A question about hand catching the P3

[reboot81]

Never planned to do a hand catch. But with 30mph gusts I could not see how it would land without flipping so I put it steady and studied how it moved in the wind, walk up to it, grabbed it with my right hand and click-pushed the battery off.
Left thumb on throttle prepared for quick ascent and prepared myself for worst case scenario: Duck and cover!

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Never planned to do a hand catch. But with 30mph gusts I could not see how it would land without flipping so I put it steady and studied how it moved in the wind, walk up to it, grabbed it with my right hand and click-pushed the battery off.
Left thumb on throttle prepared for quick ascent and prepared myself for worst case scenario: Duck and cover!

I grab the landing gear in my right and hold the left stick diagonally down to the right.
I have never attempted to turn it off via the battery, nor would I ever attempt to... I'm not putting my hands that close to the spinning props.

 

[mjw]

Method Number 3 - the best of all mentioned.

Use your girlfriend for that. (Girlfriend with big boobs is a must have these days) Plus you get a great view on your iPad


View attachment 25509

tell your girl friend - thank you, thank you very much :>)

 

[30secs]

...walk up to it, grabbed it with my right hand and click-pushed the battery off.

That is some Bruce Lee moves.

 

[Wibble]

I always hand catch. Much easier with a helper. Catching is maybe not the right description. I hover and the person just holds it.
Far too much chance of a flip on landing.
I had the most clumsy person i know help me the other day. This is a bloke who has knocked down my garden wall, blown up my vacuum cleaner and got a car stuck sideways on a trailer! I was rather concerned but even he didnt do any damage lol

 

[FASTFJR]

In my 500 plus flights of my P1, P2 and P3 Pro I hand catch 99% of the time. I have always been very careful about not letting the camera / gimbal touch tall grass or the props stir up and dirt. I always take off from a 14 x 14 pad I made for about 5 bucks. I let the Phantom settle a little above head height 6-8 feet away from me. With my left hand holding the controller I reach up/out and grab it around the battery / landing gear and power down, zero issues. With all the problems with stress cracks, none on my bird I like the idea of hand catching rather than taking a chance a bumping off the ground

 

[thestone11]

I do hand catching quite often. IMO, having a lanyard on the remote will prevent radio accidentally fell out of your hands!

 

[P3ChinaSkies]

Every time you want to perform a hand grab, take a stroll in this forum first. Find and read about the blood and cuts and tears that other persons like yourself have already experienced with hand grabs. Then, let your P2/3 or Inspire roll over or flip over on the landing in 30 mph winds......those new props you have to pay for will no doubt cost less than having a thumb reattached, surgically. [emoji40]

 

[Meta4]

Every time you want to perform a hand grab, take a stroll in this forum first. Find and read about the blood and cuts and tears that other persons like yourself have already experienced with hand grabs.

Or rather than watching one or two youtube videos and formulating a complete opinion around that, you could read lots of posts and come to the understanding that a large number of flyers hand catch all the time completely safely and one or two have tried it in an unnecessarily safe manner and hurt them selves.
It's like driving on the highway - there's a completely safe way to do it - do it the wrong way and it can be dangerous.

ps .. a p3 might cause some cuts but it won't take your thumb off.

 

[thephantomenance]

I Just upgraded recently from P2 to P3, using auto landing, can the machine still dynamic rollover due wind conditions? I'm not brave enough to try just yet after rolling it after a manual landing, have been hand catching ever since, cheers

 

[Mako79]

Every time you want to perform a hand grab, take a stroll in this forum first. Find and read about the blood and cuts and tears that other persons like yourself have already experienced with hand grabs. Then, let your P2/3 or Inspire roll over or flip over on the landing in 30 mph winds......those new props you have to pay for will no doubt cost less than having a thumb reattached, surgically. [emoji40]

Better me than someone else - I've heard of a landing where it bounced across the park and nearly hitting a pram. Also consider that some tip overs cause the props to break and it may hit someone.
Also consider that tipping over can lead to adverse effects. It can reduce the longevity of your ESC mosfets, and cause premature failure in mid air. Tipping over props causes chips and fractures and users may think its "ok" to continue flying with a damaged prop.

 

[brianb87]

I grab the landing gear in my right and hold the left stick diagonally down to the right.
I have never attempted to turn it off via the battery, nor would I ever attempt to... I'm not putting my hands that close to the spinning props.

I do the same thing, use the left stick.. I don't think I would shut it off with the battery.

 

[KevinN]

I made my first hand catch by accident the other day as i attempted to land on deck of a 30 ft fishing boat. My quad moved towards the cabin with about 3 ft descent to go and instead of letting it hit the cab, i grabbed it and powered down with one hand. I honestly was surprised how gentle and smooth the operation was, so now reading this post it sounds like a S.O.P. For many of you. Thank you all for the posts.

 

[Luzzy]

I do the same thing, use the left stick.. I don't think I would shut it off with the battery.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you simply shut it off with the battery instead of powering down , won't it go into RTH when you put the battery back in and power on ?

 

[Axidrain]

sometimes you have no option than launching and landing by hand.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1102667656430312

 

[adrian.ahonk]

I used hand landing when in crowded area or there are no flat surface. And it really save. No issue of cutting or bleeding or flipping.

 

[acherman]

I actually just started hand catching myself last week. I have had my wife catch many times and she still has all of her fingers. Last week I was by myself in windy conditions and grabbed it with my right hand on the right rear leg, then throttle down with my left hand. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was. I did it 6 more times that day, a few more throughout the week, and will every chance I get from now on.

 

[Quadcopter102]

I agree hand catching is safer.......for the quad! I use this item while catching my bird.
Available at any safety wear store, highly recommended. Cut resistant Kevlar is
the answer to many unasked questions!

A better option would be for DJI to modify the landing gear to have ground clearance and more stability, it's a bit puny for the job.

 

[StevenQX]

One of the strength of the phantom series is that you can take off and land everywhere because off hand catching. So there is absolutely no reasons to change the shape of landing gear.

 

[DroningOnAndOn]

Mine tipped the other day whilst landing so I tried a couple of hand catches. It's really simple.

Hover, gently grab the leg whilst it's just over your head (height wise - I walk up to it) and if it 'goes crazy' you can just hold the leg and watch it spin the props. I grabbed my P3P the instant it flipped and it spooled back up in my hands but as I was holding the leg it just made a lot of noise and I shut it off. I find the hand catch method much more relaxing that wondering if the thing will tip and burn out an ESC on the main board or damage a motor or two. Flipping could get expensive fast.