Iamz Posted at 2017-6-7 20:07
Both. I use RTH to start the return trip and monitor the video feed, telemetries, and look at it to make sure there's nothing close by. Once it's about to descend, I take over and land manually.

Good idea/process!

Both depending on wind conditions - but more manually each time I fly ... as I can get a more accurate landing 'stick and ruddering' in on my up-ended rucksack ( the ground is wet and has worm-casts all over it!)

Bent Kangaroo Posted at 2017-6-7 19:11
Catch land for me.
Pull the Mavic into about head height and approach from the side and grab the undercarraige and pull down on the left stick.
The blades will thank you for it and it can decrease risk of getting contaminants (sand/dirt etc) in motors.

Are there any safety concerns for grabbing the Mavic from below?  It sounds like your method could reduce FOD, but I'd also be worried about the props hitting me.  This is my first drone, so I'm just curious how that works.  Thanks!

Have a look on You Tube, lots of tips on how to do it, its a bit nerve-wracking at first but its OK when you get the hang of it. try not to grab it out of the air as it will fight back! If it does it then a firm grip and turn it on its side and the motors will cut immediately.

It will try to get away when the VPS on the underside sees your hand so try and grip it away from there and hold the left sick down till the motors stop.

Amarand Posted at 2018-2-8 18:38
Are there any safety concerns for grabbing the Mavic from below?  It sounds like your method could reduce FOD, but I'd also be worried about the props hitting me.  This is my first drone, so I'm just curious how that works.  Thanks!

Sooner or later the props will probably whop your fingers (hopefully not somewhere else). Hurts but maybe because the props fold they won't slice off your finger.  It's a little unnerving when you grab the MP and it furiously tries to take off. Hold on tight and flipping it sidewise will stop the motors instantly if pushing down on the controller stick doesn't work.

Play with RTH sometimes to see what it does but you will read about a number of situations where it's not a good choice at all. Don't RTH as a panic reaction before thinking through the situation. But if the MP is out of sight, and the phone video disconnects - it happens - nice to know MP may try to come home. I prefer to fly back and land manually most of the time.

as total beginner i do manual landings i need to learn to control it propetly

Both + catch, really depends on situation and if I am lazy or not

I occasionally use RTH on all of mine just to remind myself of how accurate these things are.

I use them both but more so manually land than RTH button.

I trained myself that RTH was really for emergency situations,  everythings manual take off landing, forget headless mode or w/e they call it..

If I am far away I use rth, I'm just lazy lol

RTH as a fallback if I lose connection or sight of drone, then back to manual control whenever I regain either. I also use it to show off the feature to people who are new to drones!

Something a guy who does not or has not used RTH might say:  "I'm gonna try out that fire drill thingy, one day, guess I should, it might come in handy"

I chose both as I do occasionally like to use RTH to ensure that it is working correctly. Would hate for it not to work the one time I rely on it.

Over 3 years, 5 drones, and hundreds of flights. Not once have I used RTH. I trust myself a lot more.

I have once used RTH when I thought I was losing control of my drone.

Eagle_Eye Posted at 2017-6-8 04:00
Here's a vid I made recently doing a RTH w/ Precision Landing @ 85m high (RTH set Alt).

RTH Precision Landing

Very good video !!
I take off and land in real tight quarters as in your video but have not had the nerve to do a complete RTH as in your video.....lol
I usually fly it back and land manually using the telemetry. I guess I'll have to try the RTH, after watching your video.
Do you check the allow precision landing option when actuating RTH?

Mostly manual take off and landing.  Sometimes I will start the RTH to get it close to where I want then I will take over and manually land it.  I have used the RTH and find it is very accurate.  I however like to manually land as I do not want to rely on RTH to all of a sudden have an issue with it and not know what to do.  I like to be in control

I think that DJI has done so good at making manual landing a breeze that the auto home feature is really not needed unless in emergency's.  Let me explain.  It is so easy to keep your bearings to see exactly where your bird is compared to you.  This helps with making it super easy to get right back to you compared to really any other drone out there at least in my experience.  I also find it extremely important to ensure you can manually land as this could mean the difference between a safe landing or an expensive bill$$.  So I find that I never use auto take off or rth in fact out of my 82 flights I have maybe used rth two times.

With the Spark I normally like to hand land or RTH (because it's so small) and I usually manually land with the Mavic Pro because it has the size and feel to do so.

Manually for me.

I usually manually land.  But about 1 out of every 6 flights, I'll punch RTH and watch to make sure that everything is working ok.  Sometimes, I'll have someone standing there asking me questions about the Quad, and I'll punch RTH just to show off how advanced the system is.  Impresses the heck out of them everytime.  

Swap between RTH and manual landing.  Manual landing for practicing control.

I take off and land manually but the wife really likes the auto and RTH.

hihi, i use RTH when on the beach with enough room around me, while laying and being lazy. otherwise always manual.

I always land manually have never used RTH

I use RTH to get it close to me, but then manually land because I will often have shifted my position from take off to keep up with my drones.  I should start to practice catch landing to help keep junk from getting on my drone.

it all depends on where I took off,  I land both ways to tell you the truth, maybe more so in my hand.

Maveriksam Posted at 2017-6-7 20:39
I always land manually. Two reasons for this.
1. Giving full control to the Mavic scares the hell out of me.
2. Even though I've set my return altitude to 40 meters, I'm still concerned it won't be high enough. (We don't have tall trees where I live)

Return to home altitude is a minimum. It will never descend and then return. If it's too close to you it may fail to ascend. When the drone does begin to descend, it should be over the home point. You can cancel the return to home at any time.

I’m learning how to use them all.

Since I only have a few miles under my flying belt, I use the RTH but will be doing manually with experience.

I return manually, except when I fly so far away I end up losing sight in the blue sky.  I was trying to fly to a man peak and the moment I looked away to check the screen shot, I looked back and couldn't find it, I also had aircraft disconnect on my Crystalsky.  So I used RTH.

Land manually on a small helipad, or if i can,t take the helipad, i take the MA from the air, and turn it around to stop motors.

I'll do both. It's good to practice manually landing, but sometimes I'll simulate an emergency condition where I use RTH to have confidence in it. I always check my settings on RTH to make damn sure I have enough room/height for it to happen.

Manual. Keep control of your drone as much as possible or you'll be the next guy posting here about how his drone crashed into a tree/building and it's not his fault.

Has to be manual. I'm more in control that way

I find I use RTH once my mission is complete but only as a way get back to my approximate location - I then takeover and land with manual control as I like to land on the flat back of my rucksack which I use as a landing pad.

Both. I use RTH the most but I monitor the MP all the way to the ground. On a couple of occasions, I've stopped it from landing outside the pad. About every 3 flights or so, I manually land so I keep sharp on the skills if needed in a complete emergency.

I like landing manually. This gives me confidence that I can fly out there and land my MP safely.