I was in a rush to get kids to school on time. I don't normally take my MP with me, but this time I thought I could fly a bit around their school. I put the case containing the MP in the bed of my truck, loaded the kids, and headed out. At the first light, a car pulled up next to me an motioned to open the window.
"When you came around the corner back there, a toolbox fell out of your bed..." My heart sank. I pulled a u-turn immediately, racing back to the turn. It only took me about 60 seconds to get back to that spot, but it was a LONG 60 seconds. I could just see someone driving over it if it was still in the street.
Sure enough, it was, and as I pulled a second u-turn to get to it, two cars drove past it, swerving to avoid it. I stopped behind the case, turned on my hazards and raced to pick it up. The case had a nice scar, but no cracks or other deformations that would indicate it had been struck or run over.
Being short on time, I put it back in the bed, this time slamming the tailgate. Once the kids were dropped off, and I got back home, I opened the case. All looked fine... BUT both the gimbal lock and bubble (with silicone boot) were no longer attached to the MP. I carefully inspected the gimbal, the cable, and all the stops. Everything appeared normal. I fired it up and flew for about 10 minutes. Zero issues.
I wasn't going to share this (it is embarrassing), but the fact that the clamp came off, leaving the gimbal completely exposed to additional shock is worthy of mentioning.
This is the case I've been using. Because it's small, the padding below and above the MP is minimal. Further, the cutout for the MP has a flat bottom for the entire area. That means there is a gap between the bubble and the floor. If your case padding doesn't make contact on the bubble when it's resting in the cutout, you may have the same issue I experience if you ship/drop the case.
TL;DR: If your hard case doesn't have padding touching the camera bubble, a hard knock may cause the bubble cover and gimbal lock to completely pop off the MP - leaving the gimbal unprotected.
"When you came around the corner back there, a toolbox fell out of your bed..." My heart sank. I pulled a u-turn immediately, racing back to the turn. It only took me about 60 seconds to get back to that spot, but it was a LONG 60 seconds. I could just see someone driving over it if it was still in the street.
Sure enough, it was, and as I pulled a second u-turn to get to it, two cars drove past it, swerving to avoid it. I stopped behind the case, turned on my hazards and raced to pick it up. The case had a nice scar, but no cracks or other deformations that would indicate it had been struck or run over.
Being short on time, I put it back in the bed, this time slamming the tailgate. Once the kids were dropped off, and I got back home, I opened the case. All looked fine... BUT both the gimbal lock and bubble (with silicone boot) were no longer attached to the MP. I carefully inspected the gimbal, the cable, and all the stops. Everything appeared normal. I fired it up and flew for about 10 minutes. Zero issues.
I wasn't going to share this (it is embarrassing), but the fact that the clamp came off, leaving the gimbal completely exposed to additional shock is worthy of mentioning.
This is the case I've been using. Because it's small, the padding below and above the MP is minimal. Further, the cutout for the MP has a flat bottom for the entire area. That means there is a gap between the bubble and the floor. If your case padding doesn't make contact on the bubble when it's resting in the cutout, you may have the same issue I experience if you ship/drop the case.
TL;DR: If your hard case doesn't have padding touching the camera bubble, a hard knock may cause the bubble cover and gimbal lock to completely pop off the MP - leaving the gimbal unprotected.
