Super sweeper
When we first got the dc 14 to sell I did drop a brand new one off the mezzanine ( a standard story high ) in my workshop, The cleaner head bent upwards from the impact and the two plastic sir clips shot off ( one yet to be found) but a few minutes of disassembling and it worked perfect again.
A year ago I knocked off ( buy accident )a traded in Ultimate G , It hit the ground like a tank, Bits shot off in every direction, The wheels broke, the cleaner head mounts and lever broke off, The chassis cracked the head light unit got hit by the cleaner head and it bent and broke.
Does this make the Kirby a weakly built machine. No not at all but it goes to show how unfair doing that test with these two machines would be.
A kirby ways a ton and its own weight was its biggest failure in this instance. It meant the machine hit the ground with more force putting greater force on the parts. Cast aluminium is very strong for every day bumps and knocks but it has no give to it. Hot it too hard and it will break. Why do you think modern car bumpers are made from plastic, It can absorb light dings and dents.
For a throwing off the roof test to be fair you would need to similar weighted machines again made out of similar materials.
Just out of interest the Kirby also smashed out a fist size chunk out of the concreate floor it hit so hard. My Two technicians almost jumped out of their skin