Catching the Mavic Air from a boat

[Ray&Paula]

Just flew of my boat this past week using Active Track Trace mode. I hand/palm Launched/Caught three different times......Safely. Weather wise, it was a full sun day with a fairly calm breeze below 10 mph. I palm landed every time perfectly once I lined it up which took less than 30 seconds each time with my boat engine off. I also brought the MA in from the side in order to eliminate the front/rear sensors. I had Landing Protection turned off, but since it was a fairly calm day, I probably could have left it on. The only reason I turned it off was to eliminate the slight hesitation before actually landing. My boat was drifting slowly in which it actually helped out due to placing the MA right above my hand while hovering about 6 feet above me. Since this was my first time, I set the Battery Warning: 40% to give me plenty of time for landing along with Loss of Remote Connection set to Hover.
As for a back up plan for landing;
1) I had an eye on shore to land.
2) I had my 3' launch pad out in the bow area to land on with some padding under it. If that wouldn't have worked out due to wind, I would have brought in the MA as close as could over the pad and killed the motors with the RC
It was a great experience all in all and I.M.O. with the wind being fairly calm, played a big factor. My experience tells me just use common sense, VLOS, proper setup and to try to fly on a fairly calm day.

 

[Shaughan]

I haven't hand caught mine yet but does it turn off like the spark if you catch it and flip it upside down?

Yes, as soon as you catch turn on it's side, instant shut sown

 

[InvisibleName]

Yes, as soon as you catch turn on it's side, instant shut sown

Nooo! This has been talked about several times, not good for the motors.

 

[Shaughan]

Nooo! This has been talked about several times, not good for the motors.

Hey mate,

I have no idea... I was told this by a veteran flyer who has been flying all sorts of RC aircraft before drones were even thought of... He knows his stuff... For the amount of times I have done it I am not too worried

 

[InvisibleName]

Hey mate,

I have no idea... I was told this by a veteran flyer who has been flying all sorts of RC aircraft before drones were even thought of... He knows his stuff... For the amount of times I have done it I am not too worried

We can only work on the advice we’re given! The general consensus is that you get it to actually land into your hand by pulling down on the RC throttle stick, when it will power itself down once you have hold of it.
Just make sure you don’t move your hand downwards while the props are still turning or it will rev up again.

 

[Ray&Paula]

Practice hand/palm landing....... I totally agree "DO NOT" grab and turn over. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to catch with your arm straight out above your head with your hand/palm facing up. I learned this technique from Jeff Greene on Youtube. In addition, he has lot's of MA video's and I asked him questions in the past in which I heard back from him the same day. The only change I made from his direction is that I held the stick upward for higher lift off on the boat for clearance. Check out his video below;

 

[Ray&Paula]

Hey mate,

I have no idea... I was told this by a veteran flyer who has been flying all sorts of RC aircraft before drones were even thought of... He knows his stuff... For the amount of times I have done it I am not too worried

Good Luck.......

 

[Shaughan]

Practice hand/palm landing....... I totally agree "DO NOT" grab and turn over. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to catch with your arm straight out above your head with your hand/palm facing up. I learned this technique from Jeff Greene on Youtube. In addition, he has lot's of MA video's and I asked him questions in the past in which I heard back from him the same day. The only change I made from his direction is that I held the stick upward for higher lift off on the boat for clearance. Check out his video below;

Howdy,

Great video.

Will give it a go though when the boat is moving all over the place I may have to revert to my other 'less desirable' method.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ray&Paula]

Howdy,

Great video.

Will give it a go though when the boat is moving all over the place I may have to revert to my other 'less desirable' method.

Thanks for sharing.

You're very welcome....... I wouldn't push it if it's real windy or somewhat rough in a boat. Winds no more than 10 mph would be, I.M.O. the best scenario for flying from the boat. Glad you enjoyed the video! Ray

 

[Shaughan]

You're very welcome....... I wouldn't push it if it's real windy or somewhat rough in a boat. Winds no more than 10 mph would be, I.M.O. the best scenario for flying from the boat. Glad you enjoyed the video! Ray

Howdy,

Just an update, successfully caught it twice this afternoon, on dry land however, and kept all my fingers

 

[Ray&Paula]

Howdy,

Just an update, successfully caught it twice this afternoon, on dry land however, and kept all my fingers

Awesome!! Is that too easy or what.........

 

[Kupe]

Wow great discussion! I hope to have my very first drone- a Mavic Air Flame Red- in a few days. We bought it specifically to capture video of our sailboat underway, though I'm sure we'll wind up loving it for lots of stuff. I will be sure to review this thread and practice hand takeoffs and landings at our park before trying it on our boat!

I did notice that in most videos of landings on a boat underway, that the drone operator was not the one retrieving the drone. That makes good safety sense. On a boat underway, a cardinal safety rule is always "one hand for you and one for the boat". That means one hand for holding onto the boat and one for whatever the task is. So unless you have three arms, you can't hold on, operate the remote, and retrieve the drone. So my gut feeling is you want at least three crew- the person at the helm, the drone operator, and the person retrieving. Perhaps with experience we will be able to get this down to two crew. We know we don't want to be practicing a man-overboard drill while also trying to retrieve our Mavic!

One other thought...I have to admit I almost went for a DJI Phantom rather than the Mavic because of the long landing legs on the Phantoms. Ideal for retrieving the drone by hand from a pitching or rolling deck. But in every other respect- size and portability- the Mavic seems like the right one for us. Can't wait!

 

[corchard]

I took my Mavic air to Tahiti to launch off a chartered catamaran. A couple of tips...

1) learn to to fly the S*** out of this with all of the sensors off. At a farm, I practiced landing on the back of a moving tractor. I also practiced flying while walking down forest trails to pretend to avoid shrouds/Stays. I still needed better skil.
2) get a pair of cut resistant silicon coated gloves. Your catcher will appreciate it. They are also useful for hauling up barnacle coated mooring lines and muddy anchor chains.
3) Take most of your footage while a anchor. A flat calm boat is 1000% easier than in an 8 foot swell in 15 knots of wind cruising at 6 knots. The stress of chopping off fingers and losing a $1k drone can seriously impede the relaxing feeling of a vacation.

 

[lukasq]

... On a boat underway, a cardinal safety rule is always "one hand for you and one for the boat". That means one hand for holding onto the boat and one for whatever the task is. So unless you have three arms, you can't hold on, operate the remote, and retrieve the drone. ...

Well, don't forget you need both hands to control the Mavic, to control both sticks, so if you want to hold to your boat safety rule then you better sit down

 

[Kupe]

Well, don't forget you need both hands to control the Mavic, to control both sticks, so if you want to hold to your boat safety rule then you better sit down

Sitting down- that's my specialty LOL! In fact in this video the drone operator doesn't even leave the enclosed cabin! Of course it helps that they had a crew of about 8.

 

[corchard]

more fingers to chop off.

 

[Kupe]

I took my Mavic air to Tahiti to launch off a chartered catamaran.

Awesome! We were on Tahiti and Bora-bora back in 2007. Drones were just a wink in some inventors eye- what a great place to have your Mavic!

A couple of tips...
1) learn to to fly the S*** out of this with all of the sensors off. At a farm, I practiced landing on the back of a moving tractor. I also practiced flying while walking down forest trails to pretend to avoid shrouds/Stays. I still needed better skil.

I love the moving tractor story! Great idea too on simulating stays and shrouds.

2) get a pair of cut resistant silicon coated gloves. Your catcher will appreciate it. They are also useful for hauling up barnacle coated mooring lines and muddy anchor chains.

Those at least we already have- but great suggestion.

3) Take most of your footage while a anchor. A flat calm boat is 1000% easier than in an 8 foot swell in 15 knots of wind cruising at 6 knots.

Well- I totally get the appeal of sailboat video while at anchor in some of the most beautiful waters on earth- Tahiti. But on our local lake, a sailboat at anchor would look like, well, a boat sitting still in a lake. What I'm hoping for is action footage on those illusive days of 8 to 10 knot winds and relatively steady. We've had some great 20 to 25 knot days recently, which while making for great sailing, seems like a great way to lose our Mavic! But loving reading and learning from all the experience here!

 

[Lzet]

Mine advice would be :
1. Get used to control you brand new drone at the solid ground
2. Try to find any kind of landing gear extension - even the small MA propellers are rather sharp when they hit your fingers
3. Only one moving subject at the same time MA or the boat either or both moving same direction with different speed
Looking forward your great footage
GOOD LUCK

 

[Sniperfritz]

The prop guards add a lot of windage to the drone. It has a much more difficult time holding position in gusty weather with the guards on than off.

I also noticed this with the guards on. They seem to affect descent too. I fly without them now.

 

[Mossiback]

This may have already been posted, but I suggest you bring the Mavic in facing away from the operator so the Mavic movements match the stick movements.