reemas

I just got my DF today. I noticed when I put the DF in the carrying case, it rests on the black gears where the motor is and NOT on the frame or the base. There is some foam that sticks up in all 4 corners and holds up the DF of the bottom by the 4 black gears. Is this normal? Seems like the gears could break if the case moves around too much.

Sky High

How about a close up picture of the issue.

a8906

No, thats not normal.
The case is cut to fit the DF precisely. The frame stiffners or (the thinner carbonfiber tubes) will rest on the lower cut base of foam and when you close the case the piece of lighter grey foam that is glued to the lid will rest snuggly on the canopy of the DF holding it nicely in place. There should also be a nicely cut area to put the TX (transmitter) so that you can transport all together.

Woops....I forgot that you could have a DF that doesnt have the frame stiffners attatched (like the SAVS)
If thats the case I guess I cant comment witout seeing a pic of the setup that you have
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Dave

Sky High

His DF has frame stiffeners as shown in [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5863962/tm.htm]this[/link] thread. I have to do subtle sliding adjustments to get my SAVS to fit just right in my case too. I also had to cut away some of that harder foam to prevent what he is describing and to make it easier to fit the V collar on the camera ball to fit in that narrow slit.

reemas

Sorry didnt have time to take a photo yet - but I called Draganflyer support and wanted to see if you all had the same case issue as me:

What I mean is, after you put your DF inside the hard case, try checking to see if landing base actually touches the bottom of the case. On my case, the 4 landing pegs are elevated about a 1/4 inch above the bottom.

The entire DF unit is held up by the L shaped corner foam on all 4 corners of the case. In otherwords it is held off the floor by the black motor gears.

Also, the frame and carbon rods do not touch the foam insert that goes in before the DF.

Jeremy (a tech at DF) says this is how they were designed. But I still find it wierd to suspend the DF by the four black motor gears. Should I cut soem foam down, or do you all have it this way?

Thanks in advance....

BB_DF

Hi reemas,
The DF should rest securely on the CF arms and cross-braces without any twisting or unusual forces. The whole thing is suspended so that if there's an impact to the case, no part of the DF is close enough to an edge to be damaged. The DF is so light, there is certainly no undue stress on the frame elements. If you're uncomfortable with the design, rather than cutting the vertical foam pieces down to allow the landing gear to touch bottom, I would attach a soft piece of foam to the bottom that makes contact with the landing gear. Take a picture though - your pieces might have been cut wrong.

Cheers,
Bruce

Sky High

Yes, post a shot of the whole DF sitting in the case and then close up pictures of the problem area with the DF's motors are resting on the foam.

reemas

I took some photos quickly, if you need a better angle or lighting let me know. Here are the photos. Notice that the frame AND the carbon rods DO NOT touch the foam. The only item touching the foam is the black motor gear. See photos below. This is for all 4 gears and corners. Is this normal?

Sky High

I think your case is different than the SAVS case. Take a full frame wide shot of the whole case.

BB_DF

Here's how the SAVS case is set up. Maybe they use a different shell for the DF V Ti case option. It looks like if the two strips in the corner weren't quite as tall, it would work OK.

FL_PI

The hard case for the DF V TI Pro is a SQUARE box, not oblong like your SAV case. the Pro sits with a motor in each corner of the hard case, and it uses two inserts for three different levels counting the bottom of the case.
Reemas, you apparently got your machine about the same time as I got mine. Your post at the top is dated May 17th and you said you got yours that day. Mine arrived May 18th.
My Pro as best I can tell, sits with the motors in the corner boxes and unless my old eyes fooled me, I THOUGHT that the frame members also sat on the insert. To me, it appears much like the lower part of the motor mount where the screw is next to the frame may be touching the insert in addition to the motors being in the corner boxes.
I can not see, or I haven't attempted that detail yet, but I believe that the support legs are probably not touching the bottom of the case. Mine has the four corner boxes as your photos show with a large rectangle made of the same foam in the center of the bottom, which surrounds the lower part of the machine that extends through the first panel, to protect the lower part of the machine from whatever you may have loaded in the bottom.
Then the upper insert sits in on top with the foam pieces cut and placed to hold the transmitter secure, and the inside corner of those pieces are scalloped out to provide space for the dome of the machine.
All in all, in my opinion, my hard case is well thought out and executed. With everything properly in place I hear nothing moving inside when I pick up and move the case, which is how it should be. Nothing should be moving around in there while in transit, which is one of the main ideas of the transport case. (in *my* opinion)