Hand catching the Mavic?

msinger · Nov 4, 2016

SkyAir said:
It seems dangerous.

Indeed. There will only be about two inches between your fingers and the spinning props.

Ryan Reynoso · Nov 4, 2016

What's so bad about a gentle ground landing?

chippie · Nov 4, 2016

msinger said:
Indeed. There will only be about two inches between your fingers and the spinning props.

Had my fingers i worse places

msinger · Nov 4, 2016

Ryan Reynoso said:
What's so bad about a gentle ground landing?

There's nothing wrong with a gentle ground landing. Sometimes there is no good place to land on the ground though. For example, I was flying my P4 at the beach last week and I had to hand catch it because I was standing in the sand when I landed it.

Guest · Nov 4, 2016

I fly a lot from boats, and ground landings are most of the times not possible.

kmaluo · Nov 4, 2016

SkyAir said:
It seems dangerous. More so surprising when there is a perfectly good landing spot and they are reaching out to grab it. VPS kicks in and your pulling down on the stick and Mavic is trying to avoid you- just not safe. Especially for the younger audience. *Only when necessary in my Ops manual...

You can easily position your hand so the sonic sensors are not obstructed. The VPS cameras have nothing to do with with vertical positioning. Hand catching the Mavic is easy to do with a little practice.

mikesher · Nov 4, 2016

Guest said:
I fly a lot from boats, and ground landings are most of the times not possible.

I do too, and completely agree. Once I got used to hand catching my P3 Pro, that's all I do anymore. Will just need to practice with the Mavic.

Nathan Hoover · Nov 4, 2016

I've hand caught the Mavic maybe a dozen times now. No big deal although yes, your fingers are close to the blades. I see no problem doing it though.

lucan · Nov 4, 2016

I shut off VPS for hand catching...

mikesher · Nov 4, 2016

Nathan Hoover said:
I've hand caught the Mavic maybe a dozen times now. No big deal although yes, your fingers are close to the blades. I see no problem doing it though.

Good to know!

Tom Piotrowski · Nov 5, 2016

It is possible, but not as convenient and safe as with P2, P3 or P4.

Drone Runner · Nov 5, 2016

I fly a lot of places with no good landing space and have been hand catching for years. On my first attempt with the Mavic I notice that hand launch is crazy easy. Better even than the Phantom series. My attempts at hand catching I noticed the VPS sensors kicking in and pushing the Mavic up when I went to grab it. There's no safe way to sneak in without getting caught by the VPS and when you grab it it tries to rocket up full throttle. Also not safe. Today's test I found a gentle, safe hand catch method which I hadn't tried as I'm reluctant to use the auto land methods. All you do is get your hand ready then activate the auto land swipe thingy then grab it. Easiest way I've found so far.

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kmaluo · Nov 6, 2016

Drone Runner said:
I fly a lot of places with no good landing space and have been hand catching for years. On my first attempt with the Mavic I notice that hand launch is crazy easy. Better even than the Phantom series. My attempts at hand catching I noticed the VPS sensors kicking in and pushing the Mavic up when I went to grab it. There's no safe way to sneak in without getting caught by the VPS and when you grab it it tries to rocket up full throttle. Also not safe. Today's test I found a gentle, safe hand catch method which I hadn't tried as I'm reluctant to use the auto land methods. All you do is get your hand ready then activate the auto land swipe thingy then grab it. Easiest way I've found so far.

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Or you could just avoid the two sonic sensors in the middle, then it won't throttle up.

Drone Runner · Nov 6, 2016

It's the optical camera sensors at each end that do it too. Either way as soon as you grab it it revs away.

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kmaluo · Nov 6, 2016

Drone Runner said:
It's the optical camera sensors at each end that do it too

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No, the two bottom cameras do not affect vertical positioning. If you slightly pull the Mavic down, it will throttle up no matter what.

iaTa · Nov 6, 2016

Think I saw DJI Ed suggesting catching by grabbing one of the front legs which would mean your hand is further from the props.

Has anyone tried that?

msinger · Nov 6, 2016

iaTa said:
Think I saw DJI Ed suggesting catching by grabbing one of the front legs which would mean your hand is further from the props.

I wouldn't suggest trying that. Your hand will likely be closer to the blades and you'll probably drop the Mavic when the motors stop (since it'll be unbalanced).

Nathan Hoover · Nov 6, 2016

Just reach up and grab it out of the air by the center of the body and don't wrap your fingers far around it. It just works. I've done it about 15 times without a hint of a problem.