A question about hand catching the P3

[Mako79]

Just to add..
Watch your surroundings, and catch in an open space.
Keep phantom downwind so if a gust hits it, it will move away you.
Don't fly it towards you and catch. Let it hover an arms reach above your head. Orient so you see the battery leds, wait till it stabilises and then step up to the phantom.
Just remember, if in doubt, throttle out... the safest is up direction.

 

[DiluxEdition]

the gimbal is not fragile at all. I smacked it by accident a dozen times already, I've placed my p3 on objects and had the camera/gimbal hit the objects as I set it down. I carry my p3 in a duffle type bag upside down with no gimbal guard and its been perfectly fine. people just paranoid. those are just brushless motors on the thing, they aren't some super top secret thingymajigs..

 

[RedRyderMedia]

I'm right handed and always catch with my left . I also have my tx on a neck strap. I would never put my tx down until all is shut down

Me too!

 

[JayB]

I always hand catch. By following the rules below, which have been pretty much covered at some point above, I feel the risk is minimal.

1. Orientate the Phantom so the rear is facing you.
2. Keep all stick inputs steady and move the Phantom slowly whilst moving it into position.
2. Always keep the Phantom about 30cm above your head so you are reaching up to it
3. Bring the Phantom towards you so it is 1m to 2m away. Wait a few seconds to make sure it is stable.
4. Always approach the Phantom rather than flying it to where you are standing
5. Reach up with your right hand and grip the rear of the landing gear, don't grip it too tight as you don't want to stop it from stabilizing itself should it need to.
6. Use a neck strap on the controller so there is no risk of dropping it
7. As soon as you have hold of the Phantom use the left stick to power down immediately

Obviously it is a bit trickier to approach the Phantom if you are on a boat, unless your name is Jesus...... so I would keep it high until it is hovering above my head then slowly descend until it is within range.

 

[Mako79]

the gimbal is not fragile at all. I smacked it by accident a dozen times already, I've placed my p3 on objects and had the camera/gimbal hit the objects as I set it down. I carry my p3 in a duffle type bag upside down with no gimbal guard and its been perfectly fine. people just paranoid. those are just brushless motors on the thing, they aren't some super top secret thingymajigs..

The problem is that the camera and gimbal is a complete system. The camera is proprietary and you are then at DJI's mercy for repairs/parts. Anything that happens to the camera/gimbal renders the whole phantom useless. If the gimbal board fails, the antennas to control the bird will no longer work. The gimbal is very delicate and is easily damaged on a harsh landing. If you land hard enough, the camera can pop from the gimbal motor and tear the inexpensive ribbon cable. This ribbon cable, though cheap (about $10-$20 DJI cost) will NOT be available to the end user. You then end up having to fork out $500-$600 USD to replace the camera all because of a flex cable that will not be suppled to the public.

If you continue to have rough landings, you can also damage the sensors (potentiometers) in the motors. This leads to the infamous gimbal dances/tilt horizons...

Many P2 Vision Plus with the first gen 3axis gimbal will tell you this.

 

[djivinz]

Sorry but you guys are asking for trouble and I find hand catching utterly stupid. If there's no good reason to do it, sand or for example (although you could land on a towel...), or rocks (well was it the best place to take off in the first place and is there some flat space 20 meters away you could land on?), or emergency, I wont feel any sympathy for the one who slice his fingers. There are already opportunities of accident without tempting the fate...

On YouTube there are a lot of videos with hand catch... On grass... Yep useful...

Your machine will get used by the time and is more likely to be broken in a crash that normal wear and tear. Risking my fingers to save a half a dollar per landing? It's like pushing the clutch in a descent to save petrol. Will work until you learn the lesson.

If there was no video to catch the performance on tape this would I think reduce the appetite for hand catching.

 

[Scott Cramer]

Ok, I'm new with my P3P, just got it today. I can understand why landing can cause the gimbal to break, the thing seems crazy fragile, but how dangerous are the blades? My daughter was with me flying it today, and I really didn't give it that much consideration. Are we talking a sting, or an amputation?

 

[djivinz]

5000 rpm on a 10 cm radius propeller would be the extremity of the blade travelling at 188 km/h.

 

[JayB]

Sorry but you guys are asking for trouble and I find hand catching utterly stupid. If there's no good reason to do it, sand or for example (although you could land on a towel...), or rocks (well was it the best place to take off in the first place and is there some flat space 20 meters away you could land on?), or emergency, I wont feel any sympathy for the one who slice his fingers. There are already opportunities of accident without tempting the fate...

On YouTube there are a lot of videos with hand catch... On grass... Yep useful...

Your machine will get used by the time and is more likely to be broken in a crash that normal wear and tear. Risking my fingers to save a half a dollar per landing? It's like pushing the clutch in a descent to save petrol. Will work until you learn the lesson.

If there was no video to catch the performance on tape this would I think reduce the appetite for hand catching.

To say hand catching is utterly stupid is.........utterly stupid.

Everybody assesses what they consider to be a risk and how comfortable they are with that risk, clearly you think the risk is too high, I don't actually think you are utterly stupid to have that opinion because that is your prerogative. I am always very careful and considered when performing a hand catch and confidant, if you are not don't do it.

 

[djivinz]

By this strong comment, apologise if I have annoyed, I meant - and it is the risk manager in me talking - that the consequence of a bad execution is so tough that it's not worth the 500 previous experience with no problem.

If one day you leave a finger in it, look backwards. You saved one drone in wear and tear but lost a finger? Is it worth it? Everything has a price in life, but a finger of my hand worth more than 2000 dollars.

Bottom line you obviously do whatever you want Just be careful and don't take too much confidence, it's when accident happen.

 

[Meta4]

That's why you reach up and hold the landing gear. Your hands don't go anywhere near spinning blades and it's quite safe. Plenty of very experienced flyers do this for good reason and it has nothing to do with video. I haven't landed a Phantom for 12 months now.

 

[Mako79]

By this strong comment, apologise if I have annoyed, I meant - and it is the risk manager in me talking - that the consequence of a bad execution is so tough that it's not worth the 500 previous experience with no problem.

If one day you leave a finger in it, look backwards. You saved one drone in wear and tear but lost a finger? Is it worth it? Everything has a price in life, but a finger of my hand worth more than 2000 dollars.

Bottom line you obviously do whatever you want Just be careful and don't take too much confidence, it's when accident happen.

I hand catch because the girls love it and it makes the guys jizz themselves (no homo)

In all seriousness.. hand catching is safer when you put others into consideration.
Lets say you fly in a park - there isn't just you. You decide to land 10m from you. The phantom with props spinning naturally draws attention, especially kids and dogs. And because you are focused on landing, you do not take note of others. If you aren't quick enough, some kids and animals get to the phantom before you can actually perform a shutdown.

If you have a P3 with a working positioning system, hand catching should be a breeze (pun intended).

 

[sdharris]

LOL I love the hand catch discussions. One comes up every week or so.

I'm not a hand catcher unless for some reason I cannot find a level surface to land on or if I have been rushed by bystanders or pets.

These forums and youtube are full of people talking about accidents related to hand catching or getting too close to a drone with spinning blades.

Its a risk vs reward thing I guess and entirely up to you. If you are comfortable with spinning blades on a device that is using multiple sensors made by the lowest bidder in China to stay steady near your head, hands and arms that's great

 

[DiluxEdition]

The props aren't dangerous either. I had to grab the p3 before it tipped over into sand once, nothing major happened to my fingers when the props smacked them. If it was an inspire then it would have been a different story, but I would never hand catch or save an inspire from tipping over...

 

[SouthernPhantom]

So, we've had opinions on both sides here: to catch by hand, or land on a stable firm surface. I do both, and have never had a bad landing.

But now I'm thinking, if we can hover well enough to grab the unit in mid-air, shouldn't we be able to hover a couple of feet above the ground and land properly there? Why introduce the potential for personal injury by hand catching?

I do understand that the most recent firmware update broke the VPS, causing hard auto landings, especially with RTH. But you can see that coming several feet in the air, cancel the RTH 10 feet (or more) above the ground, and still have a very-smooth manual landing.

Just curious ...

 

[DiluxEdition]

mine still lands fine with vps turned off... no noticeable difference in my opinion. but each phantom can be different...

 

[Airborne]

Right hand catch right rear skid, left hand CSC stop with 2 fingers.
I could catch left skid when P2, but P3 sometimes escapes when I put hand into legs (under VPS)...?

this is what i do when i hand catch. right hand catch, CSC with two fingers on the left hand...

throttle down for 3 secs is too long, the CSC is immediate......

 

[JayB]

Its a risk vs reward thing I guess and entirely up to you. If you are comfortable with spinning blades on a device that is using multiple sensors made by the lowest bidder in China to stay steady near your head, hands and arms that's great

But obviously flying a device with spinning blades that's using sensors made by the lowest bidder in China to stay steady with a range of over 2k that at any minute (if you believe the naysayers) could fly off out of control with the potential to take out an aircraft or maybe plummet at over 40mph into buildings or people is OK.......

My point is that every time you take to the air there is an element of risk and if for one minute I thought the Phantom (stock Phantom & blades) had the capability of actually amputating my fingers then obviously I would think twice about it.

 

[taroh]

For me, landing on the ground is a challenge , sometimes I aim at 30cm x 30cm mark or small bench, to improve my technique. But having no time, sandy/no plain ground or bad situation such as strong wind, hand catch is easier and safer.

* I don't suggest/recommend hand catch to everyone.

this is what i do when i hand catch. right hand catch, CSC with two fingers on the left hand...

throttle down for 3 secs is too long, the CSC is immediate......

Also, somebody says about unexpected danger, I prepare for that (I believe it don't happen, although).

 

[taroh]

[QUOTE="sdharris, post: 459086, member: 1995"
Its a risk vs reward thing I guess and entirely up to you. If you are comfortable with spinning blades on a device that is using multiple sensors made by the lowest bidder in China to stay steady near your head, hands and arms that's great

[/QUOTE]
Actually I don't feel much reward for saving gimbal/camera by hand catching, but more than that, feel nothing danger to grab an object staying at one place in the air. Like putting hand 20cm nearby a fixed chainsaw