back to stock, You can easily feel the extra weight when running circuits and it would annoy me as my trex 450 pro was much more agile until I took the 500 skids off my B450.

[ghenders]

Part 1 - Picture to follow...

Idea that I borrowed from FR4 (although he uses the stock skids):
Trex 500 skids on B400/450 w/foam noodles. Many benefits w/a few liabilities: MUCH easier to see @ altitude, if/when you crash one of the issues with putting Trex500 skids on was that they tended to break off the frame tabs because they are MUCH stiffer than the stock landing gear. However, with these foam floats on, you will have a huge cushion upon impact (I have not tested this theory yet). Since this increases the width of the skid, it will be more stable. Your tail rotor will be high enough that you will not be "cutting the grass" when landing in the green stuff. They are VERY light so they do not really add any weight. And lastly, if you stray over water and have to put down in haste, it might even float :-)

Thoughts?

[ghenders]

Part II

[Thalios]

Damn your heli looks good.

I'd be interested in seeing how this fares in 3d basic moves (flips, rolls, inverted, loops, tic tocs)

[ghenders]

I really don't think there is going to be an appreciable difference since the foam pieces really weigh next to nothing. If anything, speed is going to be diminished since they do increase the frontal area quite dramatically. However, they will save your bacon when you do crash, and it will be much more difficult to lose visual orientation.

[Bee_random]

500's = more tail clearance when flying on grass. May save on risk of a boom strike.

[rneshat]

Originally Posted by ghenders

Part 1 - Picture to follow...

Idea that I borrowed from FR4 (although he uses the stock skids):
Trex 500 skids on B400/450 w/foam noodles. Many benefits w/a few liabilities: MUCH easier to see @ altitude, if/when you crash one of the issues with putting Trex500 skids on was that they tended to break off the frame tabs because they are MUCH stiffer than the stock landing gear. However, with these foam floats on, you will have a huge cushion upon impact (I have not tested this theory yet). Since this increases the width of the skid, it will be more stable. Your tail rotor will be high enough that you will not be "cutting the grass" when landing in the green stuff. They are VERY light so they do not really add any weight. And lastly, if you stray over water and have to put down in haste, it might even float :-)

Thoughts?

This foam will catch more of the downwash from the main rotor and reduce your flight times. In theory... but by the sounds of it not in practice!