Who is hand catching his MP at landing or take off.

MavProJNG · Jun 3, 2017

I hand caught my MP while floating on a kayak. I was low on battery and just as I was about to catch it, it went to auto RTH mode and increased altitude (pre-set RTH altitude). I had to cancel then bring it back down. Stressful moments for sure, but made caught it by hand. This was the video I made

Gary cato · Jun 3, 2017

always hand catch for the fun of it.

Chun · Jun 3, 2017

Something I would like to add to this thread of hand catching,
IF YOU HESITATE YOU WILL FAIL!!!
And no room for error on a boat.

esm123 · Jun 3, 2017

I've done it on a moving boat. It was not that easy! My buddy was holding the drone to take off. I throttled up and told him to let go. It worked. Landing was tricky because I had to maintain the same speed as the boat for him to catch it. I did it twice, but I don't recommend it.

Jonno · Jun 3, 2017

ChasiTail said:
Hand catching on land is MUCH easier than on a boat that is drifting along. You will find its hard to just come straight down, because any small breeze can push your boat or if there is tide currents or swells you will be moving. So you will have to continue to pace the Mavic to keep up with the boat.

Im actually thinking of selling my Mavic and going to a P4 for this reason. Getting footage while recreating on my boat was the main reason I bought a drone. After taking it out on the water one time on the lake, I think the P4 may be a better option because of the landing skids on the P4 make catching the drone much less accident prone to conflict with its props and fingers.

This is soooo true!! I practised hand launching and catching on land a lot..: then I tried on the boat. It was fine with no wind or current but then the wind picked up and was blowing the boat around etc. I did it a few times but then something went wrong and I panicked. It hit a ski rope and into the drink it went. My Mavic is in for repair as I speak. So, be careful!!

CoolBreeze · Jun 3, 2017

Lesson learned. Attempted hand catch, as soon as hand under Mavic it shot straight up hitting umberella, bounced off house and hit deck. Broke two props.

I take off and fly Mavic from second story deck, landing in yard and relaunch for return to home location. Just over one hour flight time in 15 flights, not confident to RTH on deck. RTH nerve racking, comes in high and hovers above house before landing.

jmfixitman · Jun 3, 2017

dsd317 said:
Don't be like this person:

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Lol, I don't even let my wife drive my truck, let alone my drone...

Lelantos · Jun 3, 2017

ChasiTail said:
I'd love to see a video once you go out on your boat & do it. Im all about watching and learning!

Okay, the plan is to do so in the next ten days.

warlock 31 · Jun 3, 2017

The main reason I bought the mavic it's for boat videos you guys make it sound kind of scary

GerdS · Jun 3, 2017

MavProJNG said:
I hand caught my MP while floating on a kayak. I was low on battery and just as I was about to catch it, it went to auto RTH mode and increased altitude (pre-set RTH altitude). I had to cancel then bring it back down. Stressful moments for sure, but made caught it by hand. This was the video I made

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I guess you had lots of luck. Tried the same with my inflatable kayak on a lake and there was no chance. As soon as the Mavic approached the kayak, the kayak drifted away or turned because of the downwash of Mavic's propellers. So I didn't get into a position to securely grab the Mavic out of the air.
But as I have equipped my Mavic with 4 ball floats when flying above the lake, I was able to just land on the water and get it from there.

Chun · Jun 3, 2017

CoolBreeze said:
Lesson learned. Attempted hand catch, as soon as hand under Mavic it shot straight up hitting umberella, bounced off house and hit deck. Broke two props.

I take off and fly Mavic from second story deck, landing in yard and relaunch for return to home location. Just over one hour flight time in 15 flights, not confident to RTH on deck. RTH nerve racking, comes in high and hovers above house before landing.

You hesitated !! grab it left stick down ,don't let go , chicken!!!

Chun · Jun 3, 2017

Just got off the lake, flew several times no anchor and no beach ,no problems!!!

JustViewerFun · Jun 5, 2017

CoolBreeze said:
Lesson learned. Attempted hand catch, as soon as hand under Mavic it shot straight up hitting umberella, bounced off house and hit deck. Broke two props.

I take off and fly Mavic from second story deck, landing in yard and relaunch for return to home location. Just over one hour flight time in 15 flights, not confident to RTH on deck. RTH nerve racking, comes in high and hovers above house before landing.

Turn off "Landing protection" and it won't shoot up on you.

JustViewerFun · Jun 5, 2017

I've been hand catching mine almost 100% since January - I lost count of how many flights since then. Here's how I've been doing it...

Catching a Mavic Pro

Since probably February, I've been hand launching about 80% of the time. I haven't put together a video on this yet, but it's pretty simple - use auto-takeoff. The trickiest part is holding the MP in one hand while holding and operating the remote with my other hand. Usually, I prop the remote against my right arm and swipe the take-off slider with a finger on my left hand. It's not the only way though.

Cheers!

Olso · Jun 5, 2017

JustViewerFun said:
I've been hand catching mine almost 100% since January - I lost count of how many flights since then. Here's how I've been doing it...

Catching a Mavic Pro

Since probably February, I've been hand launching about 80% of the time. I haven't put together a video on this yet, but it's pretty simple - use auto-takeoff. The trickiest part is holding the MP in one hand while holding and operating the remote with my other hand. Usually, I prop the remote against my right arm and swipe the take-off slider with a finger on my left hand. It's not the only way though.

Cheers!

I will say that the easiest way in my opinion to hand launch the mavic is geting one knee to the ground and placing the controller/cell on top of the other leg. This way you can grab the mavic on one hand (over your head) and use the other hand to auto take off while the control is on your leg.

Lelantos · Jun 5, 2017

ChasiTail said:
I'd love to see a video once you go out on your boat & do it. Im all about watching and learning!

Change of plans, I'm going to be very busy for the next three weeks crewing on a racing trimaran. I'll have the Mavic with me so will undoubtedly be getting some video - but it will be probably be a month before anyone sees it.

GerdS · Jun 6, 2017

I have a lanyard attached to the remote and so it can just hang over my belly and allow to start motors one-handed without caring about the remote falling down.

ChasiTail · Jun 6, 2017

Lelantos said:
Change of plans, I'm going to be very busy for the next three weeks crewing on a racing trimaran. I'll have the Mavic with me so will undoubtedly be getting some video - but it will be probably be a month before anyone sees it.

should make for some great video

reliablemavic · Jun 6, 2017

Norm said:
I'm planing to use my MP to make boat videos. I've watched few video of hand landing and gived a try. It's preaty easy and I think that is the best way to bring it abord safely !

What is your experience ?

Note: I did not turn the collision sensor off but if you don't hesitate to grab it, it wont have time to go back up.

I only hand catch and launch my Mavic at this time (don't want it dirty or have it pick up dust!) Its pretty simple the hardest part is starting the motors with one hand. I use a lanyard on the control to aid in this. shut off the landing obstacle sensors for retrieval. When launching and retrieving hold it from the belly away from your body. Start it manually with the v positioning of the joy sticks throttle up a little and it will hover in place when you remove your hand.
When retrieving bring the craft close and slightly above your head for safety. grab the drone by its belly keeping you fingers below the top of the body, pull down on the left joystick for decent and landing. The motors will shut down after a few seconds thinking that it has landed manually. Practice on land before you venture over water. Be aware (you can shut them off if needed) the front senors are still active and may cause the drone to pull back if a bimini top or other object is close.