Hi guys,

Nac and I regularly fly from rough fields and have found that we prefer wire landing gear on our 48" EPP planes. We have ordered some wire landing gear and will convert our Skywing/Wattaplane scale planes to use that instead of the carbon fibre gear that came with the kit. I'll also convert my Future Model Sbach. I have been told that at some point in the future, the Future Model Sbach will come with wire landing gear as standard.

Would you guys prefer wire landing gear instead of the carbon fibre gear that is included in these kits?

Hmmm... I like carbon. I fly off of runways and very rarely bounce a landing of any kind, harrier or normal. The only carbon landing gear I've ever broken was on my 42 Slick when the limbo ribbon didn't break.

I like wire. You can do more goofy stuff down low without worrying about snapping your gear off. Some folks don't like bending it back all the time but that's silly. Learn to Land! My main concern with wire gear is that it must be strong enough to support the heavier setups without smacking the prop. The wire used on the 3DHS branded Skywings is far better than anything I've seen included with other similar planes. The gear that came with my Hokusei planes was useless with a 480 sized motor up front.

As to which I'd prefer in the kit... flip a coin. Doesn't matter to me as long as the wire is done right.

Wire is/feels cheap. These planes look good and need to be finished off properly, plus I havn't broken a set of cf LG ever. Carbon all the way!

I fly on my property here in the desert, for the most part it is graded smooth but for three days now i have a 50/50 chance breaking the nylon bolts on the edge and on the slick. I would prefer wire as i have no problems with the gear on my other planes.

BTW wire can look good.

Originally Posted by groovejet

BTW wire can look good.

sure would like to see more detail on this, size wire? how it's attached?

Here's some info on what Nac did to his Future Model Sbach. We're going to do the same to our Skywing scale planes.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=153

I much prefer wire gear - much more functional on rough ground and able to absorb energy from minor impacts.

I have yet to fly my Slick( rain,snow, 60 mph winds on my days off since I got it), so I don't yet know how my gear will hold up to my flying field and my flying, so I'm reserving judgement. I agree that wire landing gear can look good, but I also agree with SDOne about it being weak in another way, namely spreading on landing and chipping your prop, so there are pros and cons to both.
All in all, still best to have the option.
Groove, you hard work is appreciated, and I agree that the wire is a viable solution.

I must be doing something wrong. The wire gear on my Extra and the Sbach will bend just taxying around on a grass field before I even get off the ground. I have to atraighten them after every landing; even after I put 3" wheels on them.

Now I fly them off my paved driveway and only occasionally have to straighten them. Wire would be great if it had more spring, but that might mean more brittle.....?

Can't say anything about the carbon LG as I haven't tried them yet.

I prefer CF over wire. probably because I was so annoyed by the wire LG of 3DHS 48-in Edge, the wire bended on every landing, no matter how gentle it was.

Anyway, no matter CF or wire, the bolts and plate need to be strengthened.

It would be nice to have an option for wire gear.

The 3dhs wire gear on that skywing plane is way superior to the carbon gear on my edge, IMO.

In this particular bird I prefer CF, but that's true the woodplate has to be strengthened and the bolts needs to be metal.

The wire gear used on the 3DHS EPP planes is great! It's thick, strong and holds it's shape very well. I've never had a lick of trouble out of that stuff and that's what I would like to see as an option for these planes.

The wire gear they use on their 41" and 48" Edges is not the same and needs to be bent back into shape every so often. It's softer and starts to squat after a while.