Hi everybody, i lost my mini 3 because i tried a hand launch from the back of a sailing boat, i used auto-take-off and it raised out of my hand but within a second it crashed and sunk.
I am sure a manual launch gives the take-off more power to raise the ac and keeps it more steady, so.. fellow drone pilots be aware of hand launching mini 3 from moving platform!
I have some experience with Dji drones on solid grounds but prepairing my first take off from a boat with some new safety settings, like no-distance-limit and hovering at HP didn't make me feel comfortable, so rely on your intuition if so, and don't do it.

Dji support analysed my mistake very clear and conform the manual, they also assisted with the Care Refresh insurance.
See Dji Analysis conclusion:

1. The aircraft worked under GPS mode in this flight. There was a horizontal speed of 2.9 m/s when the aircraft took off, which indicated that the aircraft was launched from a moving platform; 2. Flight Time T=00:02, Relative Height H=0 m, Distance to Home Point D=3.9 m, Infrared Height H=0 m, the aircraft crashed; 3. The incident coordinate: 51.1508128 2.5936257. As a conclusion, according to the analysis, the incident was caused due to an improper flight environment. We kindly ask you to please  do not launch the aircraft from a moving platform.

greetings JM

having never launched while moving and rarely launching by hand, i might add that it was less about stability and more about some sort of confusion resulting in out of control flight which happened to be downward?  i remember there was a drone that had a "boat mode" setting which i think would allow it to take off....but in any case, curious why you didn't start the motors and then lift with the sticks as opposed to auto-takeoff?

DIdn't know this would cause an issue. I usually hand launch using auto-take off

Beta5K Posted at 7-8 12:23
DIdn't know this would cause an issue. I usually hand launch using auto-take off

again, im not sure there is a difference between auto take-off and the other method:  start the props and then use the sticks to slowly lift.

Sorry man.  They replacing it?  I know you can bump the mini 2 into the air unless latest updates have took that away

chillibadger Posted at 7-8 12:30
Sorry man.  They replacing it?  I know you can bump the mini 2 into the air unless latest updates have took that away

Mini 3 pro cannot be bumped into the air via hand launch like the mini 2 it is not supported attempting to do so will result in the drone falling to the ground.

A cautionary tale. Commiserations.

Hello there JM. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. It is good to know that you have already contacted or DJI Support Team for assistance with regards to this unfortunate incident. For additional reference I will post some information below on DJI Mini 3 Pro Flight Environment Requirements below. Thank you.

Between here and Mavic Pilots there are several threads about this problem/quirk.

chillibadger Posted at 7-8 12:30
Sorry man.  They replacing it?  I know you can bump the mini 2 into the air unless latest updates have took that away

Yes, replacement already shipped.

The Saint Posted at 7-8 12:27
again, im not sure there is a difference between auto take-off and the other method:  start the props and then use the sticks to slowly lift.

That is the take off method I always use. Never Auto Take off

Blériot53 Posted at 7-8 14:14
A cautionary tale. Commiserations.

Indeed and a good heads up for others

Bigplumbs Posted at 7-9 00:03
Indeed and a good heads up for others

I've mastered hand-catching now, but will always launch from a solid platform.

Sorry to hear that you lost the drone.  I hand launch/recover from my boat on a regular basis.  However, I make sure the boat is not under engine propulsion at the time. I have never used auto take off so maybe that is why I've been successful all these years.

DowntownRDB Posted at 7-9 05:34
Sorry to hear that you lost the drone.  I hand launch/recover from my boat on a regular basis.  However, I make sure the boat is not under engine propulsion at the time. I have never used auto take off so maybe that is why I've been successful all these years.

Yes I also believe that this is the best combination to take off from a boat, no active propulsion and stick- launch, but when you do the hand launch/recover I think you have to be with a buddy to keep up the drone, don't you?
That's why I mostly use auto take off when I am alone..

JMR58 Posted at 7-9 06:29
Yes I also believe that this is the best combination to take off from a boat, no active propulsion and stick- launch, but when you do the hand launch/recover I think you have to be with a buddy to keep up the drone, don't you?
That's why I mostly use auto take off when I am alone..

When I'm out by myself I take advantage of having a lanyard attached to the remote control and cradle it against my chest for support.  After a while I've become quite adept at it.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 7-10 05:03
When I'm out by myself I take advantage of having a lanyard attached to the remote control and cradle it against my chest for support.  After a while I've become quite adept at it.

Thanks for the tip, I have a lanyard, I will give it a try also when the replacement arrives!

JMR58 Posted at 7-10 08:36
Thanks for the tip, I have a lanyard, I will give it a try also when the replacement arrives!

You're very welcome.    It is a bit awkward at first but I got used to it fairly quickly.  

JMR58 Posted at 7-8 23:12
Yes, replacement already shipped.

Hello JMR58,

I understand you were under a Care Refresh program, no?
Have you been charged for the replacement?

Thank you!

fansae8cdb3c Posted at 9-13 03:25
Hello JMR58,

I understand you were under a Care Refresh program, no?

Yes, DJI Care Refresh charges a fee of 255€ for replacement when aircraft is lost...

JMR58 Posted at 9-13 03:53
Yes, DJI Care Refresh charges a fee of 255€ for replacement when aircraft is lost...

well, it's a good motive for not loosing the drove, even when under care refresh!

the problem is I would really like to fly the drone from my boat while sailing...

fansae8cdb3c Posted at 9-13 06:26
well, it's a good motive for not loosing the drove, even when under care refresh!

the problem is I would really like to fly the drone from my boat while sailing...

I'm sure this can work if you slow down before take off and DO'NT USE auto take off like i did,  but manual push the left stick so it has more power to lift! Good luck!

Actually I am using hand take off and landing without problems with the Mini 3 Pro. For take off, I start power on propellers, I know that they are in a class of relenty or slow spin not enough to rise up the drone, so I start slowly to increase the spin up, I notice when the dron wants to leave my hand and I continue given more power. The drone rieses by itself. For landing, it’s just descend the drone, when the drone senses my hand, stops. So keep trying to descend, beep and land over my hand. Just putting the stick all SE stops the motors.

I have take off and landing the Mini 2 and Mavic 2 Pro from boats with no problem…. I never tried the Mini 3 Pro yet …. I shall be aware.

JMR58 Posted at 9-13 06:31
I'm sure this can work if you slow down before take off and DO'NT USE auto take off like i did,  but manual push the left stick so it has more power to lift! Good luck!

From what i have seen but yet to try myself is that on a boat that's moving, even slowly, you need to launch up and away quick smart so as to clear the boat it one quick swift movement or auto launch in the position where the boat would clear the drone (at the back if the boat is moving forward), it sounds like because of the auto launch, it (hovered) stayed put at the set height but because the boat was moving and the drone was hovering in place, in effect, it was the boat that crashed into the drone.

What I experienced with the auto-take-off from a moving boat, sure you take off from the back, but I think the ac doesn't have enough calculating power to raise and recalculating the moving gps position at the same time. So in my case it gave up the lifting power and just crashed overbord. That is also why its in the manual not to take off from moving platform I guess?I don't think hand launch or so has to do with it but m.o. auto take off is to weak!

I don't take off from boats but I think if I did, I would put some sort of floatation device on my drone in case it did crash into the water. At least I can recover it and pay less of the DJI Care fee!

JMR58 Posted at 9-13 07:27
What I experienced with the auto-take-off from a moving boat, sure you take off from the back, but I think the ac doesn't have enough calculating power to raise and recalculating the moving gps position at the same time. So in my case it gave up the lifting power and just crashed overbord. That is also why its in the manual not to take off from moving platform I guess?I don't think hand launch or so has to do with it but m.o. auto take off is to weak!

I think the ac doesn't have enough calculating power to raise and recalculating the moving gps position at the same time. So in my case it gave up the lifting power and just crashed overbord.
This explanation doesn't make any sense.
Auto takeoff works on land, so should work just as well anywhere else.
Your flight data would explain what went wrong if you wanted to find out what actually happened.

JMR58 Posted at 9-13 07:27
What I experienced with the auto-take-off from a moving boat, sure you take off from the back, but I think the ac doesn't have enough calculating power to raise and recalculating the moving gps position at the same time. So in my case it gave up the lifting power and just crashed overbord. That is also why its in the manual not to take off from moving platform I guess?I don't think hand launch or so has to do with it but m.o. auto take off is to weak!

Well, i am fairly certain that the drone wouldnt just take off and then fall into the sea, it would have to hit something then fall into the sea, so that tells me that there was a part of the boat in the way, so when the boat moves forward and the drone hovers in place, that object is moving as its attached to the boat thus crashing into the drone. Form what i have seen, its normally the rails along the edge that runs into the drone, even though i may look like that drone took off and moved, it didn't, unless you touched the sticks.

The Mini 3 Pro does not take off and hover as high as other DJI models either so this has to be accounted for, I am not sure how high it hovers at (forgot), but my P4P for example, its 6m, the Mini 3 Pro isn't even half that, its closer to head height.

Last Sunday i take off from a sailing boat aprox 4 to 5 knots of speed no problems (if faster there is a warning of moving or somthing like that and coud not take off) , i start the engines and push full speed and when i sense that try to go up in that moment i release.

https://youtube.com/shorts/yosuawnMMVg?feature=share

FedericoB Posted at 9-13 18:52
Last Sunday i take off from a sailing boat aprox 4 to 5 knots of speed no problems (if faster there is a warning of moving or somthing like that and coud not take off) , i start the engines and push full speed and when i sense that try to go up in that moment i release.

https://youtube.com/shorts/yosuawnMMVg?feature=share

Thank you very much for the video, clarify the point. This is the way I said, manually take off