People tend to get a little defensive about themselves and their stuff... so as long as there is no danger of threatening either of those, do whatever you want!!
In fact, I hereby challenge you to launch from your foot while doing a one-handed handstand, then somersault and catch it with your teeth!
In all seriousness, I get where you're coming from. The camera sits low to the ground, grass can be dewy, rocks uneven... you don't want to put your bird in the mud...
I have a truck and by extension usually all kinds of crap in it. There is usually a Home Depot bucket lid in there... makes a perfect launch platform. Even makes a nice target to come home to for a precision manual landing.
I think I'd prefer not to launch by hand because there are a lot of preflight checks, I don't have the greatest lanyard for stability, I don't want to risk dropping my iPad, but mostly I'd rather have both hands on the sticks at the time of launch...
To me, that's when a lot can go wrong and need quick correction... so can you do it? Sure. If you're asking if you should? I wouldn't personally recommend it.
If there is a reason you want to, other than what I mentioned, by all means, share!!
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