Beach Takeoff's

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I have a new (and first) P4. I was wondering if it is it OK to takeoff and land from a sandy beach (Fort Lauderdale) or will the sand mess the drone up?
 
I did it once when the sand was wet and flat but I probably wouldn't risk it in dry sand that could get inside the motors, camera components etc. I would rather release it from hand and then catch it on return (although obviously not recommended by DJI or anyone else for safety reasons).
 
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I've done it a few times. Here are my thoughts if you are interested.

Make sure the drone 15-20' away or you will blow sand on you/others. (If your wife wears contacts, this will cause the rest of the day to suck)
The sand dusted my control sticks and caused them not to spring back to the center.
I landed/took off from wet sand without incident.
If you stake a couple towels, or a tarp down, that makes a good landing pad. Make sure they are secure because the corners will flap around if you don't
 
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I would never take off in the sand. I am amazed some of you do!!!

To take off at the beach, I take off from the lifeguard house or more often I just hand launch if I am moving around light.

In other scenarios, I will have a cooler or something else to use as a clean platform.
 
Yeah when I was on the beaches of Hawaii I did hand release and catch.. My friend had his p4 and launched from the sand and had sand all in his gimbal and motors..


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
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Well, one knows what the drone does when taking off.
One looks at the sand (life experience and memories should kick-in, wind, inherent nature of sand, maybe it is damp) and therefore one can deduct it won't be good.

Amazing!
 
I would never take off in the sand. I am amazed some of you do!!!
I am with you on that. If I really have to do it from the beach, then I would rather use hand release and catch. I did take off from the wet flat sand once with no issues whatsoever but there is no way i would risk taking off from the dry sandy beach
 
I am with you on that. If I really have to do it from the beach, then I would rather use hand release and catch. I did take off from the wet flat sand once with no issues whatsoever but there is no way i would risk taking off from the dry sandy beach


I fixed my typo. Could you please edit your post to fix it my quote there too?

You are in Melbourne? I have never been. Do you enjoy living there?
 
I buried my camera in the beach sand and vowed never to take off or land in it again. Beach sand is too unstable... especially the nice white sands of our Gulf Coast.

The moist, salty air... Really check out your camera lens!
 
Done. Yeah, I am loving it here

Thank you so much.

Please show us some footage if you are so inclined. Would love to see.

Drones + internet = revolutionary trend.
You'd have to hire a plane or helicopter + pilot to capture what we can now see from all over the world thanks to people sharing their footage on the internet.
 
By the way @Bob D.

Everything gets easier if you have another person to help.

Example: you could ask a pretty girl on the beach to hold the drone by its landing gear and above her head by extending her arms up to their max.

You can turn it on and let it warm up and lock in GPS before she does that and then start the motors and take off safely.

There is no way you get out of that interaction without a phone number if you made it that far. :)

If you guys insist on keeping to yourselves, I am going to leave this here for those of you who want to release by hand instead of subjecting their drone to senseless sand abuse and then putting it back in its bag/ case dirty and all.



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Thank you so much.

Please show us some footage if you are so inclined. Would love to see.

Drones + internet = revolutionary trend.
You'd have to hire a plane or helicopter + pilot to capture what we can now see from all over the world thanks to people sharing their footage on the internet.
Will do.

Sent from my SM-N920I using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
By the way @Bob D.

Everything gets easier if you have another person to help.

Example: you could ask a pretty girl on the beach to hold the drone by its landing gear and above her head by extending her arms up to their max.

You can turn it on and let it warm up and lock in GPS before she does that and then start the motors and take off safely.

There is no way you get out of that interaction without a phone number if you made it that far. :)

If you guys insist on keeping to yourselves, I am going to leave this here for those of you who want to release by hand instead of subjecting their drone to senseless sand abuse and then putting it back in its bag/ case dirty and all.



To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Obviously camera on and recording pointing downwards, for safety reasons ???
 
By the way @Bob D.

Everything gets easier if you have another person to help.

Example: you could ask a pretty girl on the beach to hold the drone by its landing gear and above her head by extending her arms up to their max.

You can turn it on and let it warm up and lock in GPS before she does that and then start the motors and take off safely.

There is no way you get out of that interaction without a phone number if you made it that far. :)

If you guys insist on keeping to yourselves, I am going to leave this here for those of you who want to release by hand instead of subjecting their drone to senseless sand abuse and then putting it back in its bag/ case dirty and all.



To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
It sure would be hard explaing to my wife how our new Drone picked up this hot babe.... But I'll give it a try.
 

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