Landing gear? Really necessary

[Ol' Sparky]

If they were REALLY necessary, DJI would make drones with better clearance. I usually take off where the ground is uneven with loose sand and dirt so I got a set of these. Can fold and store without removing. Even with them, I was getting blow back and all kinds of dirt was getting into the motors. Started hand launching/landing a few weeks ago. It really is quite easy once you get used to it. Kind of a rush when you feel her lift from your hand as she takes off and then her full weight when she comes home and she settles back after the motors shut down. Feels more personal. Weird, or what?? Don't consider that "hot dogging" . Maybe blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back.

 

[Heindrich1988]

If they were REALLY necessary, DJI would make drones with better clearance. I usually take off where the ground is uneven with loose sand and dirt so I got a set of these. Can fold and store without removing. Even with them, I was getting blow back and all kinds of dirt was getting into the motors. Started hand launching/landing a few weeks ago. It really is quite easy once you get used to it. Kind of a rush when you feel her lift from your hand as she takes off and then her full weight when she comes home and she settles back after the motors shut down. Feels more personal. Weird, or what??

I try to find clean-ish locations to take off from. And yes, I learnt to land on my hand pretty quickly encase I ever have to land without a suitable landing zone.

For hand lift-off, do you use the auto take off button? I'm just thinking that it's impossible to manually start up the motors and take off if you are holding your drone, because you need both hands to do that.

 

[Ol' Sparky]

I try to find clean-ish locations to take off from. And yes, I learnt to land on my hand pretty quickly encase I ever have to land without a suitable landing zone.

For hand lift-off, do you use the auto take off button? I'm just thinking that it's impossible to manually start up the motors and take off if you are holding your drone, because you need both hands to do that.

Yes. It's not impossible to start using the sticks...just akward so why bother. I land using the left stick.

 

[Camino Ken]

Well hand catching sometimes goes horribly wrong.
Damage to the bird and lacerations to fingers.
Like I said, why not be safe, instead of hot dogging around?

Ruud

Hand catching if done properly and with a lot of practice is extremely safe. At my age I do not hot dog.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Well hand catching sometimes goes horribly wrong.
Damage to the bird and lacerations to fingers.
Like I said, why not be safe, instead of hot dogging around?

Ruud

I've hand caught/launched 600 times with about a 1/3 from a boat, 1 incident. One of my first flights I knicked my finger good on the first recovery attempt on a windy day, 1-2' seas, and a drifting current where a landing recovery would have had 0 success. I'd rather get a few cuts than risk an expensive toy. After I experienced the cutting damage it does to fingers and hands I never launched or recovered on the ground (I'm used to deeper cuts from fishing offshore, drone cuts heal easily). These drones hover in place and are extremely easy to hand grab. I bought a neckstrap for the RC so 1 hand is on the joysticks and the other grabs the UAS.

Launching/landing from the ground is "safer" for the operator but once you master the hand launch and recovery you open more possibilities for take offs. Flying from boats, launching through a cars window, in the middle of a forest while hiking, on wet/muddy/rough terrain it's all a non issue since the launching is always done from hand.

Not to mention you carry less crap, take less time to setup, and don't have to worry about dust/sand/etc going into the intake.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

For hand lift-off, do you use the auto take off button? I'm just thinking that it's impossible to manually start up the motors and take off if you are holding your drone, because you need both hands to do that.

Buy a neckstrap for the RC, that frees up a hand. For launch and shutdown I pinch both joysticks inwards for emergency shutdown. If your UAS isn't hacked, you can also tilt it to its side and it will shut itself down (This works for the MPP not sure on other models)

 

[Franco7]

Very good reasons for landing gear had been explained here before, I just want to add one more, I use landing gear (legs extension) on both, my Spark and Mavic Air, one day while flying my Spark a total loss of control happens because I wrongly put a strobe pointing down but I obstruct the sensors so Sparkie flies up because it feels like it was hitting the ground, hardly I finally get some control to fly back to me but crash on a nearby house roof, all four legs broken, but that was it, just that, no damage to Sparkie, legs absorbe all the energy from impact!!! I am sure without legs my Sparkie could have been badly damaged on more expensive parts like gimbal, motors or own legs, I already bought a new set of leg extensions, I strongly recommend using landing gear (leg extensions).

 

[Tentoes]

Well, I never land mine. Instead, I hover it near me, facing me, reach out and pick it out of the sky. No danger to hand, fingers, toes, or even earballs.

But I won this cute "landing pad" that gives me a nice obstacle free place to take off without getting grass in the props or a rock blocking the gimbal.

 

[TTP]

My specially designed landing gear.
I land everywhere with my M2P, in my right hand, on stumps, rocks, grass. puddles of water, long legs are preferable, which in addition do not risk being lost, as many of the varying types of landing gear I have tried.

 

[julius13]

When I got my 1st Mavic Pro I purchased a set but after a while I found it to be a hassle to have to remove them when packing in the case. I generally find a shady spot to launch from the roof of my SUV and set up IPad monitor in the back to block out sunlight. By doing this I avoid dust and dirt from ground level takeoff. Works for me but I understand why some people wouldn’t attempt it. Flying for 4 years now without incident using this method.

 

[OMMBoy]

I had the PolarPro Retract Landing gear on a previous Mavic 2 Zoom and am looking for another set for a new Mavic 2. Does anyone know where I can still find them?

Chris

 

[OMMBoy]

My specially designed landing gear.
I land everywhere with my M2P, in my right hand, on stumps, rocks, grass. puddles of water, long legs are preferable, which in addition do not risk being lost, as many of the varying types of landing gear I have tried.

View attachment 114718

Ha! That is pretty cool! I love it! I don't think I'll ever have a need for something like that, but I can definitely appreciate the idea, design, and implementation. Awesome job!

 

[Ray Naylor]

It seems like they stopped making them.

 

[DanMan32]

How does that work? There's no air on the moon. [emoji16]

 

[vindibona1]

I had the PolarPro Retract Landing gear on a previous Mavic 2 Zoom and am looking for another set for a new Mavic 2. Does anyone know where I can still find them?

Chris

I searched for them and in one moment the price had been up to $39, and the next time I looked someone wanted $89 for them! I finally gave up and have two sets of landing gear; one set (O'Woda brand, I think) I leave on even in storage which has a modest raise, then some PGYTech landing gear that are taller but have to be removed when I put my M2 in the case. Just so happens that I'd taken some photos to document clearnance for a strobe on the bottom. Links and photos below...
O'Woda Landing Gear for Mavic 2
PGY Tech Leg Extensions

 

[OMMBoy]

I searched for them and in one moment the price had been up to $39, and the next time I looked someone wanted $89 for them! I finally gave up and have two sets of landing gear; one set (O'Woda brand, I think) I leave on even in storage which has a modest raise, then some PGYTech landing gear that are taller but have to be removed when I put my M2 in the case. Just so happens that I'd taken some photos to document clearnance for a strobe on the bottom. Links and photos below...
O'Woda Landing Gear for Mavic 2
PGY Tech Leg Extensions


View attachment 120515

Hi, Vin!

Happy New Year!

Thanks for taking the time to put the comparison photos together! I very much appreciate it

The PolarPros were great because they folded up nice and compact and, when extended, provided a bit more ground clearance than the O'Woda extenders. I had initially purchased the PGY Tech extenders when I got my first drone, but I gave them away after finding the PolarPro extenders as I found them to be a hassle putting them on and taking them off every time.

I reached out to PolarPro earlier today about their decision to discontinue the Retract Landing Gear and to ask if they will be releasing any landing gear in the near future. When I hear back from them, I will be sure to post it here.

Thanks, again, Vin!

BTW, you wouldn't happen to be THE Vin Di Bona, would you?

Chris

 

[vindibona1]

Hi, Vin!

Happy New Year!

Thanks for taking the time to put the comparison photos together! I very much appreciate it

The PolarPros were great because they folded up nice and compact and, when extended, provided a bit more ground clearance than the O'Woda extenders. I had initially purchased the PGY Tech extenders when I got my first drone, but I gave them away after finding the PolarPro extenders as I found them to be a hassle putting them on and taking them off every time.

I reached out to PolarPro earlier today about their decision to discontinue the Retract Landing Gear and to ask if they will be releasing any landing gear in the near future. When I hear back from them, I will be sure to post it here.

Thanks, again, Vin!

BTW, you wouldn't happen to be THE Vin Di Bona, would you?

Chris

Happy New Year to you too Chris!

I too thought that the PolarPro extenders would be the best combination of height and convenience. However, they are heavier than most, but I don't think that means a lot on an M2 that has power to burn.

I've found PolarPro to be an "interesting" company. While they have done a good job of marketing the name, IMO in many cases they don't market their individual products well enough to the point where the don't sell enough and consequently stop making them. Another great exampleof a great product that has no competition and no longer exists is their gradient ND filters. I was lucky enough to find one of the last sets available IN THE WORLD and got a set from JAPAN! I love these filter as they help balance out the differences between sky (horizon) and ground exposures. Nobody else makes them...not even PolarPro now. If I need an ND filter during the day I'm going to grab one of my gradients, while I have a complete set of Skyreat ND's. I'm not sure what makes PolarPro as a company tick, but it seems like a company run by a couple of kids that doesn't have a solid vision and direction for the company and its product line. JMO

I leave you to continue to guess if I am "the" Vin DiBona"

 

[OMMBoy]

I heard back from PolarPro a couple days after contacting them, but I'm only now getting around to posting their reply.

Here is the reply from PolarPro:

Thanks for reaching out to PolarPro Support. While we have not been provided with any information at this time indicating a new landing gear for the Mavic 2 is in development, we'd be happy to pass along your interest to our development team for consideration.

Let's start a petition for PolarPro to resume manufacturing their landing gear!

Chris

 

[vindibona1]

I heard back from PolarPro a couple days after contacting them, but I'm only now getting around to posting their reply.

Here is the reply from PolarPro:

Let's start a petition for PolarPro to resume manufacturing their landing gear!

Chris

It's really hard to petition a private company, especially when something like the Mavic 2 is starting to get a little long in the tooth without knowing what is on the horizon. But as I may have mentioned, the landing gear is not the only good product, made only by them, that they've abandoned. My gut tells me that they're too (way)small a manufacturer to create and maintain any consistency of production and that once and initial run is done and distributed they tend not to run additional batches. Nobody can argue the quality of their products, but I think part of the issue with them is that their price points tend to be higher than their competition making similar products. PolarPro ND filters vs Skyreat (et al) is one example.

I think the company we should petition is PGYTech. They seem to be on top of a lot of DJI stuff. A folding landing gear for the M2 shouldn't be that hard to design to avoid patent infringement. But then again PGYTech and one other tend to have the market wrapped up on this product which isn't foldable (though they make great folding landing gear for the Mini).

 

[A.O.]

I just got this set of retractable landing gear for my MA2 today
Amazon.com: SYMIK Retractable Landing Gear Extension for DJI Mavic Air 2; Completely Foldable Design, Can be Left on The Drone at All Times, Even When Folded; Very Low Storage Profile; Accessories: Toys & Games
Gives the clearance below to mount the ARC V on the bottom, and folded they go right in my case no problem.