ORIGINAL: timcat26
I don't fly 3D planes like the U-Can-Do, but there's a guy at our field that just about exclusively flies them. He repairs his gear only to the point that it will handle a regular to reasonably rough landing. His rationale is that he doesn't want to take out more of the belly of the fuse than he has to on rough landings. Essentially, he repairs them so that they can intentionally fold up again but not enough to cause even further damage.
Since 3D birds are built to be so light there's bound to be a weak point, and the gear is usually the prime spot for this.
YES!!!
That is exactly what I do.
If anything planning for the next mishap saves you a lot of effort later.
Some people suggest nylon bolts for the gear, which is not a bad idea, but to do this you normally need much bigger threads than is used for metal bolts.
I use several of the same size bolts normally used to attach wings for the gear.
Hobby Lobby sells bags of them with pre-threaded wooden mounting blocks for about 6.00 or so a bag of 10 or more.
The bigger nylon bolts will hold through most landings, but will prevent the wood in the fuselage from ripping out.
Also another thing that helps....
I see many people complaining about "overly weak" aluminum gear. They go out and purchase CF or other fairly strong gear, only to do far more damage on their next hard landing.
The weaker aluminum gear tends to splay out on a hard landing, protecting everything.
Better to use that gear instead.