DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Tossing a Mavic Pro Platinum

7thstring

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
199
Reactions
46
Age
42
Hi all, has anyone ever tried to hand toss a Mavic from significant heights with the propellers half-on?

Scenario: I live in a skyscraper and to take advantage of the height and clear line-of-sight I occasionally fly the drone in safety from the terrace. As I'm surrounded by (smaller) buildings, I would be forced to shorter distance and no LOS if I launched it from the ground. As the building is obviously made of steel, I hand-launch and hand-recover the MPP to avoid compass interferences.

Now, as I don't have a terrace surrounding all sides, to keep LOS and maximise signal transmission, I occasionally launch from a closed balcony when flying east. Which is an extra challenge.

In order to launch fully extend the right arm and keep the drone diagonally above my head and plants, so that propellers don't get caught into anything, and start them with the remote laid on a surface. Then I just gently pull the throttle and once I get liftoff I send it quickly away from me.

I usually start in Vision mode, without waiting for GPS lock, but allowing the drone to do so while hovering over a secure spot at the communal garden, to make sure it is recorded as the home point, and only then I let it fly away.

To hand-catch it, I usually turn it backwards (I could disable the collision detection, but backwards I also get a proper right-left orientation in case wind forces me to correct the direction). It never happened, but if I fail to hand-catch it due to sudden wind, I would just land it on the terrace or - as the last resort- on the ground and then recover it later.

I hate to say it, but the hand-launch is always more adrenalinic than the hand-catch, because with the latter you can always abort and try again or switch to the contingency plan. With this particular hand-launch, you are yet to fly.

Now the question: has anyone ever tried to toss a mavic from a balcony with the propellers on at min speed, to suddenly increase the throttle and distance right after? How would it react if failing to increase the throttle, is it smart enought to hover or would it fall down?

I was wondering if I could try tossing it on a bed or sofa, in safety. Has anyone ever tried?

Disclaimer: obviously all this is done only in low wind conditions. Done it a dozen times, no issue.
 
First, I'm surprised that you still have the Mavic. Second and to answer your post... I'd be really surprised if you still had the Mavic.

My recommendation... don't fly from a building and simply take off from the ground.
 
I am pretty sure it will be fine.
Please be sure to have the video running when you do it and post it here. NOBODY is going to believe this works.
But that is what the barometric altitude control is for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpinItUp
Make a small board (doesn't have to be large, then attach that to the balcony or terrace, or something in a tray table built for balconies. launch from that :)

I have a real small board (a little bigger than the dimensions of the landing gear) that I use launching from sand, or real tall grassy areas, and it works flawlessly, I don't see why you can't use that from your balcony secured to the rail or something similar.

For a balcony I would personally make it larger about the size of the drone props and all and attach it (those small woodworking trigger clamps might be an option)

just a thought
 
Is your intent to avoid compass interference? If rebar, underground pipes, fences/railings can cause an issue, I’d assume you’d have to throw some distance away from your building to prevent this.

Depending on where you live, you may be able to easily access the roof of your building. Many apartments buildings, while technically don’t offer access to residents, you can often just go there. Would be worth a shot to check...and if you can get on the roof, see if you get interference. I’d feel better about this than trying to toss my mavic off the side of a building and hoping it does what it’s supposed to.
 
Don't tell me that there is not a public park where you live, that you can take your mavic with you. I never fly mine from my home. The only thing I do at home is powered on to update the firmware.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Former Member
Seems like a crash waiting to happen. I think it would be more enjoyable to find an open space to fly. Close to buildings, and hovering near windows, people might assume you are spying on them.
Technically, I don't think you don't really need to toss it. Start the motors on your hand and lower your hand, it should maintain altitude. Never done it myself.
I still think flying in build-up area is not a good idea. Compass might not initialise properly. And with wifi interference, losing connection, it'll RTH to who-knows-where. I think you are pushing your luck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Former Member
Launch it from the ground, land it on top of your building, take off again from on top of your building and fly to your heart's content. If it works for the guy in Shanghai you can too, on a much smaller scale!
 
A guy on this forum had mavic propellers idling while mavic was on the ground.....suddenly mavic took off without any stick input.

Turns out, he was in a ship and the brilliant minds in this forum decided the most likely scenario is that the ship went up on a big wave and as it came down, mavic sensed that it was falling and increased rpm to maintain altitude.

I think your idea is likely to work but I’m not convinced it is safe to try if there is a possibility of people below as this is a risky venture and may end with mavic simply falling to the ground like a brick, even if it works well the first few times.
 
I've done that heaps of times with a Flamewheel 450!
I dont think it will work on the mavic unless you keep it level in your toss, the mavic has parameters in the firmware to turn the props off if the angle gets too great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dragonfly
Technically, I don't think you don't really need to toss it. Start the motors on your hand and lower your hand, it should maintain altitude. Never done it myself.

Nope also tried this, you need to push up the throttle. Hence the idea of tossing it and then pushing up.
 
Is your intent to avoid compass interference? If rebar, underground pipes, fences/railings can cause an issue, I’d assume you’d have to throw some distance away from your building to prevent this.

Nope that was the part of explanation where I said I don't wait any longer for a GPS lock but just push it away in Vision mode (never in ATTI if it occurs) and then I let it hover at a safe distance until GPS is locked. Otherwise it takes minutes to lock from the balcony (if at all) even by extending the arm to the max.
 
Make a small board (doesn't have to be large, then attach that to the balcony or terrace, or something in a tray table built for balconies. launch from that :)

I have a real small board (a little bigger than the dimensions of the landing gear) that I use launching from sand, or real tall grassy areas, and it works flawlessly, I don't see why you can't use that from your balcony secured to the rail or something similar.

For a balcony I would personally make it larger about the size of the drone props and all and attach it (those small woodworking trigger clamps might be an option)

just a thought

That's actually the first thing I thought but was looking for a shortcut. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
First, I'm surprised that you still have the Mavic. Second and to answer your post... I'd be really surprised if you still had the Mavic.

On the 2nd I couldn't disagree, that's why I started this thread. On the first, it's actually simpler than it looks. You only get 2x heartbeat when launching and as said landing is safe, as long as there are backup options.
 
I am very curious where drone lands if your toss doesn't work?

That's an easy one: it would crash some 30 meters below, but it's enough of a journey to get the propellers up manually, which would be done anyway. You know the story about cats... they get injured if they fall down from the 1st floor more than the 4th, as they might have not enough time to get in position for the impact.

That was the reason why I was asking, didn't want my Mavic to be the first (cat) to try. :D

Anyway I tried tossing a dozen times on a king-size bed, with shock-absorbing extended legs. Guess what? It never hit the bed.
Contrary to my expectation, the Mavic does keep the altitute even after starting the engines with the inward joystick move if it senses a loss of altitude.
I experienced it the hard way the first time, as it was about to go for a rocket-like launch - not sure if it would have hit the ceiling by inertia or if it would have stopped, but obviously I kept it firmly with my hands.
What I'm not sure about is if it would do the same also in ATTI mode (read: if doing the same in ATTI mode would result in a crash) and if in Vision mode it would try to get back to the tossing point (potentially crashing into plants, the balcony itself or something like that).

Next I'm gonna try it with a kids jumping trampoline, but I'm getting confidence it could work!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jontrinityhomes
Sorry, I was not clear, what is 30 meters below, humans? If so are they all wearing football helmets?
 
Obviously not. On one side there is an offset terrace, I always check if there is someone there. On the other side there is nobody, just grass of the communal garden.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,169
Members
159,596
Latest member
da4o98