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Any ideas on how we could land the mavic on water?

Note, he grabbed it from the rear (quickly).
Front, middle, back. It doesn't really matter where you grab it. Your hand will interfere with all of the sensors on the bottom.

If I must hand catch my Mavic, I'm going for the middle. That way my fingers will be as far away from the props as possible and it'll be balanced in my hand when the motors stop.
 
I have seen some videos showing hand catches, but not sure if the sensors were disabled. It looks like you have to grab it from the front, just under the front sensors. Anyone with experience? Please share.
This is where I hand catch mine to avoid the sonic sensors. The downward camera doesn't really affect it. It may start throttling up as you hold it down, just left down stick quickly and it will shut off.
 
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This is where I hand catch mine to avoid the sonic sensors. The downward camera doesn't really affect it. It may start throttling up as you hold it down, just left down stick quickly and it will shut off.
Sorry, can't edit on my phone. Here's the picture.

cdcc3fda39dab0e1062c7b7224d12657.jpg
 
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I absolutely agree about the inherent risks. The reasons I catch the Mavic are as follows.

1) With its low COG, the Mavic can easily ingest foreign debris into the motors or worse, the air intake. This can be true even in areas that may appear clear and clean.

2) The smaller, light weight, foldable and flexible blades will inflict substantially less damage than a full sized heavier rigid prop.

3) I take precautions such as sunglasses, hovering at a maximum altitude, and not trying it in too windy of conditions.

4) Sometimes the terrain provides no other option but to hand launch.

Like anything in life you can mitigate the risk by being knowledgeable, cautious, and by practicing in favorable conditions.
 
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I do launch from the foredeck of my sailboat, but landing on the deck, is too risky IMHO. Too many obstacles: mast, shrouds, sheets, forestay, backstay in the way. I always hand catch from the stern, and bring in my P3P slowly towards me until I can catch it. As I mentioned earlier... the Mavic is going to be more of a challenge.

Same here. I tried one day under sails with 10kt of wind.... trivial at best. How big is your boat? I usually launch and catch the bird from the stern (have a wide stern with foldout transom) but because of the Maric sensors, thinking about doing this from the bow instead.
 
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I used to hand launch and land from my Greenline 33 (33ft motorboat) with my DJI Vision.

Hand landing is easer for me when there are waves as I can easily adjust/move my hand and grab one of the Vision legs.
Not sure how to do this with a Mavic, but time will tell.

I'm not going to mount floats as they will not have any use as soon as there are waves on the water.
I will add a GetterBack (rod recovery system).
 
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Same here. I tried one day under sails with 10kt of wind.... trivial at best. How big is your boat? I usually launch and catch the bird from the stern (have a wide stern with foldout transom) but because of the Maric sensors, thinking about doing this from the bow instead.
My boat is 43'. I haven't tried launching/landing under sail. With the Mavic (better stability, and sensors), I may launch & land from the foredeck.
 
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So i am captain of a yacht.. and will no doubt be flying it a lot offshore, yeah i know its risky but its going to happen..

Just wondering if we could put our heads together and come up with a solution....while we wait for them to arrive

Totally get that i should not land it on water but also dont want to lose it, if for some reason it has to land on water..some sort of failure, return to home etc

I am not talking about getting the thing water tight but just floatable landing gear to keep the said devise floating until help arrives..

Any thoughts?

drone lands on water - Buscar con Google
If you've got a yacht, why not just land it on the yacht.
 
Note, he grabbed it from the rear (quickly).
Hey thats me in the video
:))))

Yes you have to catch it relatively quick before the sensors kick in. But not that quick that you disregard safety. Just aim for the point you want to catch, approach from below and swiftly catch it.
 
guys i totally get the idea of grabbing it in the air ...landing it on the yacht etc.. i am just worried about if the thing goes a little wrong and wants to either auto land or it just goes all tits up and has to land on the water...not looking at buying another anytime soon. so was just looking for ideas on making the thing float if for some reason it does wanna land on the water..
 
the yacht is a 78 foot princess motor yacht..again i totally get the idea of landing it on the fore deck.. even flybridge when the bimini is down..i am just a little worried if the thing ever needs to land on water.. for what ever reason.
 
I think the op is not speaking about landing under normal conditions. I think he is asking about a safety feature that will allow him to recover his bird in the event of an unplanned failure over water. I wonder if you could fit styrofoam balls under each of the legs.
 
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I think the op is not speaking about landing under normal conditions. I think he is asking about a safety feature that will allow him to recover his bird in the event of an unplanned failure over water. I wonder if you could fit styrofoam balls under each of the legs.
yep!
 
guys i totally get the idea of grabbing it in the air ...landing it on the yacht etc.. i am just worried about if the thing goes a little wrong and wants to either auto land or it just goes all tits up and has to land on the water...not looking at buying another anytime soon. so was just looking for ideas on making the thing float if for some reason it does wanna land on the water..
OK... I get it now, but I really think it's a bad idea for the Mavic. It sits so low to the ground. If you did attach something to make it float the only time you could use it would be when the wind and sea are dead, dead calm. While the Mavic seems to do quite well in the wind. However, attaching any kind of floats will no doubt make it that much more susceptible to the wind.

After watching the video of the Phantom 4 with that droneraft, it kinda makes me want to get one of those!
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