Balcony take off?

[Domagoj]

Let me just write what I know about balcony launching and landing, what I have learned doing it myself from my balcony. Maybe it will be helpful for others.
As I have said before, it was difficult first time. Both launching and landing.
Flying is the easy part. Yes you can and you probably WILL lose signal to Mavic especially if it is out of the line of sight or there are obstacles between you and Mavic. But you do not have to panic about it if RTH is enabled, home point correctly acquired and RTH height set correctly.

From the balcony, I always launch and land Mavic from hand. Mavic is facing form me, not at me.

1. Launching

Prior to launch I always turn off "Downward Vision Positioning". That way Mavic is not trying to go up by itself. Then I stand on the edge holding Mavic firmly, facing from me, at my chest height. I know it is not the safest but I am very tall, so holding Mavic above my head is just getting it closer to the ceiling and I it is not comfortable and also, I cant be sure that I am holding it leveled so it could maybe move where I do not want it to move.
Then I start the propellers using my elbow (as seen on many youtube videos, watch for your fingers) and then stretch my hand so there is no ceiling above Mavic. Do not fully stretch if it could make you feel uncomfortable, especially on greater heights. Stretch just enough to be sure that there is no ceiling above if Mavic starts to fly up more than you want.
Then I push left stick slightly. I do not want Mavic to go up because it is still close to the building, I just want to feel that it is lifting. Then i release the grip and lower my hand and Mavic hovers in place. Again, watch your arm, hand and fingers. As soon as my hand is back on the RC I push right stick to go forward and move Mavic few meters away from the building.
This procedure is done in 2-3 seconds tops.

Home point gets acquired and you are good to go.

Probably the smart thing to do before going further is to reset homepoint to some place which is safe for landing. That way when you lose the signal, Mavic will RTH and while it is getting to the home point you will reconnect and regain control of the aircraft.

During flight, you can turn "Downward Vision Positioning" if you are going to land on ground. But turn it off again if you want to land in hand.

2. Landing

This is maybe even easier than launching because at least you do not have to use your elbow.
I fly it close to the bulding (5-10 meters away) and lower it to height where it is easy and safe to catch (for me, chest level).
Then i turn it arround to face from me and fly it backwards to the edge of the balcony. You do not want it to fly uncontrollably when front sensors see you or wall or anything else. When it is in the reach of your hand, let it hover for a short moment to be sure that it is steady. Put your hand carefully below. Hold Mavic gently while pressing left stick downward. propellers turn off and you take Mavic inside, to safety, feeling proud about yourself, thinking about how far technology has come etc...


So thats it. Maybe someone would think that this explanation is unnecessary but I would be glad if I read it before my first attempt. After few flights it is easy peasy.

Cheers.

 

[tcope]

Yea, I'm a newbie in every sense of the word. Probably wait till my last day, it will hurt less if something goes wrong.

I'd give this a 50/50 chance. So 50% probability that you will crash and lose a $1200 piece of equipment. There is then also the possibility that you may cause other property damage or hurt someone. Personally, I'd say it would be very irresponsible for you to attempt to launch and land from the balcony.

Issues are _many_... the IMU is not set correctly on take off and does not fly correctly. You lose signal and the Mavic crashes into the building in some way. You attempt to take off and crash. You attempt to land and crash.

 

[Owen Manderfield]

Modern buildings have steals in them which can cause compass errors. I take-off from a very large 4th floor open terrace and find it very hard to find a spot without getting errors.

On balance - its a nice idea - (do fly from my terrace 2.5 miles to the beach and back over a river) - but not worth the risk.

Live to fly another day

 

[m0j0]

I would not initiate a flight from inside the room. Hand launch it, allow it to record the home point and acquire GPS. I would probably hand launch it away from the metal objects to make a compass issue less likely..

 

[Top Hat]

I'm in Kauai Marriott right now and thinking the same thing about balcony and hand launching but just powering on the mavic gave me a lot of all sorts of interference so I scrapped the idea, Good luck with your plan hopefully you come out ok,

 

[alert]

I did it many times if it was reasonably safe which means: switch on Mavic when it is placed on the floor (or table) and wait 1 minute for power up and IMU initialization. Calibrate compass at the middle of the balcony. Check if all IMU and compass sensor indicator is green. On the balcony you should be able to see satellites and have GPS mode. I don't even switch off vision positioning or anything else. I would easly launch it from that table just put it on the middle of the balcony facing out and remove the chairs. Take off with the stick and be ready to immediatly control the flight if required but with vision it will hover steady if there is no wind. Other option is to hold the Mavic in your hand while your other hand switching on the rotors at idle. Be ready as the vision is active it will immediately apply full power and wants to break out firmly. Just throw it over the rail facing out and it will hover without any further command. Be ready to control if it is necessery. Hover a bit away from your balcony and set up a new home point. It will come back there if it need to and then you can regain control. Hand catch is a bit tricky when vision is on. When you chatch it wants to break out and you have to fight with it while your other hand commands props off on the controller (takes a few seconds). I did it so many times without problem but try it first time at open area not on the balcony. note. If you can not come back to the balcony because it detects the building as obstacle turn around and fly reverse. If you have problems with catching as an emergency option just look out and land at the beach as far as possible from the people and then switch back the rotors to idle. Go down and get it, nobody will touch it Leave it off if there are kids around.

 

[Brojon]

You *do* know that you can determine GPS lock and all that before you hit fly - right?
It doesn't matter where you launch it from as long as the drone can clear it and you have to the skills to pilot it. A no to any of those and the answer is no. Otherwise go for it.
I was practicing manual return and landing just yesterday is a breeze stiff enough the Mavic didn't think it was safe to land. My landing pad was only a sheet of foam board - so smaller than that table - and I could land dead center every time in a breeze - and I've had my MP for less than 2 weeks! Easiest bird to fly ever. The thing I'm feeling out now is the collision avoidance and what can cause signal issues since I want to fly downtown around high-rises. It will be a long while before I feel that confident.
Anyway - so maybe just go down to the beach and practice - that's how you get confidence to do stuff like fly off a balcony.

 

[Brojon]

I did it many times if it was reasonably safe which means: switch on Mavic when it is placed on the floor (or table) and wait 1 minute for power up and IMU initialization. Calibrate compass at the middle of the balcony.

Given the amount of steel in the building I think that's an incredibly bad idea. You are calibrating in a distorted magnetic field and then flying into normal space - everything will be out of whack.

 

[alert]

Given the amount of steel in the building I think that's an incredibly bad idea. You are calibrating in a distorted magnetic field and then flying into normal space - everything will be out of whack.

It makes sense but this is my experience. I always calibrate. Without calibration it happened to me several times that Mavic went to ATTI mode at 100ft or above and it was almost impossible to pilot it especially against the wind. It was very close to crash several times. I was thinking about to return Mavic considering the well known "loss of GPS mode" issue. I just started to calibrate the compass every single time before flight even on a balcony. Problem solved. Maybe just a coincidence I don't know.

 

[GlenT]

Yeah, I'm on the "don't do it" side of the fence.
Too many risks involved and you are new to this UAV.
Anyway, a good compass calibration is essential regardless of launch site. Have you re calibrated the compass in a metal free area? Only asking as I assume you are a long distance away from where you last calibrated it.
Food for thought. If it feels or looks risky, that's probably because it is. Do you want to risk being "that" guy on the news? That's the worst case scenario. You may pull it off without any issues. But...

 

[Big Fil]

It makes sense but this is my experience. I always calibrate. Without calibration it happened to me several times that Mavic went to ATTI mode at 100ft or above and it was almost impossible to pilot it especially against the wind. It was very close to crash several times. I was thinking about to return Mavic considering the well known "loss of GPS mode" issue. I just started to calibrate the compass every single time before flight even on a balcony. Problem solved. Maybe just a coincidence I don't know.

This is not good advice and sounds like you dont understand how the compass works and when it should or should not be calibrated.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

To be honest I believe that unless you are extremely proficient in RC flying without the onboard computer guidance system, then this is fraught with danger.
You may get away with it but if anything happens you will be open to any damages etc.
It will also negatively impact people's perceptions on drones and users.
If you really want to try this hold the MP, video a walk through out to the balcony, then do a hand launch away from the edge.
Post edit the video.

 

[KostasNK]

How do you reset the home point while in flight? I never used rth yet. Always returning and landing manualy...

 

[zirtan]

Don't take off from the balcony. GPS will work wrong and probably lead to an accident.

Why to risk your drone and other people? No need!

Fly only in open areas or inside your home if you have a big space.

 

[SteveG]

I was on vacation in a 9th floor condo in N. Myrtle Beach in similar circumstances a few months ago. Unless I put my MP on the table, I was getting compass errors from the railing. The table would have been perfect for launching as long as I flew forward a few feet to avoid the ceiling of the balcony. Because of the uncertainty and the fact that someone could pop out from the underground garage right beneath me, I opted to take the elevator down and launch from the beach. I had an amazing time flying there. I guess it just wouldn't have been worth it to lose my MP just to save a 2 min. elevator ride and walk to the beach.

 

[drbrian722]

If it were me, I would not launch from the balcony. The technical reasons have been touched upon, and while I believe it to be possible, even by a “noob” (your word), it’s a bad choice.

Anyone on their balcony will see you launch and recover. If they have a chip on their shoulder about “drones” they will contact hotel management who will remember your conversation and put 2 and 2 together. At best, you will come across as irresponsible, especially after asking about flying and then undertaking what may be the riskiest launch and recovery you could do. You will also not be silent and those that look out the window to see what the noise is will see a drone right outside their hotel window and become agitated and fearful of drones. They’ll complain loudly and before you know it there will be a big old sign that says “no drones allowed”.

Fold it up, walk out to the beach, find a reasonably empty spot and fly from there. When people come up, and they will, be nice and respectful and make them want one instead of turning half a hotel against you, drones, and by extension, the rest of us.

Thank you.

 

[V1EWS]

I've launched my Mavic from my 300ft balcony. Although 'not safe', it's really not that hard if you're somewhat competent and you stay calm. And you definitely get badass footage... Here's what to do:

1) Keep it far enough from your balcony railing that there is no magnetic interference (place it on a table if possible).
2) Launch it from and back to the balcony flying backward so the front sensors don't pick up the railings.
3) Don't use the 'Return to Home' feature as it will try to land on the roof of your building... fly it manually.

Check out my balcony launch capturing the Toronto skyline:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyAjW_Jr6U&t=4s

 

[Top Hat]

Tried it on the balcony of our hotel room in Kona facing the ocean...no luck.
No matter what I did it's just giving me the dreaded "Magnetic Interference" error.
The only thing I didn't try is the hand launch, maybe that 1 would have worked.
Oh well....next time.

 

[cderoche]

I've launched my Mavic from my 300ft balcony. Although 'not safe', it's really not that hard if you're somewhat competent and you stay calm. And you definitely get badass footage... Here's what to do:

1) Keep it far enough from your balcony railing that there is no magnetic interference (place it on a table if possible).
2) Launch it from and back to the balcony flying backward so the front sensors don't pick up the railings.
3) Don't use the 'Return to Home' feature as it will try to land on the roof of your building... fly it manually.

Check out my balcony launch capturing the Toronto skyline:

No risks, no rewards right?

 

[Vilco]

A mavic user living in a flat in Naples had a nice idea: using a pizza peel with a longer handle, just one of those used by the pizzaioli to slide pizzas into and out of their ovens but with a 2 meter handle instead of the standard 1.2 to 1.5 meters. That way he can put the mavic 1.5 meters out of a window or balcony and use automatic takeoff and landing.features. He also painted it orange with a white 'H' in the middle
Even if there are no pizzerie near to you there sure are bakeries, so just go at a pizzeria or bakery and ask where do they get the peels locally, if you don't want to build one yourself

I can't find his pictures on FB anymore so this is just an example, consider that you can find peels with a larger dish:
pala per pizza alluminio robusta rettangolare cm 33 x 33 con manico cm 150