How many of you hand catch your Air 2s?

[YVRGUY]

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.

Not me…DJI do not replace fingers even if you have Care Refresh. If you’re going to try it, try it by yourself…not in the presence of newbies or children. They’ll be sure to copy you. ️

 

[3rdof5]

Interesting thread, I have a M3C on the way and this will be my first Mavic of any type so I have never tried hand catching one. I hand catch my P3 all the time but obviously that's a much easier aircraft to hand catch as it has places to grab hold of without getting too near the props. The Mavic series would be abit more challenging I would guess.

 

[Ulf Pedersen]

Sådan letter jeg og lander min AIR2S, hilsner fra Danmark

 

[aerialnorthwest]

We average about 70% of our flights when flying our Air2s models. ;-)

 

[kilhan]

Interesting thread, I have a M3C on the way and this will be my first Mavic of any type so I have never tried hand catching one. I hand catch my P3 all the time but obviously that's a much easier aircraft to hand catch as it has places to grab hold of without getting too near the props. The Mavic series would be abit more challenging I would guess.

It depends on a type of drone. When I had P4P, I always started from the ground or rather from a plastic bowl put upside down which occurred to be the best launching equipment. Sometimes catching it by hand. Now, having Mavic 3 Classic, I always both launch and catch by hand, as I can do it from anywhere. The correct way is shown in this video:

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Chris

 

[a2tomm]

I learned my lesson on my first drone Autel eveo 2pro ,after 6 stitches and a mess in my car ,I even stop catching a few toy drones ,so i'm goig with what i know best a landing pad that lives in my car

 

[a2tomm]

View attachment 160105
Not me…DJI do not replace fingers even if you have Care Refresh. If you’re going to try it, try it by yourself…not in the presence of newbies or children. They’ll be sure to copy you. ️

oh **** and i thought my accident was bad

 

[paparatzy]

My Air 2S got me good a few weeks ago. I think I must have not been perfectly behind it when I was lowering it onto my hand and at the last second triggered one of the sensors and it moved away from me, hit my hand and dropped to the ground. Luckily it was not damaged, but I can not say the same for my hand that suffered several minor cuts. Be Careful!

Always sorry to hear of injuries to a fellow pilot. Just curious why you choose to catch from behind where there are sensors, which can cause problems at the wrong moment. Wouldn’t you be better off catching facing the drone from the side where there are not any sensors?

It took me awhile to get it right when hand catching my Air 2s, and I learned the secret is to lay your hand flat and give the drone opportunity to see your hand, which is will then treat as a landing spot. It never worked so well when I would cup my hand, which didn’t represent a landing spot.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The several testimonials here about injuries illustrate, once again, the fact that there is only one way to eliminate that risk: Don't hand catch.

Except in exceedingly rare circumstances, it is never necessary. And always a risk. There are variables beyond your control, like sudden gusts, software or hardware defect, etc. that can cause unexpected behavior, and now your hand is mauled – and probably your dominant hand too.

I'm not hard-core about objecting, I do it too occasionally. I just think it's unwise to ever risk your hands unnecessarily, they are so critical to function.

All of this applies chiefly to catch. Hand launch is an entirely different animal, pretty safe. Can't say it hasn't happened, but I've never heard of injury hand launching.

 

[Art Cox]

I love the idea of hand catching and launching, and I did try it with a mini 2 but the Air 2S is a lot bigger, a lot heavier and with meaner blades. I know there are a lot of videos on it, but how many of you actually do this? Everyone says the blades can do some serious damage to your fingers if you mess it up. I am not sure if I want to risk that. I am on the fence about it.

I hand catch all my drones, except my Inspire, WIth the Air 2S and Mini just keep your hand open palm up until it touches, then pinch it with your thumb and first 2 fingers.

 

[Crash Pro]

The several testimonials here about injuries illustrate, once again, the fact that there is only one way to eliminate that risk: Don't hand catch.

Except in exceedingly rare circumstances, it is never necessary. And always a risk. There are variables beyond your control, like sudden gusts, software or hardware defect, etc. that can cause unexpected behavior, and now your hand is mauled – and probably your dominant hand too.

I'm not hard-core about objecting, I do it too occasionally. I just think it's unwise to ever risk your hands unnecessarily, they are so critical to function.

All of this applies chiefly to catch. Hand launch is an entirely different animal, pretty safe. Can't say it hasn't happened, but I've never heard of injury hand launching.

I ALWAYS hand catch as most of the places I fly there are no places to land.

 

[Ulf Pedersen]

I hand catch all my drones, except my Inspire, WIth the Air 2S and Mini just keep your hand open palm up until it touches, then pinch it with your thumb and first 2 fingers.

yes, it is easy to grasp it in the hand

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Wouldn’t you be better off catching facing the drone from the side where there are not any sensors?

Wouldn't it be even better to switch OA sensors off when coming in to a hand catch, after all the catcher is a fairly big obstacle. Or when coming in to land.

 

[Ulf Pedersen]

Wouldn't it be even better to switch OA sensors off when coming in to a hand catch, after all the catcher is a fairly big obstacle. Or when coming in to land.

I always have the wind at my back, and always turn the drone away from me

 

[Aairon]

I Kayak and launch from the Kayak there is no other option but to hand launch and land, last second lack of confidence can result in NO DRONE!

 

[Ulf Pedersen]

From last night

 

[espinafre]

I've had a Mini since 2019, then I lost it in May 1st. I've learned to hand-catch it always (but not hand-lauch). It was so second-nature that I didn't hesitate to hand-catch the Air 2S that replaced the poor Mini 1 today, using the exact same techinque: drone facing away, controller on left hand, left stick held down by left thumb, and right hand /arm extended to receive the landing aircraft; stick down until motors stop; then right thumb and index to grab the aircraft (AFTER motors stop). That's what my very first Air 2S landing was like.

I need to work on hand-launching technique as well, for the same reasons: avoid grass, sand, dust, debris at ground level; does a metal car hood/roof interfere with compass, necessitating calibration? If so, that's another reason to master hand lauch/hand landing.

 

[Dbez1]

I used to hand catch my drones 100% of the time until…yep, after multiple hundreds of successful catches, I got careless and it got me. It took several months to get the feeling back in my fingers. Now I only hand catch if I’m flying for money and it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t take it for granted anymore and incidentally, it was an Air2S that got me and it was totally my mistake.

 

[wisefish]

I always hand catch my Air2s if its dusty/sandy and I don't have a landing pad with me...which is usually. After 1400+ takeoff/landings I have only had one minor finger injury. It occurred on a takeoff and was because I was not 100% focused on what I was doing and one of my fingers was in the path of a rotor blade at startup. I would not advise hand catching anything bigger than an Air2S though.