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- Aug 20, 2017
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Mavic Air 2 Catch Handle
Bikepacking with a drone has its own unique set of first world problems, one of them being take-off and landing your drone in less than ideal conditions. From sand to dirt, your drone is just not going to be happy in that sort of environment.
Recently I was over on North Stradbroke Island (Australia) for some beach camping and of course some drone flying. I found online a catch handle for my Mavic Air 2 and thought this might make life a little easier to launch and land the drone instead of from my hand. So, I bought one to try out on my beach ride.
I soon realised that you needed three hands to put the handle on the drone, one to hold the drone and two hands to spread the handle apart to wrap around the drone! The other disaster waiting to happen that I could see was the little thumb screw that locks it all together, falling to the ground and never to be seen again!
There had to be a better and quicker way of attaching and detaching the handle from the drone, so I decided to design my own but with the goal of keeping it at the same weight as the bought one. The handle was the easy part of the design which has a brass threaded insert in it to be bolted to the top plate.
The top plated was designed so the Scotch 3M double loop tape was recessed into the top plate to keep the plate as low profile as possible. The plate also needed the openings for the two bottom sensors and the LED light.
I had to tweak the top plate and reprint it as the double loop tape was recessed a little too far in on the first attempt. Once that was sorted it work like a charm and even came in at the same weight. The double loop tape holds the handle securely in place, but it also can be taken off in a flash using only two hands!
Now to go for a test flight and see that the sensors still work.
![188729601_172932224837293_3774056294890970681_n.jpg 188729601_172932224837293_3774056294890970681_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129938-7bd40f569f025f56b0447e28d9a8fddc.jpg)
![192417474_172932341503948_3774959823439831868_n.jpg 192417474_172932341503948_3774959823439831868_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129954-2626215faa8e8472d1640cd021ceb20a.jpg)
![188487012_172932511503931_5359953678223112743_n.jpg 188487012_172932511503931_5359953678223112743_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129950-fb53cb48af4617c134489301d4031a08.jpg)
![190435873_172932248170624_8485279037578732882_n.jpg 190435873_172932248170624_8485279037578732882_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129951-c4e74dc180d8e08e00158ce3895a83a0.jpg)
![186488163_172932521503930_5639546824576153930_n.jpg 186488163_172932521503930_5639546824576153930_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129944-1f3eef24cfa6938a54f431d6bb2710f3.jpg)
![186553507_172932368170612_3085583132528470225_n.jpg 186553507_172932368170612_3085583132528470225_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129945-68949dd88dd5bc3a7b7b5076b67a6490.jpg)
![187411645_172932301503952_1113413636626094551_n.jpg 187411645_172932301503952_1113413636626094551_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129948-11e250850f3141872b1c02316ab23a32.jpg)
![192061743_172932431503939_5215679836315872656_n.jpg 192061743_172932431503939_5215679836315872656_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129953-9b60458d8f950a177c922fa06649885d.jpg)
![188003487_172932471503935_2991414520798743863_n.jpg 188003487_172932471503935_2991414520798743863_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129949-b8d32b934e2353cb7e5a8f28e8b6eeaf.jpg)
![191555765_172932488170600_6476252378220084984_n.jpg 191555765_172932488170600_6476252378220084984_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129952-9b274a224ad17425a7163ed88918384c.jpg)
![194469758_172932401503942_3103238633082194609_n.jpg 194469758_172932401503942_3103238633082194609_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129955-ab8c58d9a18a257f853497fb0010deb6.jpg)
![186555184_172932271503955_3340527447013968770_n.jpg 186555184_172932271503955_3340527447013968770_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129946-8eabcc4f086e61c3a134bef2347dae9d.jpg)
![186950394_173902191406963_184383413190282946_n.jpg 186950394_173902191406963_184383413190282946_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129947-2779cc69f828a496c7531845b991ec5c.jpg)
Bikepacking with a drone has its own unique set of first world problems, one of them being take-off and landing your drone in less than ideal conditions. From sand to dirt, your drone is just not going to be happy in that sort of environment.
Recently I was over on North Stradbroke Island (Australia) for some beach camping and of course some drone flying. I found online a catch handle for my Mavic Air 2 and thought this might make life a little easier to launch and land the drone instead of from my hand. So, I bought one to try out on my beach ride.
I soon realised that you needed three hands to put the handle on the drone, one to hold the drone and two hands to spread the handle apart to wrap around the drone! The other disaster waiting to happen that I could see was the little thumb screw that locks it all together, falling to the ground and never to be seen again!
There had to be a better and quicker way of attaching and detaching the handle from the drone, so I decided to design my own but with the goal of keeping it at the same weight as the bought one. The handle was the easy part of the design which has a brass threaded insert in it to be bolted to the top plate.
The top plated was designed so the Scotch 3M double loop tape was recessed into the top plate to keep the plate as low profile as possible. The plate also needed the openings for the two bottom sensors and the LED light.
I had to tweak the top plate and reprint it as the double loop tape was recessed a little too far in on the first attempt. Once that was sorted it work like a charm and even came in at the same weight. The double loop tape holds the handle securely in place, but it also can be taken off in a flash using only two hands!
Now to go for a test flight and see that the sensors still work.
![188729601_172932224837293_3774056294890970681_n.jpg 188729601_172932224837293_3774056294890970681_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129938-7bd40f569f025f56b0447e28d9a8fddc.jpg)
![192417474_172932341503948_3774959823439831868_n.jpg 192417474_172932341503948_3774959823439831868_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129954-2626215faa8e8472d1640cd021ceb20a.jpg)
![188487012_172932511503931_5359953678223112743_n.jpg 188487012_172932511503931_5359953678223112743_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129950-fb53cb48af4617c134489301d4031a08.jpg)
![190435873_172932248170624_8485279037578732882_n.jpg 190435873_172932248170624_8485279037578732882_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129951-c4e74dc180d8e08e00158ce3895a83a0.jpg)
![186488163_172932521503930_5639546824576153930_n.jpg 186488163_172932521503930_5639546824576153930_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129944-1f3eef24cfa6938a54f431d6bb2710f3.jpg)
![186553507_172932368170612_3085583132528470225_n.jpg 186553507_172932368170612_3085583132528470225_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129945-68949dd88dd5bc3a7b7b5076b67a6490.jpg)
![187411645_172932301503952_1113413636626094551_n.jpg 187411645_172932301503952_1113413636626094551_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129948-11e250850f3141872b1c02316ab23a32.jpg)
![192061743_172932431503939_5215679836315872656_n.jpg 192061743_172932431503939_5215679836315872656_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129953-9b60458d8f950a177c922fa06649885d.jpg)
![188003487_172932471503935_2991414520798743863_n.jpg 188003487_172932471503935_2991414520798743863_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129949-b8d32b934e2353cb7e5a8f28e8b6eeaf.jpg)
![191555765_172932488170600_6476252378220084984_n.jpg 191555765_172932488170600_6476252378220084984_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129952-9b274a224ad17425a7163ed88918384c.jpg)
![194469758_172932401503942_3103238633082194609_n.jpg 194469758_172932401503942_3103238633082194609_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129955-ab8c58d9a18a257f853497fb0010deb6.jpg)
![186555184_172932271503955_3340527447013968770_n.jpg 186555184_172932271503955_3340527447013968770_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129946-8eabcc4f086e61c3a134bef2347dae9d.jpg)
![186950394_173902191406963_184383413190282946_n.jpg 186950394_173902191406963_184383413190282946_n.jpg](https://mavicpilots.com/data/attachments/129/129947-2779cc69f828a496c7531845b991ec5c.jpg)