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Launch/Land from hand

atomic77

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Hi, I'm very curious about launching Mavic Air from hand.
I found a lot of videos and opinions about Mavic Pro, but nothing about Air. I know DJI doesn't recommend it and says it's dangerous, but what is your opinion? Is it safer than Mavic Pro or easy enought to not make mistakes?
Now I only have Phantom 3A and Spark. I never tried to do it with P3A, it's heavy and legs are thin. But... I love hand launch option in my Spark. High grass, snow, sand, I always launch it from hand. Always.
I know Air has fixed propellers ... would it be a high risk to my hands?
I'm just thinking about selling both Spark and P3A (too big for my needs) and buying Air, but hand lauch is something I love in Spark!
 
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Same as MP. No problem as long as you're a bit careful, since there's no assignable takeoff button it needs a bit of hand twisting to start it.

Disable "landing protection" for nice landings.
 
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Tons of video on YouTube about this. It can be done but as you said, DJI does not recommend it. I'd say about as safe as the Mavic Pro. You can also grab it and turn it upside down to turn it off.
 
...I know Air has fixed propellers ... would it be a high risk to my hands?...
Yes
...Disable "landing protection" for nice landings.
Make sure you re-enable landing protection unless you will always hand land. It will save you from a hard landing later.
 
Well, each to his own. To me landing protection is more of a nuisance becasue of false positives and overall annoyances, and I'm capable enough to land my aircraft correctly.

First thing I disable after any update.
 
Thanks for all answers. I'm aware that it's not recommended, I don't need to do it every time (like with Spark) just sometimes.
I was curious why is it so safe with Spark and not recommended at all with Air.
Now I want to have it, Air is perfectly fitting the Polish aviation laws:)
 
To be honest I don't see how anybody could have a problem with landing in their hand, even with "landing protection" on. Simply stick down, it will detect your hand and move away - continue holding stick down and it will land anyway, in your hand. No need to turn it upside down, no need to overpower the drone - let the landing protection see your hand but keep telling it to land anyway.
 
To be honest I don't see how anybody could have a problem with landing in their hand, even with "landing protection" on. Simply stick down, it will detect your hand and move away - continue holding stick down and it will land anyway, in your hand. No need to turn it upside down, no need to overpower the drone - let the landing protection see your hand but keep telling it to land anyway.
Absolutely correct.
 
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Turn off landing protection in vps settings...you will still have all sensors...only now it wont fight u and will land softly in hand
 
I highly recommend adding a lanyard to the r/c controller, so it can be operated one-handed much more easily. For launching I am using the CSC stick command on my Mavic Pro, should be available also for the Mavic Air to avoid the need for finding the takeoff button on the mobile device screen.
 
I don’t like landing protection. All it does is look at the ground and try to gauge wether it is flat/safe to land. Even if it’s off it won’t ever land hard. The drone detects the ground and slows it’s descent speed.
 
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I don’t like landing protection. All it does is look at the ground and try to gauge wether it is flat/safe to land. Even if it’s off it won’t ever land hard. The drone detects the ground and slows it’s descent speed.
Exactly! it's always been more of a nuisance on DJI drones plus with it off you can control yourself how soft or hard you want it to land. so I find that cool that you're in control and not software..... a lot of the times it gives false readings and says it's not safe to land when really it is, so I always keep it off . and when I go to hand catch it lands perfectly no fighting.
 
Since I purchased my MA I have been landing and taking off form my hand majority of times, not because I want to be fancy, but because here in NJ I have to deal with snow and ice. Today we flew over ship graveyard and coast that we were standing on was littered with so much junk metal that drones compass would only work if I held it about 3 feet of the ground.

I actually got to the point where I do take offs and landing by my self rather than having someone hold it out for me.

One thing I will say is DO NOT try to grab it or turn it upside-down in order to stop the drone. I have seen some people on youtube do it, and there is absolutely no need to abuse it in that manner. MA will land on the palm of your hand even if obstacle avoidance is on as long as you hold the landing stick down.
 
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Since I purchased my MA I have been landing and taking off form my hand majority of times, not because I want to be fancy, but because here in NJ I have to deal with snow and ice. Today we flew over ship graveyard and coast that we were standing on was littered with so much junk metal that drones compass would only work if I held it about 3 feet of the ground.

I actually got to the point where I do take offs and landing by my self rather than having someone hold it out for me.

One thing I will say is DO NOT try to grab it or turn it upside-down in order to stop the drone. I have seen some people on youtube do it, and there is absolutely no need to abuse it in that manner. MA will land on the palm of your hand even if obstacle avoidance is on as long as you hold the landing stick down.

Funny thing...I wasn’t so sure about the hand take off and landing approach since I’m a drone newbie (the Air is my first one and I love it) so I bought the extension legs from Polar Pro. I used them a total of 3 times and now I always take off and land from my hand unless I have a clean landing surface to use. HA! Oh well. They’re light and easy to carry with me so maybe I’ll use them on some days. Your right though...just hold the stick down and it lands gently in your hand and the props stop within seconds. Easy peasy.
 
Landing protection has hurt me more than helped. I lost signal and tried to land but it gave me a false alarm and refused. In the meantime my drone drifted into the side of my house causing it to crash. Thankfully it only received cosmetic damage. No biggie but still a bummer.
 
I have launched and landed MA from hand many times. All you have to do keep palm of your hand open at all times.

At landing DO NOT try to grab your drone just keep the palm of your hand open and control stick in landing position and it will land without any problems.

Also I saw some guy on youtube grab and flip MA at landing in order to stop props. There is absolutely no need to do so.
 
I prefer to turn landing protection off (its stupid anyway like it doesnt think operator knows where he is landing) this way i can GRAB my mavic air firmly and it doesnt fight or try to pull away as it does with landing protection on....lands soft like a feather. I rather grab my 1000 $ drone then have my palm open potentially having it fall. Grabbing from underneath i feel is safer then open palm...u have control! Do the same with mav pro.. grab phantoms by one set of legs. I seen a guy drop his spark when he had an open palm trying to land. Now he just grabs from underneath and because landing protection is off, it doesnt bounce up or down just lands soft as a feather. I think people with palms open catching their drones need to man up because these things are expensive and if a gust of wind comes by right as its landing in your open palm. Goodbye nice fingers!


...

Sorry slavicsoul think thats bad advice ...i think u should atleast have some control if u are going to land in your hand!
 
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I hand launch and land. To make the launching easier, you can use the "take-off" button in G04. Much easier than trying to balance the controller and use the double sticks.
 
In the wetlands here, where I fly a lot, there would be no other way than hand launching and catching. With LP off it is very safe to do. Also, when people walk up to me with a unleashed dog, just when I'm coming in to land, no way I'm going to set it on the ground.
 
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