Land... in your hand.

[User Name]

So I was flying this morning from a rocky ridge top with pretty much no level areas to land. I could find spots to take off where I could position the Solo relatively level on the uneven rocks, but even if it returned to that spot and orientation exactly, ground effect would make it impossible to land precisely where it took off. I knew this taking off and figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.

So at the end of the battery, I did a RTH and put it back into fly mode when it got down to 10 feet or so. I brought it down to about 5 and was positioning it over the rocks as best I could when I had an idea. It was so stable hovering there, I just waked over, carefully raised my hand below until I could grab the belly, and with the controller in my other hand pulled down on the throttle. I just had to hold it still while it tried to descend for a second or two to trick it into thinking it had landed. The props stopped and it disarmed.

Not without risk, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if the terrain made setting it down perfectly level too difficult.

 

[Lamda]

So I was flying this morning from a rocky ridge top with pretty much no level areas to land. I could find spots to take off where I could position the Solo relatively level on the uneven rocks, but even if it returned to that spot and orientation exactly, ground effect would make it impossible to land precisely where it took off. I knew this taking off and figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.

So at the end of the battery, I did a RTH and put it back into fly mode when it got down to 10 feet or so. I brought it down to about 5 and was positioning it over the rocks as best I could when I had an idea. It was so stable hovering there, I just waked over, carefully raised my hand below until I could grab the belly, and with the controller in my other hand pulled down on the throttle. I just had to hold it still while it tried to descend for a second or two to trick it into thinking it had landed. The props stopped and it disarmed.

Not without risk, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if the terrain made setting it down perfectly level too difficult.

I should have done this on the weekend. Instead I decided to try and land Solo perfectly back on the uneven shelf of rock. Solo landed fine but tipped just a little and my foot caught one of Solo's legs to stop it from sliding.

In the last second before the props stopped spinning I got nervous that Solo would get caught by an errant gust of wind and go tumbling down into the ocean.

So I stuck my hand in the middle where the propellers don't touch to press down. Unfortunately my pinky decided to get in the way and I sliced up both sides of the last joint and the outer nuckle of my fourth finger. No damage to Solo. But I won't be doing it that way again!

 

[User Name]

That was my fear, I could have landed it *relatively* level, but I wasn't sure how it'd react if one of the legs was over a small hollow in the rock and it started to tip - I was afraid it would try to level itself by powering up that motor, and then it could take off again or start skidding along the rock until something caught.

Again, it's not without risk, but if it's hovering stable and there's little to no wind, the design makes it very easy to grab it right behind the gimbal.

 

[Timmytimetravel]

I did this yesterday, catch landing. An excited dog came up and didn't want to chance it. Hovered at arms reach, tricky to do but hit the 3 button emergency stop on the controller, shot my hand out and caught it by the leg as motors shutoff. I'd like a two button hold shutoff where buttons are next to each other
Or a lanyard

 

[Lamda]

Nice. I think lanyard would be best. Less chance of accidentally stalling your bird while flying.

 

[Earldgrayjr]

That was my fear, I could have landed it *relatively* level, but I wasn't sure how it'd react if one of the legs was over a small hollow in the rock and it started to tip - I was afraid it would try to level itself by powering up that motor, and then it could take off again or start skidding along the rock until something caught.

Again, it's not without risk, but if it's hovering stable and there's little to no wind, the design makes it very easy to grab it right behind the gimbal.

I did the same thing (caught it) to see if I could. (Many people do this with Phamtoms as they are a tad unstable).

In my case though I grabbed it with one hand and did the long finger stretch for the kill switch command on the controller with the other hand. Now Tower has a kill switch command, so no finger stretching needed. Just be careful when you hit it

 

[Timmytimetravel]

I did test that in tower and forgot. I'll open it at the same time and use that next time. Ta

 

[rhpdaddy]

Have you tried holding the left stick down and to the left to disarm the motors in these situations?

 

[User Name]

Have you tried holding the left stick down and to the left to disarm the motors in these situations?

That's how I disarm my other quad (pixhawk FC), but the Solo has always disarmed just by holding down once it's on the ground... or in my hand.

 

[rhpdaddy]

That is my experience as well. I like to arm the motors by holding the left stick down and to the RIGHT and then taking off manually. Old habits die hard, I guess.

 

[z-axis]

No need for buttons to disarm.Use your left thumb to do throttle down and to left, it disarms that way anytime you do it. Right hand can be free for whatever.

 

[Timmytimetravel]

I

Have you tried holding the left stick down and to the left to disarm the motors in these situations?

I've done that on the ground but not for a catch landing ala this thread . I'd assumed solo trying to spiral down out of the sky even for 2 seconds would make it difficult to hold by 1 leg. I guess that would work if I was underneath and grabbing it by its belly around the gimbal, that just seems way more dangerous than 1 leg at arms reach and 1 button in tower with other hand. That will require a lanyard though, I can do controller buttons even most combos still holding controller.

 

[rhpdaddy]

No need for buttons to disarm.Use your left thumb to do throttle down and to left, it disarms that way anytime you do it. Right hand can be free for whatever.

My point exactly. thanks.

 

[Timmytimetravel]

Have you tried that on a catch landing?

 

[Walter]

This may be a stupid question but, why put yourself in a position where you cannot take off and land normally? If you don't you won't need to do dangerous stuff that can potentially harm you seriously. Those props and Solo's crazy amount of torque can create a large deep laceration. And if it's your face, well I guess there is plastic surgery available. So what's up?

 

[Lamda]

This may be a stupid question but, why put yourself in a position where you cannot take off and land normally? If you don't you won't need to do dangerous stuff that can potentially harm you seriously. Those props and Solo's crazy amount of torque can create a large deep laceration. And if it's your face, well I guess there is plastic surgery available. So what's up?

Same reason we climb crazy mountain cliffs, hurl down mountain sides covered in snow and ice or thick tangles of trees, dive under tens of thousands of pounds of water with just these tiny metal tanks or sit in tin cans that shuttle us at speeds of +100km/hour over uneven asphalt?

I'm using hyperbole, I guess Many of us do all of the above for photography alone. Flying Solo for video is an extension of that. I wouldn't be able to get the same shot flying from the ground - the mountain of rock would have blocked reception while completing an orbit.

I think the key is to be as safe as possible. Solo did slice my hand. But it was landed and I stuck my hand down. If flying, it could still hurt, but I don't think the damage would be catastrophic. I didn't need stitches and the bleeding stopped in a few minutes. Now, switch to carbon fibre props - that's a different story.

Incidentally, you may want to check this out for fun:

Drone Decapitation High Speed

Clearly there is some risk. Just depends on how you manage it.

 

[Timmytimetravel]

This may be a stupid question but, why put yourself in a position where you cannot take off and land normally? If you don't you won't need to do dangerous stuff that can potentially harm you seriously. Those props and Solo's crazy amount of torque can create a large deep laceration. And if it's your face, well I guess there is plastic surgery available. So what's up?

In my case in a park with no one, a dog ran in from far away off lead. Didn't want to injure it. The only other time I could think where I might need to is from a boat, but there needs more firmware / software work for that. (Haven't tested new dynamic home point in tower yet)

Don't do it often otherwise, bad idea

 

[erikgraham]

I was flying in rocky terrain all last week and had to resort to hand catch a lot. Just catch it and the press down on the left stick until it disarms.

I don't recommend catching, but if you've got no choice, it's pretty easy

 

[timzee]

So I was flying this morning from a rocky ridge top with pretty much no level areas to land. I could find spots to take off where I could position the Solo relatively level on the uneven rocks, but even if it returned to that spot and orientation exactly, ground effect would make it impossible to land precisely where it took off. I knew this taking off and figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.

So at the end of the battery, I did a RTH and put it back into fly mode when it got down to 10 feet or so. I brought it down to about 5 and was positioning it over the rocks as best I could when I had an idea. It was so stable hovering there, I just waked over, carefully raised my hand below until I could grab the belly, and with the controller in my other hand pulled down on the throttle. I just had to hold it still while it tried to descend for a second or two to trick it into thinking it had landed. The props stopped and it disarmed.

Not without risk, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if the terrain made setting it down perfectly level too difficult.

Using your method seems like a relatively low-risk operation IMO. Much risker is where I've seen some try to fly the copter to the catcher. Much better to do as you described, hover and when positioned correctly and stable, walk under it, grab, and down/left to stop. Can't imagine dong the emergency kill they trying to catch it as it falls!

 

[User Name]

This may be a stupid question but, why put yourself in a position where you cannot take off and land normally?

Risk vs. reward, as simple as that. There is literally no flat, unobstructed ground where I was flying, and I think the location was worth the minimal risk:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

This is one of the main locations I wanted a Solo to capture, I've hiked it countless times and always see birds flying around and think "man, the view they have must be soooo nice!".