How many of you hand catch your Air 2s?

[TrabSeyn]

Depending on terrain, about 60-70% landings are caught. Sometime around July a firmware update introduced a behavior where the sensors detect my hand and abort the landing. This causes the drone to bob around and ascend away from my hand. It was annoying at first but I've come to expect it. Since "syncing" my hand with the drone descent rate requires concentration it usually works out well. A few times the drone has raced to "escape" but kept a firm grip. Feels like wrangling a cat into a sink for a bath if it is windy. Caught a finger twice when learning the technique but if you have no better option it is good to know how to catch. So far the worst "incident" I've had is when I landed on a car hood where the drone slid off the vehicle due to wind, which has caused me to catch a lot more. A cheap pair of landing gear skids has made the catch easier, safer, and makes the drone more visible at a distance. Is it a useful skill? Absolutely. Are there safer alternatives? Sure, but not always available. Catching is certainly superior than setting down in high grass, mud, or location the drone would be difficult to retrieve. When landing any aircraft options are good.

 

[Hamlet]

I hand launch and catch my Air 2S all the time. I find it much more stable than my Spark when hand catching and have had no issues.

 

[skycam509]

I've done this a few times with a Mavic Pro, Air 2s, and Mini 2. I have never been comfortable with it. It just seems like an unnecessary risk. I have a landing pad that works great. I play guitar. I need all my fingers intact!

 

[maria_kabaguma]

I hand catch it in Sport mode that way it deactivates the sensors. When I’m on a boat it is essential to grip it. Sometimes you have to grab it like a ninja when there is wind and/or the boat is in motion.

 

[BingBong]

I hand launch and to land, switch to sport mode and bring it down just beyond arms length to the right just above head height, then I move under it and pinch it in the centre, and kill with the left stick. That way it is in a solid hover, and no twitching from the drone sensors. I wouldn't do it on rough ground or in gusty winds.

 

[Peter51]

Do it when the ground is messy or uneven. Never had an issue. I always catch from behind. DO NOT FLIP IT OVER TO STOP IT. That puts a strain on the motors.

I just can approve that too.
The same thing happened to me: When I tried to turn off the AIR 2S with a tilting motion after successfully landing on my hand, the Air 2S tried to flee with all its might and landed in a bush.

 

[coullit]

Thanks!

id say let it hover near you at a height above your head, then keeping the arm and hand well below try and hold the lower body or drone then decrease throttle till it stops.
It may rise up a couple of times when you put your hand near but normally gets used to it.
You can of course turn off all the collision sensors if you want...

 

[JimSteadman]

Mini 1 and Mini3Pro - tried hand catching and was doing well until one windy day I managed to slice up some fingers. No lasting damage, but I can assure you that there is a generous blood supply to your hand. However I am back to hand caching almost all the time - except when it is windy and the drone is bucking about when landing. I also hand launch, but only on grass or uneven surfaces. I used to chatch and flip, but now I just keep the stick down and the motors shut off.

 

[wisefish]

I hand catch 99% of the time. The trick is to bring the drone down to chest height (in normal mode) and hover. Then put your hand (palm up) directly under the drone to make it slowly begin ascending (this indicates it sensed your hand). Then pull the left stick 100% down and itbwill slowly descend into your palm. Keep the left stick pegged down until motors fully stop. The only time I hand catch in sport mode is when I am on a boat...because landing in even a barely moving vessel is difficult to say the least. In sport mode the drone instantly drops like a rock when you pull the left stick down and landing happens dangerously quick. Personally, I feel like the safety risks associated with hand catching are worth it in order to keep debris out of the drone motors and camera gimbal assembly.

 

[Dan AISCF]

Since we film many beaches and in odd terrain, I always hand launch/catch our Air 2S. I actually hand-catch all of our drones, even the phantom 4 Pros when we were using them. Mavic-like lines of drones are so much easier to hand-catch..and convenient, especially in run-and-gun situations.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

Once in a while my A2S doesn't want to hand land. Other than that I'm always hand launching/landing.

I don't do that for my FPV though.

 

[waterboyMK3]

I am new to this, just got an Air 2S. I want to do most of my filming from/of a sailboat. Very interested in the comments on hand catching. I know I will need to get many hours under my belt before I try this. Is there a way to add a catch handle to the Air 2S and not have it interfere with the downward sensor? I have a 3D printer and can create pretty much whatever I need.

 

[irrelmon]

I am new to this, just got an Air 2S. I want to do most of my filming from/of a sailboat. Very interested in the comments on hand catching. I know I will need to get many hours under my belt before I try this. Is there a way to add a catch handle to the Air 2S and not have it interfere with the downward sensor? I have a 3D printer and can create pretty much whatever I need.

Give it a few tries on land first, once you've done it a couple of times it becomes very easy.

 

[pati0furniture]

I am new to this, just got an Air 2S. I want to do most of my filming from/of a sailboat. Very interested in the comments on hand catching. I know I will need to get many hours under my belt before I try this. Is there a way to add a catch handle to the Air 2S and not have it interfere with the downward sensor? I have a 3D printer and can create pretty much whatever I need.

Just keep your hand stable and horizontal as possible and it should land just fine. Resist the urge to grab it until the motors cut off. It would be more dangerous to try and grab it while it's in flight as obstacle avoidance will kick in and it will try to keep itself upright if you pull on it (unless you manage to grab and flip it upside down in 1 quick smooth motion, then it'll cut the motors but I wouldn't recommend trying that). My Mini 2 managed to draw blood when I first made that mistake...the Air 2s would probably give you a pretty bad gash lol.

 

[Skyryder]

You guys almost had me thinking I was silly about not wanting to hand catch until I saw this:

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[pati0furniture]

You guys almost had me thinking I was silly about not wanting to hand catch until I saw this:

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100% face catch phantoms

 

[irrelmon]

You guys almost had me thinking I was silly about not wanting to hand catch until I saw this:

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That poor donut

 

[shawgod]

I have only hand landed my Phantom 4 Pro. More like grabbed the landing gear. I haven't tried any of my other drones as of yet.

 

[SethB]

You guys almost had me thinking I was silly about not wanting to hand catch until I saw this:

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That is the best drone safety video I’ve ever seen. The carrots were particularly impressive! Thanks for sharing this.

I have been strongly anti-hand launch/catch for years. But over the winter holidays I purchased an Insta360 Sphere camera for my Air 2s, and now am practicing my technique for hand launch/catch.

I also went to my local Harbor Freight for some A5 cut-resistant gloves, and always wear safety glasses. Haven’t scratched a camera lens yet…

A5 Cut Resistant Work Gloves, Large

Amazing deals on this A5 Cut Resistant Gloves Large at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[orlie]

90% hand catching, but hand launching is not ok for me. Recently I changed the settings of obstacle avoidance from brake to bypass and it is not ok for landing as well. It is trying to avoid my hand and moving, the motors don't stop if put the sticks down. So I had to switch to sport mode until I caught it safely. The landing pad is allways good for launching, especially when no other good place, but I could not rely on it when landing. It is not accurate, as far as I know (and I could see), and it is risky for propellers and gimbal/camera/debries.