3D Printed FPV Drone Landing Gear, Skids and Motor Protectors

Introduction

Landing gear on an FPV drone might seem counterintuitive. After all, most freestyle and racing quads are designed to be as light and aerodynamic as possible — they launch from your hand and land (or crash) in grass. But for certain applications — cinematography, long-range cruising, rough-terrain takeoffs, and protecting expensive bottom-mounted components — proper landing gear makes a real difference.

3D printed landing gear, skids, and motor protectors offer FPV pilots a way to add functionality without the weight penalty of commercial solutions. They’re customizable, replaceable, and cost pennies to print. This guide covers the most useful designs and the printing techniques that make them durable enough for field use.

Landing Gear Types and Applications

1. Long-Range Skids

Long-range FPV drones (7-inch quads and fixed-wing conversions) benefit from elevated landing gear that provides:

• Ground clearance for bottom-mounted antennas: Long-range builds often carry large GPS modules, receiver antennas, or even payload release mechanisms on the underside. Skids that raise the drone 30-50mm off the ground prevent these components from contacting the surface during takeoff and landing
• Stable platform: Unlike freestyle quads that can be hand-launched, heavy long-range drones (1.5-3kg all-up weight) are difficult to hand-launch safely. Landing skids provide a stable base for autonomous takeoff and landing
• Propeller clearance: On pusher-configuration wings, the propeller is at the rear and below the fuselage — landing gear prevents prop strikes on the ground

Design: Tall skids (30-60mm height) printed in PETG with a wide stance for stability. The skids should bolt to the frame’s arm mounting points or dedicated landing gear brackets. Use a tripod or quadpod configuration — three or four legs provide the most stable base. The feet should have a larger footprint than the leg cross-section to distribute weight on soft ground.

Print: PETG, 4-5 walls, 40-50% infill. Print the legs vertically for maximum compressive strength (layer lines perpendicular to the load). The feet can be printed separately and attached, or designed with a splayed shape that prints cleanly without supports.

2. Cinematography Landing Struts

Cinematic FPV builds carrying heavy payloads (GoPro, Insta360, LiDAR, additional batteries) need stable landing gear that won’t tip over on uneven surfaces. Key features:

• Wide stance: Legs that extend outward from the frame at 30-45° angles, creating a base that’s wider than the drone’s motor-to-motor diagonal
• Shock absorption: TPU feet at the bottom of PETG struts — the TPU compresses on landing to absorb impact and prevent bouncing
• Quick-release: Design the legs to clip on and off the frame without tools. A spring-loaded TPU clip that engages with the frame’s standoffs allows legs to be removed for storage or when landing gear isn’t needed for a particular flight

3. Arm Skids and Sliders

For freestyle pilots who land on hard surfaces (concrete, asphalt, packed dirt), small arm-mounted skids protect the carbon fiber arms and motor screws from abrasion:

• Arm boot: A TPU cap that covers the end of the arm and the motor mounting area, with raised ridges on the bottom that act as wear surfaces. When the drone slides on concrete, the TPU wears away instead of the carbon fiber and screw heads
• Replaceable wear pads: Design the skid with a thin sacrificial layer (1-2mm) that can be replaced when worn through — print 10 replacement pads at once and swap them as needed
• Motor screw protection: The skid should extend below the motor screw heads by 2-3mm, ensuring the screws never contact the ground. Worn motor screw heads can strip when you try to remove them — prevention is much easier than extraction

Print: TPU 95A, 3 walls, 25% infill. Print flat on the bed with the skid surfaces facing up for a smooth finish. Each skid weighs 1-3g and prints in 15-30 minutes.

Motor Protectors

Motor Bell Protectors

The motor bell (the rotating outer shell) is vulnerable to impact damage, particularly on the top where side impacts can dent the bell and cause it to rub against the stator. A TPU ring or cap that fits over the top of the motor bell provides impact protection without adding rotating mass to the bell itself (the protector is stationary, mounted to the arm).

Design considerations:

• The protector must clear the rotating bell by 1-2mm — too tight and it rubs, too loose and it doesn’t protect effectively
• Mount to the arm or motor mounting screws — not to the motor bell itself
• Include cooling slots aligned with the motor’s cooling vents to maintain airflow
• For bottom-mounted motors (on pusher configs), the protector mounts above the motor, protecting it from belly-landing impacts

Propeller Guards (Not Just for Whoops)

While full propeller guards are associated with tiny whoops and indoor flying, lightweight 3D printed prop guards have applications for outdoor FPV as well:

• Proximity flying: When flying close to structures, trees, or people, prop guards prevent the most common type of crash — a prop catching on an obstacle
• Gap practice: Learning tight gaps with prop guards reduces the cost of mistakes from “broken prop + damaged motor” to “bounced off”
• Cinematic indoor flights: Flying through buildings for real estate or industrial cinematography requires prop protection for safety and equipment preservation

Design: TPU rings that surround each propeller with a small clearance (3-5mm on each side). The rings connect to the frame via arms that bolt on. For 5-inch builds, prop guards add 40-80g total — significant, but acceptable for specialized flights. Print in 95A TPU with 2-3 walls and hollow infill (15% gyroid) to keep weight down while maintaining flexibility.

Durability-Focused Design Principles

1. Sacrificial Layers

The most effective protection strategy is to design parts with intentional sacrificial elements — sections that are expected to wear or break, protecting the more expensive components they shield. Motor screw skids that wear down over 100 landings cost $0.02 to replace. Motor screws that get ground down until they can’t be removed cost $5-10 in screws and potentially a damaged motor.

2. Flexibility Over Rigidity

For protection components (as opposed to structural landing gear), flexible TPU outperforms rigid materials. A rigid PETG arm skid transmits impact forces directly into the carbon arm and motor. A flexible TPU skid absorbs impact energy through deformation and returns to shape. Use TPU for anything designed to take impacts; use PETG only for components that need to support weight without deforming.

3. Field-Replaceable Design

Landing gear and skids WILL break eventually. Design them to be replaceable without tools or with a single hex driver. Bolted designs are more secure; clip-on designs are more convenient. For racing where every second of repair time matters, clip-on TPU skids that press onto the arm are ideal — they stay on in flight but pop off cleanly in a crash without damaging the arm.

Printing Recommendations

Conclusion

3D printed landing gear, skids, and motor protectors fill a genuine need that commercial FPV products rarely address. For long-range builds that need ground clearance, for cinematography quads that need stable takeoff platforms, and for freestyle pilots who practice on rough surfaces, printed protection is light, cheap, and endlessly customizable. Start with a set of arm skids — they’re the simplest print, provide immediate protection for your motor screws and carbon fiber arms, and cost less than a dollar to make. From there, expand to whatever protection your flying style demands.