Landing pad reflective decals - why?

[FormerMember06292019_2]

I purchased an expanding ring landing pad. For $19 it was cheap insurance. It came with curved, reflective decals to go in a concentric ring.

Does anyone use them and why?
How durable are they on rip-stop nylon that gets twisted and folded when the ring is collapsed for storage?

Side note: the PGYTECH branded landing pad has a surprisingly strong spring-steel hoop. There is a warning on the package to take care in opening. It's actually a valid caution!

 

[raven swe]

yeah tell me about it, first time I opened mine it smacked me in the face, the strips I could not peal off from the backing so binned them.

 

[Kneebeard]

Good question. I got a landing pad with the reflective stickers as well. I applied them, thinking that they might offer a little more orientation for the quad on a RTH in low light. The first time I unfolded it half the stickers came off and a couple other "broke" due to the fact they are not very flexible. After a couple more deployments of the pad I peeled the remaining ones off. I thought it was a good idea and a poor execution. They should have sewn in some reflective material (like a safety vest has) if it was an important feature.

 

[hactick]

I never put them on and now they float around in my landing pad pouch and fall out every time I open it. I was thinking maybe they were more for night operations. To help land using the drone camera to line up.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If you had just a little light facing down, (firehouse or strobon leds, etc) flying at night or very late dusk they would probably stand out very well on viewing device when landing.

 

[swhipple1950]

I asked DJI support about the adhesive strips but have had no reply at this point. Sounds like no one else is completely sure what they are for. I did four flights today in windy conditions and my mini 2 landed on the landing pad one out of four times without pilot intervention. Maybe the strips with help, will try them out but, according to the responses, they are not reliable. Oh well what can we do. I am really enjoying the mini 2; learning so not real brave at this point. Everting works real well.