Thank you for the kind words.
I would recumbent using carbon fibre tubing, as these are quite a bit lighter than alu tubing. i have been experimenting with both for a while now, and find that CF saves a lot of weight. As the Phantom is a very weight sesetive platform, weight is something that I have to seriously take into consideration for all the parts I make for it. I am designing a cross member, using the same 6mm tube that can be attached somewhere on the actual leg extensions, that will help strengthen the landing gear when useing a a BLG (they are heavy for the Phantom, from 180g to roughly 280g). A cross member of this type, will add less than 10g, but further strengthen the set up considerably. Also, I will make single parts of the Landing Gear available, as spares. I would rather breake a cheap, replaceable part.
I am designing a new gimbal frame, to replace my quadframe gimbal as we speak. This I will be able to slide onto the front of the two tubes going lengthwise under the Phantom, mounted to the LG, with a anti vibration mount, and has full downward tilt. I have already modified the QF gimbal for full downward tilt. This also allows me to position the gear (in this case the gimbal) where ever I need to obtain the best possible Center Of Gravity, depending of my current set up.
I've been testing the foldable landing gear for a couple of weeks now, and it works great and is very stable and strong. That said, by adding a couple of hundred grams more weight, like with a BLG, the Phantom will be coming crashing down a lot harder, and everything is more prone to break. People seems more conserned with snapping a cheap plastic part of the landing gear, instead of actually breaking a $500 brushless gimbal. I have not yet tested any BLG for the Phantom, and will make due with my own servo gimbal for a while, as I get satisfying result with it.
Retractable landing gear for the Phantom, is something I have been playing with. I have designed the sjetches for it, but not taken it work any further, as I see no value in it as an upgrade for the Phantom. This functionality would only be needed when using a 3 axis gimbal, which I have yet to see for the Phantom. Also the added mechanics and weight, would make flight times really low, coupled with a 3 axis gimbal, and the whole set up would be more prone to break. I have lowered my Yaw setting, and use that to do 360 panning. That said, I might actually build one, just for the fun of it to test myself.
I've made this system modular, with that in mind - adding different gear to the Phantom. So making a bracket for other types of cameras, is not hard. I strive to make any parts for my Phantom, an upgrade & improvement, both in functionality & weight. I know some people are experimenting with various cameras on the Phantom, but they seem to be on the heavy side, at least for an optimal flight time and flight characteristics.
Thanks again for the feedback, and interest in the work I do to my Phantom.
I have just made two small, easy, upgrades to mine now, that anybody can do (tin foil casing for the GoPro3 to eliminate signal interference, and mounted a gasket to the battery door, to connect battery/balance plug for external gear) - I will make two quick videos when I get the time, and upload to my channel soon.
Cheers,
Simen
