I just wondering if anybody uses no landing gear to save weight and have a catcher standby if something goes wrong and when you need to land. Some examples and Don't get me wrong nothing wrong with hand take off and landing with landing gear on! But putting you hands near spinning props just looks down right dangerous to me. I would rather the 300grams of weight for safety! Anyone care to comment?
Removing the landing gear seems like a false economy to me. Hand catching is dangerous, and using a Red Epic as a landing gear seems distinctly suboptimal. Andy.
I asked the PHX company on there video why there did not use landing gear for emergency landings and looks kinda dangerous. One slip from there catcher and it could end in tears. They response was we are professionals watch and learn. My Comment has now been removed from vimeo. I have the exact response on email if anybody wants to see. I don't know if hes on this forum or not. Its looks like a m10 gimbal it would be very easy to add. They do a lot flying over water so I guess they hand take and land almost every time.
The only valid response is: Yes, we will watch and learn. Especially when something goes wrong. Badly wrong. Andy
I'm guessing an MR kit on the Movi would be quicker, smaller, cheaper, lighter, and safer than the contraption/workflow their presently using. Jeff
They are not professionals. Professionals value safety above all. With 12 rotors, 6 on the bottom, it's truly the dumbest thing I've ever watched. It's an accident waiting to happen.
We do hand catches on occasion with our flat 8 copter. Now that we have our new X8 there won't be any more hand catches/launches. We only do it in extremely dusty conditions.
With batteries that can go offline in seconds and all the other potential issues. I do not really see much cost savings in removing the landing gears. One of the benefits of having the three prong gears is that possibly you might be able to absorb some of the impact on the gears. I had a battery fail in flight and the copter had just enough power to keep level. It landed on all three and no damage was done, albeit I was flying in a grassy field with real soft dirt when it impacted. Had there been no gears it would have smashed the ^&^& out of the camera. It may not always save the camera, but I would rather have it than not. I am not against hand launch and recovery in certain situations. But when done, all crews are thoroughly briefed on the safety ramifications. I feel its not something to be done as a regular practice. There's one thing to hand recover a small bird like a DJI phantom another to recover the craft that is spinning a blade that is the size of one. IMO if the mass of the landing gear matters that much than you are using too big of a camera for the copter.
There have been a few "oops forgot to hit records" on the A7s where I walked under it to turn the cam on. Building a small (2ftx2ft) launch platform that can be leveled to avoid hand launches.
Hand catching/launching seems like it should only be done if absolutely necessary. I cut my finger just balancing my carbon props last night, I can only imagine how much damage would occur if they were spinning. For dusty take offs, we use a bug sprayer filled with water to wet the ground:
There is always the Gary Haynes Approved Blue Tarp® for dusty take-offs and landings. It has to be blue, though. Andy
There is one good reason for removing the stock legs- they can act like sails to a degree and reduce the Movi's performance. Hence why we have fitted retracts. Hand capture of a HL coax? Hmmm that's not I direction I would go in.
Second that Angus, and another thing about the retracts. They are indeed one very nice visual guide for the orientation of the airborn copter