Taking off Landing and Fly over water questions

[john2k]

Sorry if this might have already been answered somewhere. I come from a Parrot Bebop as my first drone where i used to just press a Take-Off/Land button to get the drone up to a about 1m and hover and then from there you take control. Same with landing, you would bring it down as much as you can and it will not go all the way to the ground because it senses something below and then you press land and it drops to the ground. I am getting ready to fly my mavic air this weekend if weather permits here in the UK as weather hasn't been great. So had a few questions hope you guys can help answer:

1. There doesn't seem to be a take off or land button on the MA, do you just use the controls and make the MA go up and if u let go of the stick does it just hover?
2. What about for landing, when you come down how does it know to slow down to go to the ground?
3. How do you land on the hand? If you are on a boat and you want to land it on your hand how do you do that? I can imagine control it and bring it near you and put your hand out, but do you grab it from the bottom?
4. One problem I know Parrot Bebop experiences is over water if there is ripples it can misread some information and come down in the water, what are the general tips about flying over water? on the Parrot it was not to come down too low and try not to hover over water. I have some water activities lined up for summer like jet ski, speedboat etc. I would like to get nice shots where the MA can create autofollow videos of my activities. Any tips?

 

[MavicNoob79]

I can answer 1 and 2 for ya.
For take off you can use “precision takeoff” or manual. Precision button is at the top left on your phone screen and then read the instructions and follow. It’ll take off and hover which will also record the precise coordinates so that if you press “return to home” it’ll come back and land itself.
Manual take off can be done as well by pushing both control sticks down and to the inside. It’ll spin up the motors to idle and then just use the stick to go up.
The Mavic Air has bottom sensors so that’s how it slows down and lands.

 

[MavicNoob79]

Also for the landing in hand, the Mavic Air isn’t technically made to land in hand. But it can be done if VERY carefully. Or you could let it come into reach and then grab it and if you spin the drone to it’s side 90 degrees the fail safe will kick in and the motors will **** down.
Still not safe and dji of course doesn’t suggest you land in hand or grab it but you can do it

 

[djiboi]

I land on my palm all the the time. Just put your palm under the body and pull down on the left stick. The motors cut out after a couple of seconds

 

[roadkilt]

I fly over open seas all the time with GPS, no issues, but when I’m in a narrow stream canyon with no satellites, and the water is moving the Air gets very twitchy. Bottom cameras get confused by either the moving water or ripples from the prop wash. It goes in and out of Atti mode, sends error messages, won’t hold tripod mode and limits height and distance. OK if you are expecting trouble but if not, and you aren’t comfortable with flying full radio control than dont do it. Plus wind gusts in these canyons are unpredictable and can have you going sideways.

 

[thebigbaddan]

There doesn't seem to be a take off or land button on the MA

Umm yeah there is... It's in the dji go app on your phone. On the left. For landing here are two, there is return to home, which comes back home and then lands, and land. There is a take off button too.

 

[john2k]

What about operating the MA in smart capture to just use gestures? Like i'm thinking sometimes you go to a place like somewhere on the mountains where you want to take a selfie but you don't want to be in the pic or video as holding a remote so operating the MA completely without the control and taking a selfie sounds like a good option. I've watched a few videos of the smart capture where people use it completely without the remote. So people say to turn on the MA and wait for GPS signal but how do you know when the MA has acquired GPS signal without seeing it on a smart phone? And then double tap to enter Smart Capture mode.

Also, what happens when you try and land on something like grass? Once I tried my Parrot Bebop on a little thick grass and when i landed it, the props continued to spin and the Bebop just didnt see the surface to land so it kept trying to go even more down.

 

[Kevjones777]

What about operating the MA in smart capture to just use gestures? Like i'm thinking sometimes you go to a place like somewhere on the mountains where you want to take a selfie but you don't want to be in the pic or video as holding a remote so operating the MA completely without the control and taking a selfie sounds like a good option. I've watched a few videos of the smart capture where people use it completely without the remote. So people say to turn on the MA and wait for GPS signal but how do you know when the MA has acquired GPS signal without seeing it on a smart phone? And then double tap to enter Smart Capture mode.

Also, what happens when you try and land on something like grass? Once I tried my Parrot Bebop on a little thick grass and when i landed it, the props continued to spin and the Bebop just didnt see the surface to land so it kept trying to go even more down.

I have tried this and it works... it just takes a leap of faith .... ha ha ha ha

 

[john2k]

I have tried this and it works... it just takes a leap of faith .... ha ha ha ha

So best to only use this on really open spaces and not cliffs? LOL. What happens if Smart Capture malfunctions and doesn't find you? How do you get it to re-recognise you and does it just hover ?

 

[john2k]

Also, does the recording have to be manually initiated? so when you start flying it doesn't start automatically recording? What happens if i'm recording video and then I initiate a photo to be taken. Does the video recording stop and do you have to resume video recording after?

 

[thebigbaddan]

Also, what happens when you try and land on something like grass?

I did that once... and then immediately went out and bought a landing pad. You can find them cheap ($10) online from DJI, I bought a $40 weighted one from my local store. But yeah, you do NOT want to land it in grass, or you'll get your blades all grassy and will be pissed. Concrete is fine, otherwise land on something else. A towel may even do the trick.

 

[MavicNoob79]

I did that once... and then immediately went out and bought a landing pad. You can find them cheap ($10) online from DJI, I bought a $40 weighted one from my local store. But yeah, you do NOT want to land it in grass, or you'll get your blades all grassy and will be pissed. Concrete is fine, otherwise land on something else. A towel may even do the trick.

Good call on the landing pad. This happened to me in my back yard. Got nasty green grass stains all over my Mavic Air. Took a while to clean it off. Today my landing pad came in

 

[Jameslavis]

Most things have been answered. I have a landing pad and use it. I also hand launch and land all the time. I use sport mode, hover and use my fingertips to grab the bottom. I just grip lightly and shut the engines down with the other hand.

 

[MrRobville]

Also for the landing in hand, the Mavic Air isn’t technically made to land in hand. But it can be done if VERY carefully. Or you could let it come into reach and then grab it and if you spin the drone to it’s side 90 degrees the fail safe will kick in and the motors will **** down.
Still not safe and dji of course doesn’t suggest you land in hand or grab it but you can do it

I'd not recommend using this method as this will most likely put unnecessary stress on the motors as the Mavic will try to compensate for the sudden movement. Not to mention the risk when it turns out you haven't grabbed it well enough and you cause it to fly off to the ground upside down. I almost had that happen when I once tried doing this. For some reason the failsafe did not kick in.
It is a lot easier and safer to just press the left stick down whilst holding the drone until the props turn themselves off, like Jameslavis mentioned.
Hand landing is really easy I find and I do it all the time. With only a little bit of practice you can quickly learn how to safely take off and land from your palm. Just make sure to turn off the bottom sensors when doing so as it will otherwise fly up when you try to grab it.

Also, does the recording have to be manually initiated? so when you start flying it doesn't start automatically recording? What happens if i'm recording video and then I initiate a photo to be taken. Does the video recording stop and do you have to resume video recording after?

You'll have to press either the record video or photo button manually to initiate a recording/photo or to toggle between the two modes. IIRC when you press the photo button while filming, it does nothing until you stop recording first. Then you'll have to press the photo button twice. (1 to switch to photo mode, 2 to take the actual photo). This works the other way around as well, so it is important to keep in mind after you've taken a photo that you need to press the record video button twice if you want to capture some footage. Otherwise it'll just switch to video mode without actually doing anything.
The air does not record automatically, so make sure you do press that button.

 

[john2k]

Most things have been answered. I have a landing pad and use it.

Which landing pads do you use? One of the best things about the Mavic Air is it's portability as I usually would want to take it with me when i go on holidays. But doesn't adding a landing pad to the kit make it less portable? I guess a heavy hardback book would work too would it not?

I also hand launch and land all the time. I use sport mode, hover and use my fingertips to grab the bottom. I just grip lightly and shut the engines down with the other hand.

So to hand land you just bring it near you hover it and just pinch grab it from the bottom? Where do you shut the motors from? I watched some people say just grab it and turn it sideways and it cuts out the motor. How do you hand launch? I can see that being a useful feature specially if you are on some uneven cliff top. On my Parrot Bebop 2 hand launch was quite straight forward you select hand launch and then just make an upwards slow throw and release it and it hovers. When you hand launch does that set the hand launch at 0 altitude? does automatic home position only get recorded if you take off in auto-mode. So for manual modes you have to set home location?

 

[john2k]

Just make sure to turn off the bottom sensors when doing so as it will otherwise fly up when you try to grab it.

When you turn the bottom sensors off, do you have to remember to turn them back on for the next flight?

 

[MrRobville]

When you turn the bottom sensors off, do you have to remember to turn them back on for the next flight?

They will remain turned off. However, quite a few intelligent flight modes prompt you to enable it if you want to use them, so I rarely have to manually turn them on. If you don't fly in close quarters or in areas with a lot of bottom obstacles, then they aren't essential. I fly mostly in wide open fields so I prefer to have them switched off most of the time.

It's not a biggie though if you need to toggle them last minute. While in flight, just go to the menu>sensors>advanced, and there you'll find the switch. More often than not I find myself having to turn them off right before grabbing it.

 

[MrRobville]

So to hand land you just bring it near you hover it and just pinch grab it from the bottom? Where do you shut the motors from? I watched some people say just grab it and turn it sideways and it cuts out the motor. How do you hand launch? I can see that being a useful feature specially if you are on some uneven cliff top. On my Parrot Bebop 2 hand launch was quite straight forward you select hand launch and then just make an upwards slow throw and release it and it hovers. When you hand launch does that set the hand launch at 0 altitude? does automatic home position only get recorded if you take off in auto-mode. So for manual modes you have to set home location?

I've made an edit in my previous post advising against flipping it.

The motors will shut off if the Mavic senses that it cannot descent any further when you press the vertical stick fully down whilst holding it. (with default controls) the easiest way to catch is with your right hand so that you can use your left hand to push the stick down.

Taking off is also quite easy. Hold the mavic in your right hand, and the controller in your left. Press the left stick down and right (inward) with your thumb, and press the right stick down and left (also inward) with the bottom of your right hand in which you are holding the Mavic. The props will then idle. You can then launch it by either pressing the left stick up and simply letting go of the Mavic, or by moving your right hand down and letting go as soon as the rotors start accelerating. When the Mavic notices it's going down it will automatically throttle up the motors. When you let go, it'll hover.

 

[Kevjones777]

Also, does the recording have to be manually initiated? so when you start flying it doesn't start automatically recording? What happens if i'm recording video and then I initiate a photo to be taken. Does the video recording stop and do you have to resume video recording after?

No you make a gesture to start video recording. Then the Air blinks at you to tell you it is recording. You make the same gesture to stop recording. You make a V sign with your fingers the Air blinks at you then a few seconds later takes a photo. It's like Jedi mind control ha ha ha ha ha.... it actually works.

 

[MrRobville]

No you make a gesture to start video recording. Then the Air blinks at you to tell you it is recording. You make the same gesture to stop recording. You make a V sign with your fingers the Air blinks at you then a few seconds later takes a photo. It's like Jedi mind control ha ha ha ha ha.... it actually works.

Granted that you are using gesture control mode, otherwise you just use the buttons on your controller to start or stop a recording.