Question for those of you who hand catch:

[Moonfox]

I never hand "catch". But rather every time I hand "grab".

Bring it to a stable hover at top of head level, walk up slowly and reach up and out to grab leg slowly and use a firm grip. Throttle down with left hand. Always use a neck strap.

 

[CameraMan65]

I only hand catch when I don't use the Return to Home feature and am in tall grass. I ran the battery down purposely to see how quickly it ran down (about 24 minutes total flight time) and didn't have enough battery to return home. Just enough to drop it down to where I can reach it with my right hand and turn the motors off with the left. It's actually kinda fun to do and you don't have to use your battery life to return home if you need the extra battery life to finish shooting.

 

[NCRichard]

do you have to turn off the collision avoidance sensors – especially on the legs – so that it doesn’t move away from you when you get close or when your hand covers up the little camera sensor on the leg?

how exactly do you do it? i’ve seen a video or two but nobody says anything about the sensors. I know when I land – the thing is beeping like crazy because it’s close to the ground/me.

also - it seems to me that most of the threads regarding stress cracks are from people who hand catch it. does it feel like it is fighting you when you’re trying to hold it or something?

I hand catch every time just dont try to move the drone ive never had a issue. Over190 flights only landed on groung maybe 15 times

 

[Droning in AR]

But when I hand catch, which I always do,i always bring the uav down to just above head level so I have to reach up to catch it. I then rotate the uav so it's facing away from me and catch it from the rear. That way once I grasp it I can immediately use my thumb and turn it off.
Well I mean turn off the battery once I kill the motors.

^^ THIS ^^

 

[John Tarvin]

With precision landing, a launch pad and leg extensions I autoland my P4P.

If I don't have my launch pad, I'll launch from my carry case and hand catch when landing. I catch on the left rear leg and have never been "bit".

 

[NCRichard]

^^ THIS ^^

Yea me too but i leave the drone facing me just above head high the trick is dont try to move the drone untill it stopped. I launch from my hardcase backpack to avoid prop wash just close case and set on top. Stops all the sand from getting in the camera gimble

 

[slothead]

The last time I did it I forgot all about the sensors. I don't think they reacted to my hand.

 

[Erised]

I only hand catch in high winds or the terrain is sandy, tall grassy, rocky, other then that I love to land my craft softly, the more you do it the better you get. I hand catch like John in post #12.

 

[Laurend818]

do you have to turn off the collision avoidance sensors – especially on the legs – so that it doesn’t move away from you when you get close or when your hand covers up the little camera sensor on the leg?

how exactly do you do it? i’ve seen a video or two but nobody says anything about the sensors. I know when I land – the thing is beeping like crazy because it’s close to the ground/me.

also - it seems to me that most of the threads regarding stress cracks are from people who hand catch it. does it feel like it is fighting you when you’re trying to hold it or something?

Here is how I do it.:

 

[Russ43Phantom]

With the P4P sensors enabled, the drone will not come close enough to catch if it is at eye level. Good ... the obstacle avoidance is working. What I do is fly the drone about 12-18" above my eye level so that it can come close enough to grab. Hand catching is the best method. in my experience, when people, especially children, approach you when you are ready to land.

 

[jimlips]

I know this thread is very old, but my two bits: as others have said, it is fine to grab the rear leg, but do NOT "pull" the aircraft down while it is hovering. It will detect this, and speed up the props, trying to get back "up". In fact, it is better to raise the aircraft up a little with your hand, as that will cause the motors to slow down, because it thinks it is going up.

 

[Dirby]

hand catching could land you in the er if you make a misteake.

 

[DocDiggler]

On my P2V+ and P3A I always switch to ATTI just before hand-catching - to me the most likely cause of a sudden movement would be GPS 'crap-out' aka "I need to be somewhere else right NOW!!"

I leave it hovering just above head height and walk up to it and grab the rear leg.

[emoji3]

 

[deltamike]

Here is how I do it.:

Nice advice - you make it look easy. Thanks

 

[FlashBuddy]

Nice advice - you make it look easy. Thanks

That might be because it is
Try to hover high enough to avoid yur jumping pets and children, yet in comfortable reach for a hand grab. Love that grab vs. catch - right smart thinkin' thar.

 

[LSDMT]

Love that grab vs. catch - right smart thinkin' thar.

what do you mean?

 

[Laurend818]

hand catching could land you in the er if you make a misteake.

Yes,,,in my vid it looks easy but that has been through lots of practice,,, be very careful doing this. Even if you have done it lots like I have, I still am very cautious.

 

[FlashBuddy]

what do you mean?

@Moonfox : I never hand "catch". But rather every time I hand "grab".

 

[Calsun]

I would expect there to be more stress on the airframe from grabbing the drone while the motors are at full speed. Landing on the ground the motors are reducing their RPM's and the entire sub frame makes contact with the ground as compared to grabbing one thin vertical section.

I can see the value of a hand grab if the drone is operating in an area with sand or lots of large rocks but not as a general practice if longevity is important.

 

[John Locke]

I would expect there to be more stress on the airframe from grabbing the drone while the motors are at full speed. Landing on the ground the motors are reducing their RPM's and the entire sub frame makes contact with the ground as compared to grabbing one thin vertical section.

First of all the motors are definitely not at full speed when it's in a hover, during the grab. And slightly raising the drone after grabbing slow the motors and the drone quickly settles down as you give the left stick full down to turn off motors in 3 seconds.

IMO, if the drone can't handle a gentle hand grab completion of flight, there's no way the landing gear is going to survive landing on the ground, constant impact on a surface without much cushion, especially auto landing. Implying that holding the drone by one leg is excessive stress is ridiculous, no different than taking the drone out of the case and holding by one leg. Where does it state one leg handling is not recommended? That would be funny.