After a number of pretty bad nose-in crashes (flying nose in is the most challenging), the bird was getting pretty beat up:

With the landing gear broken and the canopy smashed, it was looking very ragged. Not only that, but the metal rod and zip ties I had holding the landing skids together added enough weight to make it fly a little funny (balance, what balance?).

Removing the weight of the rod, well.. that was not really an option:

Fortunately, the local hobby shop has a variety of replacement parts for these things (big shock, isn’t it?). The landing gear itself was about $8.50 to purchase. Easy enough. However, with all the plug-and-play miniaturization on these things, one thing that was not plug and play was the landing gear + battery tray. I’d have to perform some micro soldering to complete the repair.

I lit up the soldering iron and did my best. Turns out that it was a little easier than I thought it would be. Plus, I didn’t accidentally melt any of the sensitive parts, like that servo there, located perilously close to the solder points I needed to use.

With the important structural stuff fixed, the canopy was re-attached and she’s ready to fly. Good, maybe bad, but the shop did not have replacement canopy in stock. It’s OK I suppose, since I’d crashed this many times on the nose before the canopy finally shattered.

Some pieces are still missing, but some clear tape and Sharpie marker returned it to serviceable condition. It’s not going to win a beauty contest, but it does fly, as you can see here!