As a phantom 4 owner, I would do a hand catch if I was on the side of a hill or on the beach by grabbing the top of the landing gear. However, I never took off by hand.

The mavic is far smaller and doing both launching and catching seem like they would be easy, BUT the available vertical space to grab on to and where the props are seem very very small. I thought about having it just land with the body on your flat hand, but once the motors slow down I feel like it could easily tip.

Are you guys hand launching or landing? Any tips? I'm not really in the mood to cut up my whole hand, but know I'll be in plenty of uneven terrain too far from flat-enough area (at least sometimes).

I hand catch them quite often, it's tricky no doubt
Some  people switched off the automatic stuff but I kept it on. I take it from the back but I have to take care with my finger tips :-)
The automatic wants to move up and the drone gives more power but after a few seconds it stops - landed

I haven't received my Mavic yet, but I've looked into hand launching and catching as a lot of the places I'll be flying have very uneven ground. It is definitely possible to both hand launch (easy) and catch (pretty easy) the Mavic.

I haven't received my Mavic yet, but I've looked into hand launching and catching as a lot of the places I'll be flying have very uneven ground. It is definitely possible to both hand launch (easy) and catch (pretty easy) the Mavic. Easy hand launching is achieved by holding the Mavic in your outstretched hand and then initiating auto launch. Hand catching is pretty much the same in reverse. Bring the Mavic in close to you about head high and initiate auto land. Then simply let it land in your outstretched hand.  

I have no problem with hand launch and catching the Mavic, in fact landed the Mavic on my hand from inside my car through the sun roof (prob not the best idea ever but seems to work pretty well, and of course i wasn't moving in the car... that'd be a little stupid...

I always hand launch and hand catch, just too much snow and I don't want to carry around a landing pad. I just bring the MP in just a little over my head, facing away from me, I put out my hand with palm facing up, directly under the MP. Then hold down the left stick and the MP will come down towards your hand, first time it will rise slightly because of obstacle avoidance but just keep holding down the stick and it will come down and gently land in your hand and shut off. Very easy with no fuss and it always feels very safe to me.

FlashGJ Posted at 2017-1-19 20:21
I always hand launch and hand catch, just too much snow and I don't want to carry around a landing pad. I just bring the MP in just a little over my head, facing away from me, I put out my hand with palm facing up, directly under the MP. Then hold down the left stick and the MP will come down towards your hand, first time it will rise slightly because of obstacle avoidance but just keep holding down the stick and it will come down and gently land in your hand and shut off. Very easy with no fuss and it always feels very safe to me.

Yep I do the same thing.  This has to be easier on the motors, too, since they aren't running at 100% for 3 seconds next to your face.

The key is it LANDS in our hands versus grabbing it out of the air whilst it tries desperately to get away lol.

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-1-19 20:33
Yep I do the same thing.  This has to be easier on the motors, too, since they aren't running at 100% for 3 seconds next to your face.

The key is it LANDS in our hands versus grabbing it out of the air whilst it tries desperately to get away lol.

That's the reason I always turn off the downward sensor before I grab the Mavic... With the downward sensor disabled, I grab the Mavic, move the Mavic down while holding the left stick all the way down..  The props will spin down immediately once you start moving the Mavic down since it thinks it's descending..

I'm a convert to simply lowering it onto your outstretched hand though I might grab just behind the camera if it's windy.
No need to turn off sensors.
Taking off about 50/50  if there's a good spot that's fine but the slightest spot of water on the lens is going to spoil the video
Taking off you could do with three hands, I often half squat so I can rest the controller on my thigh and usually use the auto take off.

Ah little sketchy... I did with a Mavic Air. No issues but careful with the sensors, they make stuff move.