MSR aluminum tube landing gear

[Thewyzardofdogz]

This landing gear is my third attempt and is the strongest, lightest and best looking mod I've done yet. I bought a new set and cut the skis and about half of the struts off. I took some 1/8" aluminum tubing and made 4 identical struts (22mm) and a couple skis. I used a round needle file to cut arcs into the struts so they fit nicely and used a mini hot glue gun to weld the pieces together. I slid the aluminum struts over the remainder of the plastic struts and then completely covered the remaining exposed part of the plastic struts with glue. I am waiting for my digital scale to show up via mail so I can weigh this puppy and my other landing gear experiments. And wrapping the glue weld all the way around the skis also adds traction so the helicopter doesn't torque as violently on takeoff.

[Thewyzardofdogz]

This time I used 3/32" tubing which is even lighter than 1/8". If I ever manage to break the chassis mount pins I can buy another stock landing gear, cut it down and glue the aluminum gear onto it. I haven't broken a landing gear in a long, long time. I glue my landing gear right to my frame. If it comes apart I re-glue it. This super strong mod cost me less than $1. [Edit] I just got my digital scale and the red MSR weighs 30.33 grams with all the aluminum parts and the extended battery connector; I think a vanilla MSR is around 28. The aluminum gear hasn't broken since I made it and the extra couple grams of bottom weight accomplishes two things - the helicopter stabilizes itself faster and there is added momentum during maneuvers (it is very easy to get the helicopter totally sideways or more during flight). A real winner here for sure - with all the Microheli parts too.