Landing gear progress

Just a quick update on the printed suspension landing gear I'm working on. After getting a shipment of PLA plastic, I'm finally able to print some precision parts. The ABS warping prevented any real mechanical parts from being printed.

The principle is fairly simple; one piston using a ballpoint pen spring and rubber bands attached to a joint that is connected to the plane and the wheels.

This is one side of the assembly

I still need to improve some of the parts, for instance I have to add a rubber band crossing between the two legs to absorb some landing energy. Otherwise, I'm pretty satisfied with the design so far, and hopefully I will have time for a real flight test before the snow sets in.