Launch/Landing Pad

[AlanLichty]

After doing a bit of flying in the Gorge a couple of weeks ago I decided I needed a solution for launch/landing that would keep my drone's prop wash away from the dirt. Our typically bone dry summers and the volcanic soils in the Cascades are a bad combination for fine dust and my Mavic 3 can kick a lot of it up. I have played a little with various landing pad solutions but decided to try something that would let me use the back of my truck. I have landed my drone in the truck bed itself but the avoidance sensors don't particularly like dropping down into the bed all that much and with windy conditions it would be all too easy to get bumped into the sides of the bed.

I ended up building a small bracket that fits just on top of a rail in the bed of the truck at the same height as the top of the truck bed. This lets me drop a folding landing pad down on top of the tail gate and the bracket surface and fasten it down with small bungee cords:

I thread another bungee cord off the loop tab you can see just above the gate latch and then hang a small bag of load straps from it to weight down the back. Turns out I really needed that rear weight today as it was rather breezy. The grass just to the left of the road gives an indication of the wind.

Here is what it looks like from the air - one taken right after launch at low altitude and a second image from about 300'.

I used some bicycle pedal straps to hold the bracket down and it can be easily installed and removed.

 

[JimFox]

That's sure a great idea Alan! I think it will work great for you.

I have a foldable landing pad, a square one, not the round one like that. But same idea. I just lay it on the ground and haven't had an issue with prop wash. But maybe the Mini 2 doesn't kick up as much stuff. The times I see where this would be really handy is when you are by a busy road and feel uncomfortable launching it from the road itself with cars wizzing by. Being elevated would make me feel more comfortable. Or I have been in a few spots where there wasn't really any level area around where I had stopped. So this would provide a nice level area.

I think you have a winning idea here.

 

[AlanLichty]

I have had the same problem next to busy roads and parking areas so bringing along my own space seemed like the best solution.

 

[AlanLichty]

For the record my Mavic 3 kicks up a lot more dust than my Air 2 does. The Air 2 weighs in at 570gm and the Mavic 3 is 875gm but the M3 has notably more powerful motors and can fly faster than the Air 2.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Great innovation Alan

 

[Jameel Hyder]

I have one of the round pads which I use as needed. Often I am able to take off and land on the roof of my vehicle.

 

[AlanLichty]

I have one of the round pads which I use as needed. Often I am able to take off and land on the roof of my vehicle.

I have used the hood of my truck a few times but have read several discussions debating whether the metal surface can muck with the GPS while its setting up the home point. Lots of discussion but nothing that could definitively pin down yes vs. no. DJI chimed in on one such thread and suggested that this might screw up setting the home point but didn't offer proof to back it up.

I typically takeoff and land manually but if anything went wrong during a flight I would want to know that Return To Home has proper bearings to get back.

 

[JimFox]

For the record my Mavic 3 kicks up a lot more dust than my Air 2 does. The Air 2 weighs in at 570gm and the Mavic 3 is 875gm but the M3 has notably more powerful motors and can fly faster than the Air 2.

Yeah, I would imagine it would need a lot more thrust to get up then my little Mini 2. Which the time or two I had forgotten my launch pad, it will kick up a good amount of dust and rocks if it takes off from the ground, but not when it's on the launch pad.

 

[JimFox]

I have used the hood of my truck a few times but have read several discussions debating whether the metal surface can muck with the GPS while its setting up the home point. Lots of discussion but nothing that could definitively pin down yes vs. no. DJI chimed in on one such thread and suggested that this might screw up setting the home point but didn't offer proof to back it up.

I typically takeoff and land manually but if anything went wrong during a flight I would want to know that Return To Home has proper bearings to get back.

I take off and land manually also, though I will use the return to home to get it close. Now yours is probably more accurate, but I have found that the Mini 2 is almost always about 2 or 3 feet off from where it took off from anyway. So I don't dare to let it actually automatically land itself.

And I don't know why, but there is something satisfying in landing the drone.

 

[AlanLichty]

Yeah, I would imagine it would need a lot more thrust to get up then my little Mini 2. Which the time or two I had forgotten my launch pad, it will kick up a good amount of dust and rocks if it takes off from the ground, but not when it's on the launch pad.

Yeah - the Mavic 3 is a bit of a beast close to the ground and the prop wash is quite notable. Catching it by hand is a bit intimidating. I didn't think twice about hand launch/catch with my Air 2 but the Mavic 3 up close makes you feel like you are about to grab a spinning blender blade.

 

[AlanLichty]

I take off and land manually also, though I will use the return to home to get it close. Now yours is probably more accurate, but I have found that the Mini 2 is almost always about 2 or 3 feet off from where it took off from anyway. So I don't dare to let it actually automatically land itself.

And I don't know why, but there is something satisfying in landing the drone.

The Mavic 3 RTH is not more accurate. I have never really allowed mine to hit the ground after RTH has been invoked and the best approximation I have seen so far was about 3' off which would not work with my truck landing pad. This is a 45" landing pad as as you can see in the first image you have around 16" margin of error at best.

I did play with this today and tried using RTH once. I made certain that the controller had set the Home point while still hovering directly over the launch point and had turned the gimbal straight down to confirm this (image #2 above). After flying around and getting some shots of Table Mountain and more of the Bridge of the Gods slide area I turned the gimbal down to 90º and hit the RTH button. It got back to vaguely overhead but as the drone was descending I could easily see that it would have missed my truck entirely so I aborted RTH and landed manually.

This leaves me glad I decided to learn manual landings the first week I had a drone. The only reason I want it is for emergency use if my controller isn't working.

 

[Jeffrey]

Nice Alan. I figure it is made of plywood?

I hand catch my MP3 easily. You just have to do it right and carefully. Prepare and go in for the grab, lower body only! Now catching a Phantom 4 is another story. One time I had to do that because something went haywire and I couldn't manually land. It would just hover about 8 ft in the air so I had to really stretch and grab. That thing has some amazing pull. Couldn't stop it. So I held it in my hand while props were turning with one hand and pulled the battery out. Fortunately no bandages were needed but it was quite hairy.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Jeffrey, when I was watching you, it seemed like the drone was hitting the target with a few inches.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice Alan. I figure it is made of plywood?

I hand catch my MP3 easily. You just have to do it right and carefully. Prepare and go in for the grab, lower body only! Now catching a Phantom 4 is another story. One time I had to do that because something went haywire and I couldn't manually land. It would just hover about 8 ft in the air so I had to really stretch and grab. That thing has some amazing pull. Couldn't stop it. So I held it in my hand while props were turning with one hand and pulled the battery out. Fortunately no bandages were needed but it was quite hairy.

Thanks Jeffrey - yes it's 12mm baltic birch ply. I have hand caught mine quite a few times but as you mentioned be careful. The longer arms for the motors and the larger props puts the spinning blades a lot closer to your face than my Air 2 did. The Phantom 4 has even more pull yet? On one occasion when I was trying a hand catch the drone decided it wasn't going to play along and it revved up the motors and yanked itself out of my hand. I can't imagine trying to remove the battery while the drone is trying to fly away!

 

[Jeffrey]

Jeffrey, when I was watching you, it seemed like the drone was hitting the target with a few inches.

Yes, the Phantom is amazingly accurate, with occasional exceptions. I nearly always use the automated return to home feature.