Hello everyone. I didn't know where to post this so I figured this is a good place as any. A friend of mine is an aerial cinematographer. He was flying a CS8 with Axi motors. He decided to go the Gryphon frame as he saw mine a liked it. QC sells the GD frames. Anyway...While testing the rig with no payload the pins that hold the detachable arm broke and she crashed to the ground. He had the X-8 1400 with the Z bend frame. http://gryphondynamics.co.kr/product/gd-x8-1400-folding-framexq1400fzx Needless to say the copter is a total loss. The motors used were the T-motor U-11. He got in touch with Mr. Heechul of GD and he only offered him 15% off for another frame. Mr. Heechul suggested to use those with the U-11 motors, http://gryphondynamics.co.kr/product/x8-2 but now is too late. So, be careful if you are going to use big motors with the detachable frame booms. cheers Bill
IMHO detachable/foldable arms are accidents waiting to happen. These machines inherently have so many potential failure points, it could be seen as foolish to add more of these to save a few minutes of setup/teardown time. Personally, I appreciate the opportunity to inspect/tighten all my boom clamps, etc., the few times I've broken my big machines down for transit.
Couldn't agree more. The electrical connections also worry me on the arms that are removed. The only connectors I like to have are the batteries, everything else is hard soldered.
Totally agree, another 7 bullet connectors per arm is a no go for me too. We had a large octo and a hex. Octo was then set up without bullets with running through cables and the 'hanging'' booms option. And close to 40 screws in a single x mount equipped arm was to much for my liking as well. They all need to be regularly checked... We also had play in the joints. Awesome looking ...well manufactured, but over designed and too many potential errors because of that. Simple is reliable is best..
Bill, thanks for sharing this. I was about to give an order for Z series Gryphon frames. With a 3500$ high price tag, it has to offer much much more durability and reliability.
Hey Folks. I joined this forum specifically for this thread and I will also be shopping for a gimbal in the next few months. Possible a movi 5. I have a gryphon frame. Brand new in the box. its a GD-12 1000mm foldable. I researched gryphon frames for a couple months and didn't find this thread until after i ordered the frame. Now I'm having a damn heart attack. lol. This is the only case of joint failure I could find. The 1400 x8 has a much longer arm before the joint in question and I really hope this is a "one off" situation where the combination of leverage and huge motors caused the failure. I paid a premium of a couple hundred dollars to have this folding feature and certainly don't want to spend another $300 to reinforce it and create a "non folding" frame. So I am asking myself the question of do I send the frame back and loose shipping costs and possible a restocking fee and chalk it up as experience or do i go with it? My build will be a 10 pound build with 24 pounds of thrust. Do I need to worry about this joint? Having $10K crash to the ground is one thing. Injuring someone in the process is not something I take lightly. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers.
Hi "pumpkinguy," welcome to the forum. If it's not too much trouble, would you be kind enough to change your user name to your real first name and last name, please? The reasons for this (and how to do it) are explained here: http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/real-names.497/ Also, please bear in mind this is a Freefly Systems forum -- so it might not be the best place for support for Gryphon framesets, I'm afraid. Thanks Andy
Thanks Andy. Changed. Not the best forum for info on gryphon for sure but the op seems to have some inside info. I will also be researching the movi 5 while I'm here. I'm just starting my build so I will need a gimbal for the spring. Cheers.