Hand catching

[Trinidadster]

Somewhere there is an official literature saying not to hand launch or land a mavic pro.

Catching can be tough because there is not much to hang on to. You also need to avoid the sensors on the bottom.

I grab hold and rapidly rotate the craft 90 degrees to kill the motors. I saw a video about something with the left stick, but that doesn’t do anything for me. Settings?

I do this only when the wind is up, mainly to protect my rear props.

Am I doing something horrible to my bird?

 

[msinger]

Catching can be tough because there is not much to hang on to. You also need to avoid the sensors on the bottom.

If you turn off Landing Protection, the Mavic will not try to ascend when you place your hand under it. You could then easily grab it and hold the throttle in the full down position (or do a CSC) to turn off the motors.

 

[Thomas B]

Somewhere there is an official literature saying not to hand launch or land a mavic pro.

Catching can be tough because there is not much to hang on to. You also need to avoid the sensors on the bottom.

I grab hold and rapidly rotate the craft 90 degrees to kill the motors. I saw a video about something with the left stick, but that doesn’t do anything for me. Settings?

I do this only when the wind is up, mainly to protect my rear props.

Am I doing something horrible to my bird?

Not as far as I know. Be careful though. My first attempt resulted in cuts to the tips of 3 fingers which took weeks to heal.

 

[Congoblue]

I hand catch mine all the time. No twisting or anything, or need to turn off sensors.

1. Hover at eye height
2. Hold out your hand flat under bottom of drone
3. Drone will rise up about 1ft due to bottom sensors
4. Pull down left stick fully keeping hand in position.
5. Drone will land on your hand and switch motors off automatically.

(Be careful to keep your hand flat and not to stick your fingers up or theyll hit the props which hurts a bit. It's like feeding a horse.)

 

[msinger]

I hand catch mine all the time. No twisting or anything, or need to turn off sensors.

1. Hover at eye height
2. Hold out your hand flat under bottom of drone
3. Drone will rise up about 1ft due to bottom sensors
4. Pull down left stick fully keeping hand in position.
5. Drone will land on your hand and switch motors off automatically.

(Be careful to keep your hand flat and not to stick your fingers up or theyll hit the props which hurts a bit. It's like feeding a horse.)

That one works well too, but it might not be the best hand catching technique in windy conditions.

 

[Congoblue]

That one works well too, but it might not be the best hand catching technique in windy conditions.

I haven't had any trouble, it's very stable even in the wind. The only tricky bit is working out where to grip it as it turns off the motors, without getting your fingers close to the props, but a bit of practice makes it easy.

 

[Speedmeister]

Always hand catch above head level. You have left stick control and zero control on right stick. No control on horizontal movements. Better be safe than sorry. Turning off motors by tilting AC 90 degrees is not really a good idea. The AC will compensate and resist before shutting off motors. All it takes is lose your grip while it is trying to resist 90 degree angle.

 

[msinger]

I haven't had any trouble, it's very stable even in the wind. The only tricky bit is working out where to grip it as it turns off the motors, without getting your fingers close to the props, but a bit of practice makes it easy.

When it's windy outside, I don't feel comfortable hovering the drone next to my head at eye level. I find it's much safer to descend just far enough so I can reach up and grab the drone. YMMV.

 

[Congoblue]

When it's windy outside, I don't feel comfortable hovering the drone next to my head at eye level. I find it's much safer to descend just far enough so I can reach up and grab the drone. YMMV.

Yes that's a good idea

 

[Mossiback]

I hand catch like in the video below. Basically, you set it to hover where you can reach it and grasp it in front of the downward sensors so it will maintain hover. Then push left stick down. The MP does not detect more downward movement so it assumes it has landed and shuts off the motors.

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[brett8883]

I hand catch like in the video below. Basically, you set it to hover where you can reach it and grasp it in front of the downward sensors so it will maintain hover. Then push left stick down. The MP does not detect more downward movement so it assumes it has landed and shuts off the motors.

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Haha I love this guy. “We are here to discuss the similarities between this thing... and THIS thing.” Lol

 

[Mossiback]

Haha I love this guy. “We are here to discuss the similarities between this thing... and THIS thing.” Lol

Love him or hate him, the procedure he demonstrates works well for the MP/MPP.

 

[Trinidadster]

I haven't had any trouble, it's very stable even in the wind. The only tricky bit is working out where to grip it as it turns off the motors, without getting your fingers close to the props, but a bit of practice makes it easy.

A pair of gloves helps the confidence level, and provides a bit of protection. If you are careful you can reach in from the front to get two hands on it.

 

[SpinItUp]

Sometimes if you drop (stick hard down) straight into your hand PAW (like your picking fruit off a tree) without hovering before catching the sensors are fixed on the ground and don't get time to react and it just shuts off.

 

[bliksem]

I slide my flat hand under the MP hovering at about shoulder height. If you do it slow then it does not react. Lift your hand to make contact and take up the weight of the MP, then slowly keep lifting, the motors shut off by themselves after you have lifted the MP about 4".
No cut fingers, grabbing, twisting, no stick input.

 

[Congoblue]

I slide my flat hand under the MP hovering at about shoulder height. If you do it slow then it does not react. Lift your hand to make contact and take up the weight of the MP, then slowly keep lifting, the motors shut off by themselves after you have lifted the MP about 4".
No cut fingers, grabbing, twisting, no stick input.

Hmmm that's interesting, I'll have to try that.

 

[Ren57]

Not as far as I know. Be careful though. My first attempt resulted in cuts to the tips of 3 fingers which took weeks to heal.

LOL! I only hand catch my Mavic when I have to these days. I'd hand caught it loads of times without any problems and I got a bit complacent. I was hand catching it one day when my foot slipped on a bit of soft ground. Result, blood splattered everywhere and some deep cuts to my fingers, which hurt....... A lot! Mavic just stayed hovering there, with me shouting the f word at it very loudly!

 

[turnjac]

I've had my finger tips zapped a few times due to complacency, but absolutely no injuries with DJI props or damage to props - Probably due to a more glancing contact on relatively tougher finger tips as opposed to extending the fingers further up through the plane of rotation..

 

[pjarvo18]

This guy reminds me of Dave Grohl

 

[OB Aerial]

I slide my flat hand under the MP hovering at about shoulder height. If you do it slow then it does not react. Lift your hand to make contact and take up the weight of the MP, then slowly keep lifting, the motors shut off by themselves after you have lifted the MP about 4".
No cut fingers, grabbing, twisting, no stick input.

If Dave and Machete had a kid