Hand take offs and hand landing

[CanadaDrone]

If I hand land the drone is it ok to move 50m without turning it off and take off from hand again while gimbal tries to stabilise itself? Can I do any harm to the drone this way?
Asking About Mavic 2 Pro

Yes that is perfectly fine - you're not going to hurt anything in the ~30 seconds it takes you to walk 50m. Unless you're swinging the drone around wildly with your arms, the gimbal isn't even going to be working nearly as hard as it does when you're in the air. Not to worry. Honestly if you just have 50m or so to walk, just leave the drone in the air and move to where you need to go - that's normally what I do.

You can even buy dedicated rigs to use the Mavics on the ground and take advantage of their excellent gimbals, which is the exact same thing - you aren't going to hurt it doing what you describe.

You always want to start any significant flight with a fresh battery though, so if you were moving to start a new flight rather than to just quickly get a different perspective or improve your VLOS, best practice would be to power down and swap batteries anyway.

 

[ssingh24]

Honestly, I've seen some of the horror stories and feel it's best to just land it on the ground. Only case where I'd land it on my hand is over water, over severe debris that could damage the lens.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Honestly, I've seen some of the horror stories and feel it's best to just land it on the ground. Only case where I'd land it on my hand is over water, over severe debris that could damage the lens.

Whatever you are comfortable with. However, there are no horror stories. The folding plastic blades of the Mavic won't even break the skin during a hover speed contact, even if you were to screw up the hand catch.

 

[Thomas B]

Whatever you are comfortable with. However, there are no horror stories. The folding plastic blades of the Mavic won't even break the skin during a hover speed contact, even if you were to screw up the hand catch.

Not true! I have the scars and blood stained clothes to show for it.
I now use Kevlar gloves.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Not true! I have the scars and blood stained clothes to show for it.
I now use Kevlar gloves.

From the Mavic 2? I got my hand in the propellers last week when the aircraft dropped below me, in the dark, and it didn't even break the skin. YMMV. Should have just let it land, but I never have!

 

[parkgt]

Honestly, I've seen some of the horror stories and feel it's best to just land it on the ground. Only case where I'd land it on my hand is over water, over severe debris that could damage the lens.

You must live where the ground is level, smooth, free of tall grass and rocks.

 

[BingErr]

Whatever you are comfortable with. However, there are no horror stories. The folding plastic blades of the Mavic won't even break the skin during a hover speed contact, even if you were to screw up the hand catch.

I had my Spark actually draw blood (sliced my palm open, but it was my fault because I flew it under a roof and when it lost signal it started to ascend and I had to jump and grab it. So yeah, completely pilot error, and I learned from it.)
But I've been hand launching and hand catching my MPP, MA, and now M2P with very minimal problems. I think it keeps the dirt off the camera and gimbal. Especially in the winter when the ground is covered in ice, snow, and slush. I'd rather not land my drone in that. I put my fingers into the Mavic Air props a couple times and although it hurts, it has yet to draw blood.