Any reason not to hand catch?

[Thomas B]

Anxious to read your assessment of the landing pad!

 

[stonecherub]

My Mavic Pro case rides in an elderly (like me) Kelty pack that is kept in shape with a 30 x 50 cm piece of plywood. This is my take-off pad which I make approximately level by moving rocks around. On volcanoes in the desert, hand catching is the only way to recover.

 

[mbre]

Or a DIY version:

DIY landing/storage pad

I made a DIY landing/storage pad a few weeks ago with US$12 of materials from the DollarStore + glue and lollipop sticks I already had. My design includes a lid which protects my M2P equipment from other stuff while travelling. If there is sufficient interest I will add a BoM and a “how to”...

mavicpilots.com

When Hand Landing my Mavic Pro Platinum I do the following:

Establish a nice controlled approach to my location. When the aircraft is about 5 feet away I hover, rotate the aircraft "Tail In" (facing away from me) and come in slowly at around eye level. When it's 2' away I let it hover in place and stabilize. I then ease in from underneath but off to the side (belly sensors) and firmly grasp it in the middle and quickly rotate the aircraft upside down. This immediately shuts the motors OFF and you can carry on with your next step (battery change, packing up for the day etc . . .)

In regards to PhantomRainSuit Lunar Landing Pad.... Mine should arrive ANY day now Can't wait get it into use.

New Product Launch - Phantom Rain ! Lunar Landing Pad System :]

The Lunar Landing Pad is a Revolutionary new way of Hand Catching your drone.* It's Safe / Fast and very Secure and even minimizes the risk of Hand Catching and launching your drone. Hand Launching with the Lunar Pad is so effortless that you won't think twice about using it and helps to avoid...

mavicpilots.com

New Product ! Lunar Landing Pad is shipping

The Lunar Landing Pad is a Revolutionary new way of Hand Catching your drone.* It's Safe / Fast and very Secure and even minimizes the risk of Hand Catching and launching your drone. Hand Launching with the Lunar Pad is so effortless that you won't think twice about using it and helps to...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Phantomrain.org]

My Mavic Pro case rides in an elderly (like me) Kelty pack that is kept in shape with a 30 x 50 cm piece of plywood. This is my take-off pad which I make approximately level by moving rocks around. On volcanoes in the desert, hand catching is the only way to recover.

You should consider the Lunary Landing Pad as Im betting it works fantastic over a volcano. lol
If your interested send me an email [email protected]



Phantomrain.org

 

[johnmeyer]

Yesterday I was forced to both start the Mavic from my hands, as well as catch it when it returned. The ground was uneven and rocky. So I wonder, is there any reason not to do this all the time? Seemed safe to me.

Safe? Not really.

Thankfully, this was his hand, and not his face. Letting the drone get within an arm's length of your face is putting a lot of trust in technology. Just peruse this forum for posts about sudden flyaways to get a sense of just one way this could go wrong.

After asking a similar question to yours, I was advised by member of this forum to try hand launch & retrieval. So, I went ahead and made a bunch of hand launches and retrievals, and it is indeed simple enough to do. However, I echo the current Farmer's Insurance advertising tagline: "We know a thing or two, because we've seen a thing or two." I'm well north of 65 and have definitely "seen a thing or two." I know that "stuff happens."

Hand retrieval seems like an open invitation to that "stuff." I'll certainly do it when I absolutely must do it, but I'm not going to do it if I don't have to.

[edit] Here's a link to yet another flyaway post, from today, talking about a flyawy while landing. Read it and imagine that it happened while the drone was hovering less than three feet from your head:

Mavic 2 Crash

 

[Damoss]

I always wear safety glasses when I hand catch, just in case.

 

[johnmeyer]

I always wear safety glasses when I hand catch, just in case.

Me too. I also wear a chain-mail "cut glove."

It's probably not needed except, of course, when at some point it is needed.

 

[Clipper707]

I'm not sure I like the Lunar Landing Pad. Once the drone is on the pad, it's like a plate on a tray. It looks like a well-constructed piece, but it wouldn't work for my carrying needs.

As for launch and recovery, I usually hand launch or catch for one of two reasons: 1) keep my drone out of the dirt, sand, or dust and 2) lack of a flat surface on which to land.

For reason #2, I've launched and recovered from uneven terrain, rooftops, etc. As clumsy as I am, I'd hate to land my Mavic on a pad and then lose my balance enough for the drone to slide or flip off the pad.

I'd rather have a firm grip on the drone and not the pad.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I'm not sure I like the Lunar Landing Pad. Once the drone is on the pad, it's like a plate on a tray. It looks like a well-constructed piece, but it wouldn't work for my carrying needs.

As for launch and recovery, I usually hand launch or catch for one of two reasons: 1) keep my drone out of the dirt, sand, or dust and 2) lack of a flat surface on which to land.

For reason #2, I've launched and recovered from uneven terrain, rooftops, etc. As clumsy as I am, I'd hate to land my Mavic on a pad and then lose my balance enough for the drone to slide or flip off the pad.

I'd rather have a firm grip on the drone and not the pad.

Its not like a plate on a tray at all. You can actually angle down the drone past 45 degrees and the Drone will not slip off this is do to the NON SLIP surface of the Lunar Pad , very cool

There is a strap that also acts as a safety catch if the drone were to start to slide off and catches the two back supports.

LUNAR LANDING PAD - Showing off its many safety features"
Phantomrain.org

Its super safe , secure and you have a shield , what could be more fun.

 

[BigAl07]

Safe? Not really.

Thankfully, this was his hand, and not his face. Letting the drone get within an arm's length of your face is putting a lot of trust in technology. Just peruse this forum for posts about sudden flyaways to get a sense of just one way this could go wrong.

After asking a similar question to yours, I was advised by member of this forum to try hand launch & retrieval. So, I went ahead and made a bunch of hand launches and retrievals, and it is indeed simple enough to do. However, I echo the current Farmer's Insurance advertising tagline: "We know a thing or two, because we've seen a thing or two." I'm well north of 65 and have definitely "seen a thing or two." I know that "stuff happens."

Are you sure that's even a Mavic type aircraft that caused such wounds? The reason I ask is I've been the "recipient" (I mean myself not I heard about or read on the Web) of several Phantom and Mavic related "Blade Strikes" and to this day I have only had the skin even slightly broken 1x and it was a Phantom with a broken prop that caused the laceration.

Now a larger, more powerful and not "hinged" props will cause more damage without a doubt but I'm doubtful those wounds are from a Mavic series of aircraft.

I don't know that Hand Catching is for everyone (some people are just now able to safely fly the aircraft at all which is troubling in and of itself) but to try and post extreme cases and to elicit an extreme reaction seems very counter productive to the community in general.

While you've got a few more "rotations around the sun" than I do I can assure you my experience (good and bad) with sUAS is a bit more than most and having at least the Option and Ability to hand catch is just smart IMHO. The more tools you have in your bag the more likely you are to be able to safely handle more unusual situations in this hobby/industry.

[edit] Here's a link to yet another flyaway post, from today, talking about a flyawy while landing. Read it and imagine that it happened while the drone was hovering less than three feet from your head:

Mavic 2 Crash

Did you read the flight analysis? Not what I would call anything near a Fly Away situation.... definitely looks like Pilot Error.... *see below*

You brought the drone down to 0.7 metres at 20:06.6
At 20:06.7 with the battery at <20% RTH is initiated again
It climbs to 1.7 metres but at 20:08.9 the drone is trying to avoid an obstacle.
At 20:10.3 you gave it full right stick forward
At 20:11.4 you gave it full left stick up
At 20:11.6 there is a warning of an upward obstacle detected.
The drone was in RTH but was also trying to back up to avoid an obstacle at the same time you were fighting it with your joystick input.

 

[dronerdave]

I think it's at least a good idea to know how to do it. I prefer a landing pad but had part of the landing gear extension fall off in flight and had to quickly learn how to hand catch. Best to know what to expect. I didn't and it was a nervous catch.

Also in regard to being cut I wonder if those carbon fiber blades might cause issues. My MP came with those and they are really sharp. I went back to stock but still have friends using them.

 

[johnmeyer]

Are you sure that's even a Mavic type aircraft that caused such wounds? The reason I ask is I've been the "recipient" (I mean myself not I heard about or read on the Web) of several Phantom and Mavic related "Blade Strikes" and to this day I have only had the skin even slightly broken 1x and it was a Phantom with a broken prop that caused the laceration.

Check out this "Mythbusters" partial video, using a Phantom motor and blade:

Admittedly, they kept the blades against the chicken for longer than would happen with a drone strike, but then again, with a drone strike, the whole craft might lurch forward at a pretty high rate of speed, providing additional forward momentum into your flesh.

Did you read the flight analysis? Not what I would call anything near a Fly Away situation.... definitely looks like Pilot Error.... *see below*

Yes I did, and I agree it was almost definitely pilot error. But I don't see any difference between a flyaway and pilot error, because you end up at the same point either way. As an example, if you get into a car crash and break a leg, your leg is just as broken whether it was you who swerved off the road, or whether your tire blew out and caused the car to spin.

Either way, you had better have been wearing your seatbelt, which is why I recommend glasses and a glove when launching/retrieving the drone.

 

[Clipper707]

I think it's at least a good idea to know how to do it.

Definitely. It's a necessary skill.

I was trying to land in a park two months ago. It wasn't dusty and the grass was cut short enough, but as I was coming in, with a low battery, there was an unleashed dog who was very interested in the drone.

His owner secured the dog quickly enough, so he wasn't a factor, but there are a lot of similar situations I can think of involving dogs, kids, and unaware parents.

One should know how to catch before there's a situation where one has to catch.

 

[Spetnaut]

Safe? Not really.

Thankfully, this was his hand, and not his face. Letting the drone get within an arm's length of your face is putting a lot of trust in technology. Just peruse this forum for posts about sudden flyaways to get a sense of just one way this could go wrong.

After asking a similar question to yours, I was advised by member of this forum to try hand launch & retrieval. So, I went ahead and made a bunch of hand launches and retrievals, and it is indeed simple enough to do. However, I echo the current Farmer's Insurance advertising tagline: "We know a thing or two, because we've seen a thing or two." I'm well north of 65 and have definitely "seen a thing or two." I know that "stuff happens."

Hand retrieval seems like an open invitation to that "stuff." I'll certainly do it when I absolutely must do it, but I'm not going to do it if I don't have to.

[edit] Here's a link to yet another flyaway post, from today, talking about a flyawy while landing. Read it and imagine that it happened while the drone was hovering less than three feet from your head:

Mavic 2 Crash

That is not from the blades of a Mavic. I’ve gotten my finger in the blades of my Mavic2 and it barely left a scratch. Stop spreading fake news.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Always hand catch, and do agree that whatever you're comfortable with, do it. If I'm going to buy a Lunar Landing pad or other I might as well buy a case for my fishing rod to go fishing. Makes as much sense IMO.

 

[BigAl07]

Safe? Not really.

Thankfully, this was his hand, and not his face. Letting the drone get within an arm's length of your face is putting a lot of trust in technology.

This accident was not a "MultiRotor" and nothing remotely near a Mavic size/style aircraft. The Pilot/Owner was Tommy Larson from another forum.

It was a very large, hand launch, rear engine, Fixed Wing aircraft. Specifically a Skywalker X8 flying wing. To add to the story, this injury resulted from the pilot/owner installing an Over Sized Prop and not taking the additional prop size into consideration when he Hand Launched the aircraft over his shoulder.

Here are a couple of pics of the "Drone" that did the above injury:

Suggested launching system for the X8:

In no way does this mean that a Mavic size/style sUAS won't cause any harm/damage because anything is possible (even though unlikely). It's not logical to assume or impose that this type of harm can come from such a small aircraft. Let's at least be realistic.

Now if a Mavic prop were to hit soft tissue (eye, lip, tongue etc) it COULD cause a laceration or something but so could a rogue fly swatter LOL.

 

[johnmeyer]

I have to disagree with those who say that the props can't cause serious damage. Before I got my Mavic 2 Pro I spent over a year flying a little "toy" Hubsan drone so I could master the skills needed to fly a drone. The Hubsan's props are incredibly tiny and its motors have only a fraction of the power on a Mavic and yet when I got hit by the props, I received a large number of cuts, which bled.

I did not take pictures, and the damage was far less than in the photo I posted, but I can tell you from direct personal experience that the hazard is FAR greater than some here are trying to make people believe.

 

[okw]

This accident was not a "MultiRotor" and nothing remotely near a Mavic size/style aircraft. The Pilot/Owner was Tommy Larson from another forum.

It was a very large, hand launch, rear engine, Fixed Wing aircraft. Specifically a Skywalker X8 flying wing. To add to the story, this injury resulted from the pilot/owner installing an Over Sized Prop and not taking the additional prop size into consideration when he Hand Launched the aircraft over his shoulder.

Here are a couple of pics of the "Drone" that did the above injury:

Suggested launching system for the X8:

In no way does this mean that a Mavic size/style sUAS won't cause any harm/damage because anything is possible (even though unlikely). It's not logical to assume or impose that this type of harm can come from such a small aircraft. Let's at least be realistic.

Now if a Mavic prop were to hit soft tissue (eye, lip, tongue etc) it COULD cause a laceration or something but so could a rogue fly swatter LOL.

I was just reading these comments and looking at that picture and thought it looked like injuries from a hand-launched pusher prop plane. I had a much milder version of those cuts over 40 years ago from an old control-line model of a BD-5 (Testors or Cox, can't remember which). That thing was so heavy, we never could get it to fly.

And I agree, hinged props of the Mavic size would not likely cause much harm to thick skin. I've been hit by mine and it definitely stung like hell, but didn't leave a mark.

 

[George_Grant]

I have to disagree with those who say that the props can't cause serious damage. Before I got my Mavic 2 Pro I spent over a year flying a little "toy" Hubsan drone so I could master the skills needed to fly a drone. The Hubsan's props are incredibly tiny and its motors have only a fraction of the power on a Mavic and yet when I got hit by the props, I received a large number of cuts, which bled.

I did not take pictures, and the damage was far less than in the photo I posted, but I can tell you from direct personal experience that the hazard is FAR greater than some here are trying to make people believe.

I would say that the owner of the wounded arm is a slow learner! I would say the upper 3 scars have started to heal, while the lower cuts are defineately fresh! I would say he screwed up twice!

 

[jimlips]

If interested, here is the website for the person selling the "hand" launchpad for the Mavic series: Home

I was thinking of getting one, until I saw the price ($125-$135). A little too much for a piece of plastic with straps. Wish they made one that was JUST the handheld pad without the straps at a reduced price.