Homemade landing pads.

[Porky]

My MA came with a landing pad, I haven't used it but I'm curious. Does this aid in landing, or perhaps I should ask, how often does a drone hit the pad?

Mine lands on the pad every time, always manual land. The good thing with a bright pad is when I’m bring it home I can see the pad before I can see little ol me

I think it was Ken Harmon who has a video of him hand catching his.

I have never hand caught my drones from my phantom days to now, I suppose it’s what you get used to & how comfortable you fill about it but for me it’s manual landing on my pad.

 

[Drone_guy]

I tried hand catching it once but didn't know I had to turn off the bottom sensors. I flew it under some trees in my back yard and that's where I did the hand catch...well...the danm thing tried to fly up, at what seemed to be full throttle, and freaked me out because it would have gone right up into a ton of branches!

I purposely misspelled danm because if I spell it correctly it looks like this "****" and I didn't want it to be confused with any other expletives.

 

[JDawg]

Probably should have added the pics right? View attachment 53621

Those are cool. Here is mine

 

[WAXMAN]

Probably should have added the pics right? View attachment 53621

NICE !!!!!

 

[deleted member 877]

I think it was Ken Harmon who has a video of him hand catching his.

Correct but it’s Ken Heron. There is also a YouTube video of a pretty girl in a bikini hand catching an Inspire on a boat.

 

[Lon Denard]

I will see what I can do with thinner material. I also have a couple ideas with interlocking sections or hinges. I fully planned on selling these once I get them perfected. Right now the 3/4" red/white pad weighs about 25 pounds. So it lays in the back yard always.

Consider lexan. It worked very well for me.

 

[Tridiver]

Hand catching the Inspire is not hard, just have to be careful!! That's no bird to screw around with!!

 

[Porky]

Hand catching the Inspire is not hard, just have to be careful!! That's no bird to screw around with!!

I’d rather manual land that big bird then catching it, wonna keep all of these....

 

[Tridiver]

I’d rather manual land that big bird then catching it, wonna keep all of these....

I fly off boats a lot, so I have to hand catch and launch!

 

[grinder.1]

I just went simple and cheap. Foam kids mat.

 

[Porky]

I fly off boats a lot, so I have to hand catch and launch!

Now I see where you’re coming from

 

[gjmphoto]

Point you folks to THIS THREAD. Lots of good ideas there!

 

[alpinerose]

I ordered a black rubber / fabric poker table cloth off Amazon. Took my photoshop file into FASTSIGNs and they printed my design right onto the cloth.

Never looked back. Gives up a nice visual “brand” in my photos.

 

[UAV Aerial]

I make them for $7.80 out of these foam tiles.
1" MMA Mats - High Density Interlocking Tiles

 

[NJInfrared]

The "clear" choice is NOT an elevated landing pad from a real life experience. Why decrease your "survival" chances of a safe landing especially in sport mode, and it's very windy? I had my p3 fall off the pad, just after I cut the motors. No damage, but a lesson learned.

 

[JDawg]

I tried hand catching it once but didn't know I had to turn off the bottom sensors. I flew it under some trees in my back yard and that's where I did the hand catch...well...the danm thing tried to fly up, at what seemed to be full throttle, and freaked me out because it would have gone right up into a ton of branches!

I purposely misspelled danm because if I spell it correctly it looks like this "****" and I didn't want it to be confused with any other expletives.

No need to turn off downward sensors, just hold your hand out and left stick full back. Don't raise your hand, let it come to you, it will come down like a feather..

 

[mfc]

Nice. Only thing I'd change is to use a traditional T (rather than an H), as in older airfields. Then when you place the pad you can orient it so the T shows the direction of the wind (crossbar of the T is in the wind direction). Place the drone so its front legs are on the crossbar and it will take off and auto-land into the wind which I've found to be the most accurate (no side gusts).

It's also a reminder to fly into the wind if you're planning a long flight, which helps ensure a safe return.

 

[Steve42]

That's a great pad, please let me know when you would like to sell one, I'd be very interested!! Feel free to PM me

 

[FatherXmas]

I use a heavy, rubberized door mat. Nothing fancy, but very effective and doesn't have to be staked down. Rolls up for storage/travel

Me too, bought a cheap door mat from Walmart. It's heavy enough it won't blow away and the design on it gives precision landing something to target.

 

[Broken Arrow]

I have been using a carpet tile lately, lighter than a door mat.