Hello !Still waiting for good weather so that I can try my new Mavic ... meanwhile I'm thinking about the things to optimize the coming experience !

When flying in field with high grass for example, do you use some kind of "landing strip" so that propellers stay clean and safe ?  (don't know if my english is ok : I mean would you recommend a kind of blanket  ?  or cardboard ? or anything else ??)
And since I have not tried it yet, how large should it be ?  Is the automatic landing very accurate ?  Can a manual landing also be very accurate ?
I mean the drone is small so what ?  A 50 centimers square would be enough ?!

I also tought I might use the roof of my car as landing strip ...  Good/bad idea ?!

Thanks for helping and sharing experience !

I got the round one from Crazy Pony that "folds" up, 75cm.  You can stake it to the ground which is a good idea for two reasons; if it is windy out or if your props blow it up or away.
I was in a situation where I was trying to land it on the pad manually but the wind was really blowing.  I could get it right over the pad but when trying to land it kept getting blown just a little off.  I was getting toward critical battery after a while so I put it into auto land.  It took about 30 seconds but it put it just about in the center of the landing pad.
I was in a grass field so I was happy for it to get totally on the pad.  The best I could do manually would have put one of the feet just off of the pad.
Other people are getting landing gear.

Actually, how did it auto land right on the "Crazy Pony" ?   Was it because the "precision landing" was on (after you had been taking off at least 10meters straight upward your landing stripe ?) or can it be told to the drone at any moment ? !
Thanks !

M_str Posted at 2017-3-8 12:36
Actually, how did it auto land right on the "Crazy Pony" ?   Was it because the "precision landing" was on (after you had been taking off at least 10meters straight upward your landing stripe ?) or can it be told to the drone at any moment ? !
Thanks !

You can buy a landing pad €10 loads on eBay , wouldn't recommend blanket as props could get caught up in it. Sheet of cardboard would be fine until you get landing pad.

In different occasions I am using a foldable landing pad, for example in higher grass, snow or wet environment.
The automatic landing precision landing can be very precise, depends how you you fly off and what you do before coming back to land.
Examples:
You start, raise the drone to some more meters nearly vertically, than you fly to your destination in a nearly strait line and trigger than the RTH  in most cases the precision auto landing within some centimeters works.
But, start raise only less than 2m, fly off, raise only than, fly around, enable RTH, here the drone will come back to the start point with a precision of around 1 or 1.5 meter, here you need to do the manual landing.
Info: Manual landing with the Mavic is really easy as it holds accurately position.

Landing on the roof of a car is really a bad idea, unless you car roof is not made of metal, not even the frame.
Metallic surfaces interfere with compass sensors of the Mavic and could lead to a bad behavior while landing.
Similar for the foldable landing pad, mine has a metallic ring, here with auto-landing sometimes my Mavic told me about 30cm above the pad that the lading platform is not suitable and that I have to land manually.
Here also this is easy: check if correctly above the pad pull down the pitch / left stick in mode 2 (default controller setting) and it lands.

For your first flights I would recommend an open area with a lot of space and flat grass free landing strip with about 3m diameter.

I use a small folding picnic table like this one



Stuck a target sticker on it so the VPS would have something to lock on to, it's aluminium so won't affect the compass or anything.

I ordered one of these from eBay, still waiting for it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/222400734269

hoodman pad has weight flex cable and the weight of the material - the leg extenders interfere with the antennas in the legs - justa sayin

On some grassy locations you can get away with stepping on the grass to make it flatter. Otherwise... hand catch while landing. It's not difficult and not a problem as such. Check your settings and switch off landing protection and then it'll be all straight forward - catch with your right hand while holding down the left joystick and keep on holding till the engines stop - works perfectly ;-) So for take off - make the grass flatter - and then hand catch.

rnrnrn Posted at 2017-3-8 21:53
On some grassy locations you can get away with stepping on the grass to make it flatter. Otherwise... hand catch while landing. It's not difficult and not a problem as such. Check your settings and switch off landing protection and then it'll be all straight forward - catch with your right hand while holding down the left joystick and keep on holding till the engines stop - works perfectly ;-) So for take off - make the grass flatter - and then hand catch.

Fully agree, doing exactly the same, but probably not the right approach for the first flights.

Landing Pad

Mavic Pro on foldable Landing Pad

Try handheld!!!!
http://www.mavic-pro.help/video- ... nd-landing-tutorial
http://www.mavic-pro.help/video-howto/118/dji-mavic-pro-how-to-hand-catch-and-launch

could buy a drone landing pad,https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06WP4HYNL

thank you for all the advises !!

My  way

WJA4W00FYBU9 Posted at 2017-3-9 01:52
My  way

[view_image]

lol nice idea using heli skids. how did you mount them to the mavic?

M_str Posted at 2017-3-8 12:36
Actually, how did it auto land right on the "Crazy Pony" ?   Was it because the "precision landing" was on (after you had been taking off at least 10meters straight upward your landing stripe ?) or can it be told to the drone at any moment ? !
Thanks !

Mine is the round pad like all of the pics show.  Yes I set up for a good RTH every time.  I spin it up ONLY after everything on the controller shows it is ready to take off.  I spin up and sit for about 5 seconds.  I lift off manually to about 2m and hover for about 5-10 seconds.
I always manually land but on that day I had one of my kids with me and was showing him the auto land feature.  Landing manually it was all good until just over the pad and it was too difficult to land perfectly on the pad with the shifting wind so I just stuck it in auto and I was surprised how well it landed.

WJA4W00FYBU9 Posted at 2017-3-9 01:52
My  way

[view_image]

Very nice, I'd like to see that in the snow, can you get it to ski along the ground?

One thing I learned in Wyoming where it is windy is if you use steaks to hold the pad to the ground pound them all the way in, otherwise they eat props.  Seems intuitive but in the haste to fly I left some sticking up.
Regards,
-d.

I bought a thin yoga mattress (very light) and few tent-pins to stick it to the ground.

Do you think a 50x70 centimters surface is enough ?  

The mattress is 50x140 cm : I was thinkin to split it, but is it enough ?  Or should I scotch / sew both part ?  (and get a 100x70 centimters surface)

Thanks again !

I just use a plastic top from one my old totes, it's about 16 inches x 30 inches. They come in many multiple sizes. Makes a great landing/takeoff pad.

All my DIY landing gear ksar foldable and only need 5 s.to set up. this 's how l did and no more 10 dollars US




Higher for water plan







My Mavic pro away less 800grs ( France autorisé)

Add picture :

WJA4W00FYBU9 Posted at 2017-3-10 02:13
All my DIY landing gear ksar foldable and only need 5 s.to set up. this 's how l did and no more 10 dollars US
[view_image]

Do you have an idea about the impact of the extra weight on the time of flight ?  

If my memory is no so bad' on my video I have. More or less about 25 min ( but usually' I fly about 20min. It's so enough for me .

M_str Posted at 2017-3-9 12:35
I bought a thin yoga mattress (very light) and few tent-pins to stick it to the ground.

Do you think a 50x70 centimters surface is enough ?  

Do you think a 50x70 centimters surface is enough ?

It depends on whether you're planning to use precision landing or land manually, and for landing manually it depends upon your piloting skills and the wind. It's definitely possible to manually land a Mavic within an area that size consistently, but it does take a little effort and practice to do it successfully in windy conditions.

M_str Posted at 2017-3-9 12:35
I bought a thin yoga mattress (very light) and few tent-pins to stick it to the ground.

Do you think a 50x70 centimters surface is enough ?  

Mine is 70cm diameter and I can manually land on it except for that time mentioned and that was just slightly off.  It worked fine.
You will want to draw, paint or tape an "X" or something on it to help the landing system with a better target.  The yoga mat should work nicely as long as it doesn't blow around.

superjet96 Posted at 2017-3-10 07:55
Mine is 70cm diameter and I can manually land on it except for that time mentioned and that was just slightly off.  It worked fine.
You will want to draw, paint or tape an "X" or something on it to help the landing system with a better target.  The yoga mat should work nicely as long as it doesn't blow around.

Yeps : black mattress and white cross I'll draw tonight.
Took 5 tent-pins to stick it to the ground if windy ...