SuperSkids400 Installation Tips

Special note:

Your new SuperSkids 400 Landing Gear Assembly contains the same landing gear and skid components that made SuperSkids™ for 300 size micro helis famous. Your kit should contain the following parts:

2 - Landing Gear

1 - Aluminum Anodized Left Skid

1 - Aluminum Anodized Right Skid

4 - Silicon Skid Caps

2 - Nylon Wire Ties

1 - Assorted Screws and Washers

Note: 2.4gHz radios are common now and don't use antenna tubes. Antenna tubes are no longer supplied.

The landing gear comes pre-drilled with holes spaced at industry standard locations so many helicopter models will fit without drilling new holes. In the illustrations below, you can use the mounting screws that came with your helicopter or the ones we provide in the kit. Use the screws that work and look best to you.

We recommend removing the skid caps and reinstalling them with a drop of CA glue (superglue).

Here is a table of which models may use the different holes:
R1 - L1	Compy 300 frame, Esky Lama 2 &3 and similar coaxial helicopters.
R2 - L2	Walkera Dragonfly 36 and similar 400 size helicopters
R3 - L3	Align T-rex and similar 450 size, and some Esky Honeybee King 2
R4 - L2	Esky Honeybee King 2
R4 - L3	Esky Belt CP
R4 - L4	SuperSkids mounts for 300 size helicopters.
Note: As a rule, many micro helis, depending on their balance, tend to hang to the right when flying. If you use the offset hole pattern to mount your SuperSkids400, it's a good idea to use the outside hole on the right of the landing gear (as shown by the black line in the drawing) to shift weight bias to the left. The offset mounting is hardly noticeable when the landing gear is mounted, and it may save you time by not having change the holes in the landing gear or your helicopter frame.

SuperSkids400 landing gear is engineered to be flexible enough so it won't break, but also to absorb impact so it's not transferred to the rest of your helicopter. The unique upright design of the legs (sometimes referred to as "alligator legs") helps to stop the landing gear from spreading apart on impact and letting your helicopter 'bottom out'. The top of the landing gear is designed to operate like a leaf spring on a car, giving your heli a suspension. On heavy models, it's desired to have an upward camber (or crown) on the top of the landing gear.

Using a crown suspension is not new to SuperSkids, but it's interesting to see that some r/c heli manufacturers now seem to be using it. If you have a HBK2 or Belt CP, you may have noticed that your stock landing gear holes don't line up with the holes in the frame. When you install the screws, the landing gear crowns upward. This helps their landing gear to hold it's shape, but unfortunately, the spread out angle of their landing gear legs sends any shock right to the frame with no suspension effect.

Nylon wire ties are included with your kit. For heavy helicopters, one or two can be wrapped around the top of the rear landing gear and your helicopter frame to help support the crown as shown on this Belt CP.

The next illustration in this article will show an alternate method of mounting SuperSkids400, using an Esky Honeybee King 2 as an example. The method also applies to other models, and requires very slight modifications to the helicopter frame.

SuperSkids has 2 adapters that work with the SuperSkids400 Landing Gear. Adapter22 is for use with helis like the the Walkera 22E, Ufly and similar models. Adapter450 is for 400 and 450 size helis and will add 8mm to the height of your heli, has the camber built-in (no need for wire ties) and has even more universal hole spacing options. If you're taking off and landing in grass, or just don't want to use wire ties, you may want to consider these 400 size adapters.

I'm using a Honeybee King 2 in this example because the Esky models, HBK2 and Belt CP, don't use industry standard hole spacing on their landing gear. Other manufacturers may not, either, but a comprehensive list is not available. (Please note that some HBK2 frames "battery hangers" will accept the standard 42mm holes, and some won't.)

On a Belt CP, the offset is only about 3mm and hard to see when the landing gear is mounted, but other helis may have a larger offset and you may want your landing gear centered, despite the small advantage lost to the balance as described above.

Fortunately, this can be done in as little as 1 minute. You generally only need to make the holes about 1/2 mm larger as shown in RED on the illustration to the left. We recommend not making the holes too large as a small camber is preferred. The HBK2 is not really heavy enough to make much difference, but it's still nice.

We've enlarged the holes 2 ways, and in each case the stock landing gear still fits. The first way (takes a little more time) is to use the pointed end of a hobby knife to make the holes oval shaped as shown.

The second way is to use a 3/32" (about 2.4mm) drill bit to make the holes larger. A drill was not necessary, just the bit. It made a nice, finished hole.