Comment by Guy McCaldin on October 17, 2012 at 8:36pm

It looks fantastic, though I have a few questions.  

It looks like the landing gear is made out of acrylic.  In your testing, have you had any problems with it cracking/shattering in the event of a heavy landing?  It's a brittle material, so it seems like a bit of strange choice for this application, though it's nice to see that you stock replacements should something happen.

Also, is it compatible with any other manufactures' camera mounts, or are there any plans to create your own?

Distributor Comment by David Skinner on October 18, 2012 at 2:31am

Hi Guy,

I'm glad you like it! We think it looks pretty awesome as well, but then again we're a bit biased. :)

To answer your first question regarding the landing gear, I've taken a photo (below) that shows one of the landing gear on our current test vehicle.

Hopefully you can see the bend on one side. This happened after an impact from a height of around 3 meters and the landing gear actually absorbed most of the force/shock. We spent a considerable amount of time designing and testing the landing gear to make sure they do that exact job. So far we haven't had any cracking/shattering at all. We are still flying with the landing gear in the photo above and the bend hasn't caused any issues.

To answer the second question regarding a camera mount, we haven't tested the MR4 with any mounts other than simply hard mounting a GoPro with one of their adhesive clips. Other camera mounts should fit as long as they bolt straight up underneath (or if you're willing to make an attachment). We are working on a system but I can't say anymore about that until it's released.

I hope this info helps? If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask them.

Comment by Rory Paul on October 18, 2012 at 7:24am

You may want and option with longer legs to accommodate a camera mount and also helps reduce prop strikes when landing on windy days.

JDrones Comment by Jani Hirvinen on October 18, 2012 at 7:55am

We have been using PolyCarbonate on original ArduCopter frames over 2 years now and they are strong. Nice looking frame you have in here but not sure about it's price. It might be a bit difficult to enter on market when price tag is around 300 USD more compared to others on market that are using same parts what your kit does. 

Just my few cents..

Distributor Comment by David Skinner on October 24, 2012 at 5:56am

@Rory - The current landing gear DOES accommodate a camera mount. There is 14.5cm (5.7in) of clearance underneath the MR4. We mainly use a GoPro and that fits perfectly.

@Jani - Yes, the Polycarbonate is extremely strong and the perfect material for landing gear. Thanks for the kind words. We realise the MR4 is more expensive but its actually more like ~$100-150 once you consider the extras that come with our kits and the overall design.

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