How to Hand Launch and Land Your Drone

[@keith-knittel]

Do you guys hand launch your drone? I typically launch from the ground if I can, but find myself catch landing almost every time. Thanks for watching!

[@JosephMcBrayer]

Thx for the video tutorial and helpful process for hand take off and landing!

[@keith-knittel]

@@JosephMcBrayer You're welcome, Joseph. Thanks for watching and commenting - fly safe!

[@Anagnwstopouloss]

The is also another way to hand land :after you catch it tilt it 90 degrees left or right an the propellers stop

[@yoshy2628]

I always launch it and catch it in hand. I have no boat, ground only. Like this I avoid any extra dust particles getting into board/motors areas, sand and so on. My drone is a Mini 4 Pro, got no active cooling.

[@kaleidoskopzivota]

Hand catch but take of from H :)

[@harrisonandrew]

I tried this a few days ago, before watching this video. The take off was fine. The landing however - not so good. I grabbed at the drone and received two deep parallel cuts on my thumb. I was surprised how much it hurt and how much blood was drawn. It could have been worse, but it was a lesson learned - treat these machines with respect, they bite.

[@kellerfoto]

Thanks this was really helpful!!

[@CliffFennell]

Very good pointers. I may try to do this today. I am preppin for a desert shot next month and needed some advice on hand catching. Thanks!

[@marienverx1852]

Hi, clear video instruction.. but I got a problem with it, And I would like your experience. I''m flying a Mavic Air (2018) When I take off from a moving platform (like a hand or in my case also a boat) the IMU sensor is not initialised correctly. This results in a very unstable drone flight. With hard to control position and decend and ascend. Looking in the log files the IMU altitude reports a large swinging altitude value, while VPS altitude is correct. Take off from teh ground goes perfect. Can you do your demo while walking, and than take off? Thanks already...

[@kennyw871]

There are times you need to launch and land by hand. Good to know how safely for you and the drone. Thanks.

[@keith-knittel]

Definitely, and doing it safely is key

[@ZukileFongoqa-id7cn]

thanks for showing us another take off beside putting the drone down

[@_Per_Aspera_Ad_Astra_]

Question: What kind of bird (~1:50) is it up in the air above 👆??? ❤

[@dalesmith7890]

Great video, I have being taking and landing off my hand now; but since Ive being doing that I've being getting a warning on my dji mavic 3 classic. Something about wrong angle. Has anyone else had this happen?

[@jacquesviljoen2790]

Thank You for the thorough step-by-step. Im paralyzed and do all my photo- add videography from my car. Im using a “grabber” old people use to reach for something in unreachable places (😂) to place the drone on the ground, just outside the car door to take off. Today will be the first time I’ll hand launch through the sunroof. Im sure it can get stressful, but its better than unlocking the door in some places in South Africa.

[@djicm872]

Congrats ,I have reviewed some videos on how to hand launch my Air 2, by far this is the best video, thanks a lot.

[@keith-knittel]

Thank you so much for the kind words! That means a lot, I really appreciate it!

[@daniel_wiersma]

Launching from the hand is easy, but landing I find tricky. Tried to hand land yesterday, but once I caught the drone it tried to fly away even though I had the left stick down. It really felt like an animal that didnt want to be hold. How to calm it down?

[@TheUrbanEpicure]

Decent video, but what I wish you had also covered is what happens after catching the drone. What is the best/safest/most elegant way to turn off the props/deactivate the drone when holding it? I often film from my boat, so there's often no alternative to hand-launch/land.

[@pedroguerrafitness]

Thank you!

[@scottweaverphotovideo]

Thanks for the vid! I guess when hand catching the drone understands it has 'landed' and shuts off?

[@cvanscho]

You have to keep holding down on the stick and let the motors come to a stop

[@MonteComeau]

I always catch but will give launching a try now to avoid the dust created from most take-offs.

[@keith-knittel]

Hand launching is nice when there is lots of dirt, or not ideal conditions to take off from the ground. Take your time and be safe - thanks for watching and commenting.

[@BK-jf6rs]

isn't it bad for the drone to hold it while the propellers are rotating. It seems a lot of resistance is going to be applied on the motors?

[@cvanscho]

Don't hold tightly or fight the drone whilst launching: let it fly off. On landing you keep holding down on the stick and let the motors come to a stop, so no stress on motors.

[@disco.jellyfish]

You can also catch it by flying in fronat of you facing away from you, then grab it 45° from below and the back. Roll it by 90° to the side with a firm grip and wait for the props to stop spinning. This is also useful, if you have return to home set to hover and your remote stopped working completely. Thats the emergency landing. Just be prepared for the drone fighting back a little, which is why a secure/firm grip is very important. You want to be confident/know what you need to do, before touching the hovering drone!

[@Stefan_Boerjesson]

Using autostart the circumstances called for UP, UP, UP, and away surrounded by vegetation and trees. Hand landing the little Mini 3 PRO works well but the Mavic 3 PRO refuses going down. Agree to using the stick to land. That way gusts can be handled more safely. Launching from a boat... Ask the skipper to go some nots forward and launch from the rear during the launch.. Haha. Having the controller in a string around the neck is necessary I would say. Preparations before flying.....!

[@kushpaladin300]

keith i've seen people catch the drone, flip the drone upside down and it shuts off the propellers. this doesn't harm the drone at all does it?

[@yoshy2628]

Like this you destroy your sensors and apply unnecessary pressure on rotors and propellers. That function is normally used for emergency stop, better avoid it, unless you have the urge to replace your drone sooner. Try to catch it in hand, without flipping it 180 degrees.

[@oneviewatatime1856]

Thanks for the tip!

[@keith-knittel]

Happy to help! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@DaleDreherInLA]

I have now watched 2 long videos about Hand Launching and Hand Catching the drone... but.. no one specifically said How to Quickly 'Motor-Down' when you catch it?

[@keith-knittel]

You have to keep holding down on the stick and let the motors come to a stop before moving

[@lamiseneer5963]

Thank you bro for everything I were a beginner 😅😂🎉🎉

[@larssol1]

Nice instructions! With OAS ‘on’ while in ‘normal mode’, will the mavic air2 register a water 💦 surface as an obstruction to be avoided, even if you fly the drone too low to the water? Regards, Lars

[@keith-knittel]

In my experience, the Mavic Air 2 (and all DJI drones) don't do well with water. Maybe it's too reflective or since it's moving, it doesn't know how to interpret it. I like to fly REALLY close to the water to look like the drone is flying very fast, and I've almost lost my drone to rogue waves and the drone randomly raising and lowering with the water levels below it. It's not impossible to fly very close to water, but it's something to pay very close attention to. It looks awesome, but be prepared to FLY UP if the drone suddenly starts losing altitude - especially if you're flying 5-10 feet above the water quickly. Thanks for the great question, sorry it took so long to answer!

[@larssol1]

@@keith-knittel Thank you right back. I asked the danish retailer about this and his reply was that the drone does not know how to avoid a water surface. Furthermore, if the pilot accelerates in f.I. sport mode, the drone drops app. one meter while increasing speed. If already close to the 💦 💧 water, this could be critical. If over land, the sensors might probably avoid the ground and fly up, to avoid ground contact, but not over water. This sounds relevant to me. Many greetings, Lars.

[@ronsondsouza7821]

Can we off only downward sensor of mavic air2

[@keith-knittel]

You're not able to selectively turn off sensors on DJI drones. All or nothing, thanks for watching

[@blazermaster2054]

can you show the Holy stone HS720 hand launch?

[@keith-knittel]

I've never used the Holy Stone HS270 - I'm sorry I can't make the video

[@blazermaster2054]

@@keith-knittel ok

[@watchingeye5435]

This is a really really good one thank you very much for your perfect explanations and for your information’s I have learned a lot out of this video and I’m happy if you can continue with videos and information’s and assistance guarding drones and dJI that would be great thank you so much

[@keith-knittel]

Thank you for the awesome words! I’m glad you found this video helpful! Any topics you’d like covered specifically? I’m always looking for more videos to make! Thanks for watching and the kind words.

[@shy8291]

I just bought a landing pad because I hate landing in tall grass where I do a lot of my filming, but it's so hard to find a flat place when hiking or on a boat for the landing pad to work. I tried this with my mini twice and cut my fingers up both times, but definitely have to practice this with my air 2s. I think it'll be easier if it's larger, especially with your tips!

[@jimsjacob]

I didn’t catch the process for stopping the rotors. I tried this yesterday (very first flight for me) and the props kept rotating so I let it go and then did a landing using the RTH button.

[@keith-knittel]

Hey there Jim, depends on what drone you have, but on DJI drones, pressing down on the left stick will land the drone. If there are downward facing obstacle avoidance sensors, it will typically pause for a second then land. The props will stop spinning once the drone has landed after a second or two - there is a demo with a mavic about halfway through this video

[@jimsjacob]

@@keith-knittel thank you! DJI Mini 2 is mine. I'll try that.

[@kentmarcus9668]

Million of view no ads

[@marcklein]

Hi, Nice tips. I often catch launch my drone, but i take care to always hold the drone above my head, and I am always very careful never to leave the propellers at the same level as my eyes. I also wear a cap or a hat, to protect me from the sun, and also to have an additional protection for my head.

[@keith-knittel]

I agree! Wearing a hat is a great idea. I often wear a hat when I'm outside just out of habit, but that's a great tip to add as well. Have fun and fly safe! Thanks for your tips and watching!

[@iristolentino7985]

If the drone land to your hand..it will be automatically stop??

[@keith-knittel]

If you keep pressing the stick down, yes. It will automatically stop, but if you're not comfortable hand landing - the ground / landing pad also works well too! Thanks for watching

[@myislandbydrone]

Great video!I was wondering how to launch and catch the drone by hand and now I have better understanding 👍👍👍

[@keith-knittel]

Glad you enjoyed the video, make sure to take your time and be careful! Thanks for the kind words and watching!

[@myislandbydrone]

How can you remove the zebra lines from your actual recorded video footage?

[@keith-knittel]

The zebra lines are only for reference in your monitor. They do not show up on your footage. If you’re trying to not have any zebras in your screen, that means you should properly expose your image. Those zebra stripes only show up when your overexposing your footage

[@jayally1900]

How much is that drone?

[@keith-knittel]

Which one?

[@rogerlikes]

I guess I am an odd one. I like to bring my drone in facing me as I am standing. let it hover facing me at about elbo height. Then I simply reach up from the ftone under the drone and pinch it with my fingers and hold the down stick until it shuts off. I feel safer doing that in the wind. DJI Air 2

[@cvanscho]

Most unusual! In flying "normal" RC helicopters, being able to fly and hover "nose in" is regarded as the most difficult thing for beginners to master.

[@markcamm5330]

The missing tip of my right thumb is testament to how not to try to land a drone in your hand without first finding out the best way to do it. If only I'd seen the video before I tried 🤪!!

[@keith-knittel]

Ooh man, I’m sorry that happened - that sounds brutal! Hand catching isn’t for everyone and there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. If you’re not comfortable landing in the ground is typically an option! Sorry to hear that!

[@CaminoAir]

I had an incident where (and I still don't know exactly why) my Air 2s suddenly pitched to it's left side while I was hand catching it. This was only about 15 minutes after I had previously hand caught it. About a dozen cuts to my hand and arm later....blood on the controller, etc.....Are you sure that disabling the obstacle avoidance isn't necessary? I'm not doubting you based on your obvious experience and skill in this video, but..... Wind wasn't (in my opinion) an explanation and I don't believe the movement of the left controller stick varied from straight down.

[@keith-knittel]

Ooh man!! I’ve hand caught my mavic air 2S (and other drones) and haven’t experienced that! I like to leave obstacle avoidance on when I’m catch landing so the drone doesn’t just slam into my hand and stops then slowly lands in your hand. I should have included that in the video! I just mentioned obstacle avoidance. Did you turn obstacle avoidance off? We’re you in sport mode? The sticks are really sensitive in sport mode! Bumping them wrong can cause the drone to take off - especially when landing. Sorry that happened to you!

[@scdronemedia]

Do this most of the time. Only cut myself once when the dog took my attention by nearly falling down a steep cliffside. It sure did bleed for a while lol.

[@keith-knittel]

Knock on wood I've never cut myself! On the side of a cliff sounds like a sketch place to hand catch/launch - but sounds like the footage would be pretty cool! Haha. Thanks for watching and commenting - safe flights!

[@scdronemedia]

@@keith-knittel Haha, I know. I did the flight with blood flowing all over my hand and up my arm lol. This is it if you are interested. I used your LUT, as I always do on all my videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH2tiqt6gph8gsU

[@99phenomenon]

Hi! Nice video. I personally catch my drone and turn it to the side (90°) in order to stop motors. Works very well.

[@keith-knittel]

I feel like that puts unnecessary stress on the motors - and you need to have a really good grip to do it. And it's super unsafe. That being said, it's fun to do (but I don't advocate it!). Haha. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@ZukileFongoqa-id7cn]

i like hand landing than my drone landing on the floor harder

[@arthurtkachenko4501]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@realestate2827]

I shared this vid with all of my ex girlfriends, the IRS, and Dr. Fauci.

[@realestate2827]

JK super useful video!! Thanks for making it!

[@keith-knittel]

Haha got a laugh out of that one! Thanks for watching

[@backchurchboys]

This video is infuriating to watch. Just tell me how to catch the drone without the obstacle sensors making it jump away from me. I skipped through and its literally 8 minutes of yapping about watching out for obstructions and being careful. GET TO THE POINT. I literally am no more wiser as to how to hand catch than before i watched this video.

[@cvanscho]

He does in fact address the sensor issue. Keep holding "down" on the left stick..

[@ronsondsouza7821]

Can we off only downward sensor of mavic air2

[@keith-knittel]

You're not able to selectively turn off sensors on DJI drones. All or nothing, thanks for watching