Kokomiko,

I'll address your second point first. When the film canisters are cut into the slitted tube form, they are quite flexible. A shock absorber works by distributing the energy of an impulse over time. That is exactly what these protectors do. During an angled crash without the protectors, the very hard motor body takes all the force impulse and trasfers it to the frame. With the protectors that force is distributed over time and is less likely to damage either the motor or the frame. I had a 45 degree crash yesterday from aprox 30 feet with absolutely no damage. While that is not absolute proof (I put my faith in engineering principles) it certainly is encouraging. Of course an large angle crash will still allow the rotors to hit. The added rotor clearance I was referring to was for normal takeoffs and landings.

As for the HD motors. First, these motors are lightly loaded without the SAVS portion installed. Mine run warm to the touch after 10 mins of flight but certainly not hot. I could detect no difference in temperature by feel with the protectors vs without them. Remember that the canisters are cut as slotted tube so there is still air flow. Since you and others questioned the heat, I will make some direct thermal coupled temperature measurement to establish the real temperature difference. My personal opinion is that you are more likely to damage the motors from a crash without the protectors than from the small increase in heat.

Mike