How quickly do you deploy your drone?

[ICHOTT]

OP - do it Within 1 or 2 minutes MAX!

I’m a “bug in and bug out flyer”
Fast, don’t hang around for nosy gits

Those who take care, do it slowly, check everything etc etc are doing so because they ‘want’ to NOT because you need to.

To fly: ALL your prep is made before, practice at home, take the advice mentioned, remove the unnecessary time obstacles, like the poster said “like scrambling a jet” become **** good at it

To end flight: land / power off / packed within 30 seconds - do it, and tell us your timings.

 

[Emanáku]

With my Mini I also do the no props guards, leave controller and dedicated device connected and ready (no cable fuss) and leave the sticks on (having a bag with special safe places for the controller. The most time is checking everything when the device and the drone power up.
With a motocycle "gang" I definitely would do the "I am waiting at the pass for you with my drone up". Otherwise it will be just too much stress....
I have a similar thing with getting the drone up in areas, which I do not know very well. I always look for a more hidden place with people.
Otherwise: Doing it makes you more confident Good luck!

 

[T-REX]

I do a lot of severe weather coverage which (usually) requires staying ahead of an incoming storm, tossing the drone up for a few minutes of video, then back down quickly to move to another location. I *ALWAYS* fly with anti-collision lights on each arm, which complicates storage because you can't fold the arms with the lights on them.

I have a Pelican Air 1615 case I travel with, which has the foam cut out to store my Mavic 3 with arms fully extended and my RC Pro controller with sticks installed and ready to go.

Workflow goes like this:

Open the lid on the case
Boot the controller
Toss down the landing pad if on a sketchy surface
Boot the Mavic 3 while placing it on the landing pad, then remove the gimbal lock
If anti-collision lights aren't already running from the previous flight, turn them on while waiting for GPS lock.

Now here's the pissy part about the Mavic 3 - I SOMETIMES don't have a problem getting GPS lock, but sometimes I do. UGH. As soon as I have enough satellites to take off, I fly straight up as far as it will let me. This usually gets several more satellites immediately and updates the home point.

Generally, I don't care to "fly around" for this, as going straight up is fine for shooting an incoming storm system. I usually stay at or below 200 feet in case the incoming gust front (often 40+mph wind) gets close and I need to drop it quickly.

Long story short, I can usually get it in the air in about 30 seconds longer than it takes the RC Pro controller to boot.

TR

 

[test2000Anafi]

I do a lot of severe weather coverage which (usually) requires staying ahead of an incoming storm, tossing the drone up for a few minutes of video, then back down quickly to move to another location. I *ALWAYS* fly with anti-collision lights on each arm, which complicates storage because you can't fold the arms with the lights on them.

I have a Pelican Air 1615 case I travel with, which has the foam cut out to store my Mavic 3 with arms fully extended and my RC Pro controller with sticks installed and ready to go.

Workflow goes like this:

Open the lid on the case
Boot the controller
Toss down the landing pad if on a sketchy surface
Boot the Mavic 3 while placing it on the landing pad, then remove the gimbal lock
If anti-collision lights aren't already running from the previous flight, turn them on while waiting for GPS lock.

Now here's the pissy part about the Mavic 3 - I SOMETIMES don't have a problem getting GPS lock, but sometimes I do. UGH. As soon as I have enough satellites to take off, I fly straight up as far as it will let me. This usually gets several more satellites immediately and updates the home point.

Generally, I don't care to "fly around" for this, as going straight up is fine for shooting an incoming storm system. I usually stay at or below 200 feet in case the incoming gust front (often 40+mph wind) gets close and I need to drop it quickly.

Long story short, I can usually get it in the air in about 30 seconds longer than it takes the RC Pro controller to boot.

TR

What if you take off without gps lock and then obtain it while flying straight up?

 

[T-REX]

The drone would then update the homepoint to a location that's directly above me, which I can't see as being much of a problem since it would still show relative direction properly on the controller.

 

[test2000Anafi]

The drone would then update the homepoint to a location that's directly above me, which I can't see as being much of a problem since it would still show relative direction properly on the controller.

In that case, why wait on the ground where the GPS is weaker anyway to get a fix?
I can understand heavy wind and low visibility situations, sure. But the ground sensing cameras should be able to achieve a 'locked' position relative to the ground until the GPS kicks in.

 

[Heavydpj]

Hello all,

Here’s a question that’s been on my mind for a while. How quickly/easily do you deploy your drones?

It depends on the circumstances. If I've "prepped" my M3 and Smart Controller for rapid deployment, I could be up and running in a matter of seconds. In this context, I'd have the controller already turned on. I would drive to my deployment site, open the doors. set the drone down and turn it on. As soon as I have enough sats, launch. If need be, I can turn it on away from the deployment site just to get satellite locks, then turn it off. I've deployed as quickly as ten seconds. In once instance, I deployed, got my shots, recovered, and as on the road exfiltrating the area in about two minutes.

Just depends on how much you want to set things up.

 

[Robert Prior]

Usually takes around five minutes for me. I have a checklist I run through and don't like to rush as I don't want to miss something for safety reasons. (Also don't want to lose the drone, but safety comes first.)

• check for flight restrictions and NOTAMs
• inspect site for hazards
• unfold drone and inspect propellors
• connect device to controller
• power on, wait for connection and GPS lock, check home point on map
• lift off, hover, inspect drone again

I have a smart controller for my Mavic 2, which saves less than a minute connecting everything. It's a convenience but the reason I got it was the brighter display. (I keep it in a case so don't have to attach the joysticks each time — not for speed but because I've dropped them a couple of times and worry about losing one!)

As a photographer, I view my drone as a 100m tripod, so the time to deploy it isn't a factor because a tripod also takes time to set up and adjust.

One thing to remember is that those cool 'road trip' shots on YouTube are almost invariably planned and staged, not spontaneous. My niece the filmmaker says that spontaneous shots take a lot of planning and preparation.

 

[EsaT]

Compounding this problem is my general aversion to attracting attention which makes it harder and harder to go out and fly the drone in general, especially in nice settings, like a quaint little seaside village or something. When I see people around I practically hide the DJI bag under my arm and tell myself all kinds of excuses to avoid flying.

Guess you're talking about Greece.
Doubt people would be bothered here in Finland and anyway there's lots of room without much people around.


As for annoyances in getting drone to air and packed, separate remote and "display device"/phone is definitely one of the things.
(if you think you have it bad, try doing it in -20 C)
RC with its own built in display would be definitely major improvement to comfort and time needed.
Dedicated smartphone kept on remote would be another, less elegant solution.

Though in your case issue would be that Smart Controller is dead end and assuming you can find it, it won't support any future drones.
New RC Pro again doesn't support yet anything but Mavic 3 and Air 2S and it's uncertain if DJI will add support to older drones. (or if RC Pro can support OcuSync 2)


Some kind case for storing drone with legs opened would be another "quality of life" improvement.
Though obviously at the cost of carrying bulk.
Still with compact drone case could be rather slim.

 

[ICHOTT]

Usually takes around five minutes for me. I have a checklist I run through and don't like to rush as I don't want to miss something for safety reasons. (Also don't want to lose the drone, but safety comes first.)

• check for flight restrictions and NOTAMs
• inspect site for hazards
• unfold drone and inspect propellors
• connect device to controller
• power on, wait for connection and GPS lock, check home point on map
• lift off, hover, inspect drone again

I have a smart controller for my Mavic 2, which saves less than a minute connecting everything. It's a convenience but the reason I got it was the brighter display. (I keep it in a case so don't have to attach the joysticks each time — not for speed but because I've dropped them a couple of times and worry about losing one!)

As a photographer, I view my drone as a 100m tripod, so the time to deploy it isn't a factor because a tripod also takes time to set up and adjust.

One thing to remember is that those cool 'road trip' shots on YouTube are almost invariably planned and staged, not spontaneous. My niece the filmmaker says that spontaneous shots take a lot of planning and preparation.

So you’re not the example the OP would follow for a quick deploy and pack up

 

[T-REX]

In that case, why wait on the ground where the GPS is weaker anyway to get a fix?
I can understand heavy wind and low visibility situations, sure. But the ground sensing cameras should be able to achieve a 'locked' position relative to the ground until the GPS kicks in.

The M3 requires a certain number of satellites before it will allow you to take off, and even with VPS it limits you to a height of 30m until you have 11 satellites. I don't trust the VPS alone because of how often I encounter strong outflow winds just above the treeline. Maybe it would work fine, but I would much rather use GPS.

 

[c64-dev]

Once again, thanks to everyone for all the great advice and examples. I think this is an interesting conversation to have; haven't seen this topic come up much in the past.

With that being said, I have a few tank bags which I can easily take with me when out riding, and I was thinking to get some hard PE foam and create something like this:

That way, the drone would be ready to go and I could have my phone attached to the controller during the ride (I never use it when riding anyway). Even like this though I know that trying to be careful with the drone while packing it away would eat up a fair amount of time; that little bugger just feels so fragile!

@EsaT, yep indeed I was referring mostly to people in Greece. When I am in Finland I never have to worry about human interactions!

 

[westwind77]

If you want to deploy quicky get the Smart or RC Pro controller! I went from flying for years with the MPP and the standard controller to the 2S with the RC Pro. Not only are up in the air extremely quickly, you find yourself using the drome more as you don't have to deal with the phone, cable, attachments, etc.

 

[crlmjohnson]

I think some of it is becoming adept at the motions you go through to get your drone up and running.
As someone said, the case you use will make a difference. A side-bag large enough to hold the gear comfortably will be faster than a hard case or too-small bag. Become habitual in the way you do things.

Steps A-B: Remove drone from case and flick off gimbal cover back into the case. Unfold legs and power drone on. Set it down.
B-C: Remove controller and power it on. Hopefully you have a method to keep sticks on, which is why a good size bag is helpful. D: Connect controller wire to phone and mount it. Practice mounting/connecting you phone so you're not fiddling with it at go time. DJI fly should launch automatically. E: Wait for enough stats and launch. Hopefully your settings will be ready to go, so auto settings might speed things up for you.

With a good routine, not counting satellite lock I can get my Mini 2 out of the case and ready to go in under a minute. Another 10 or 20 seconds added if I need to turn my strobes on.

I have a vest that I purchase. that have pockets, very thin. it holds extra batteries under my safety vest.

 

[test2000Anafi]

I have a vest that I purchase. that have pockets, very thin. it holds extra batteries under my safety vest.

That is also good to keep the batteries warm/ready during winter time or cold weather

 

[Hermey]

I know what you mean about feeling uneasy when others are watching, not wanting to attract attention.
What I find is also involved for me is that my ability to concentrate on piloting the drone is impacted by commotion or activity in my immediate area. For this reason, I'm less likely to want to fly the drone, in areas where there are others around, not just because I don't want to attract attention but also because they are going to be distracting me, regardless what I do to try not to be distracted.
So for that reason my preferred drone flying area is most definitely in the areas with the fewest number of people or vehicles around, or any human activity around.

I find it rather ironic that in the urban area where I live, the drone flying regulations would have me flying more in areas where I'd be more over people and vehicles and structures, than over areas of open land with fewer people present, because the open areas are in parks that prohibit drones.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

I felt the same way when I got my first drone which was a Phantom 3. Unzip the huge case, screw props on, take off the gimbal holder, put a battery in, set up the controller, etc, etc. Now with my Air 2 and Air 2S I can usually get flying within 1-2 minutes from the drone being packed in the bag, provided there isn't a long GPS lock delay. I'll sometimes even take off with only vision positioning to get above obstacles for a faster GPS lock (non necessarily recomended through). A lot of it is practice and over time you aren't as careful with the drone.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

Also order of operations. I'll often start the drone up before I get the controller ready so it can start locking onto the satellites while I connect the phone, etc.

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

0000

I use a standard controller and can be in the air in about a minute. You can speed up deployment in a few ways.

1. Move to a smart controller.... the built in screen eliminates the cables and set up.

2. Find a bag for the Mini 2 that both protects it and works well for you.

3. Ditch the prop holder. If you place the Mini 2 in a bag with a little padding that restricts where the props go it really doesn't need it. The props will be fine.

4. Keep the sticks screwed in. The sticks can be left installed but you need to protect them a little bit. There are inexpensive stick guards that will do it for you. I use a strip of thick foam with two holes poked in it.

5. This one doesn't need saying but power up both the drone and controller as soon as you can.

The RC Pro is a gamechanger, I will never go back to using a phone or tablet....

 

[DSRT_VLTR]

Hurrying to setup a drone to launch is a mistake. There is too much that can go wrong if you skip a step. Watch some pro travel videos that use drone footage. Do you think the drone pilot hurried to put their DJI INSPIRE up in the air or cared about lookie-loos? I mean, imagine the crowd that must gather to watch a pilot setup a professional drone & get bombarded with annoying questions at the same time. And you know some of them are taking video of you with their phone.

Why not carry a passenger with a phone gimbal that can get video footage in back & in front & to the side of your motorcycle pack, and a selfie stick you can stick in the air when you stop?