Anyone think hand catching a Phantom regularly could create stress cracks?

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Hey all!
Just curious if anyone thinks constant hand catching a Phantom the way most do by grabbing a landing gear near the top will eventually cause stress cracks? Sometimes after catching it and bring it down it seems I hear cracking or just the plastic shifting. There is none yet as I inspect it regularly. Curious what everyone thinks. Thanks!
 
Hey all!
Just curious if anyone thinks constant hand catching a Phantom the way most do by grabbing a landing gear near the top will eventually cause stress cracks? Sometimes after catching it and bring it down it seems I hear cracking or just the plastic shifting. There is none yet as I inspect it regularly. Curious what everyone thinks. Thanks!

I think you will the vast majority of us have had no issue with stress cracks from hand catching the drone.

We found that taking it in and out of the case is where we were most likely to crack the drone, by pushing down to hard , or pulling it up the wrong way
or having someone not familiar with the drone put it away or take it out seriously not recommended. :(
 
Just curious if anyone thinks constant hand catching a Phantom the way most do by grabbing a landing gear near the top will eventually cause stress cracks? Sometimes after catching it and bring it down it seems I hear cracking or just the plastic shifting. There is none yet as I inspect it regularly. Curious what everyone thinks.
The cause of cracking is poor quality plastic used in making the shells.
The best way to prevent cracking is to have a shell made of good plastic.
Some are and some aren't.
 
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Hey all!
Just curious if anyone thinks constant hand catching a Phantom the way most do by grabbing a landing gear near the top will eventually cause stress cracks? Sometimes after catching it and bring it down it seems I hear cracking or just the plastic shifting. There is none yet as I inspect it regularly. Curious what everyone thinks. Thanks!
I hand catch all the time. Never had a problem.
 
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I also hand catch all the time w/no problems...however, I suggest you stop the motors ASAP before you pull it down or in another direction, as the motors will rev to maintain GPS.
 
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If you do hand catch properly it is very gentle to the plastic shell and it wont harm it in any way. Much more stressful can be a bit harder landing on a concrete surface.
 
The cause of cracking is poor quality plastic used in making the shells.
The best way to prevent cracking is to have a shell made of good plastic.
Some are and some aren't.
I like this. You said as we can choose what plastic is the phantom made of. LOL
 
i always hand catch. It depends on how you actually catch it. If you have a hard grip on it (actually grab it) before cutting the motors then I can see a possibility of stress. The motors will fight the grip. If you put a very loose hand on it,, cut motors and then grip then there is very minimal stress. The drone motors arent fighting your grip. If you ever hear motors revving up during a catch then you are doing it wrong. You are grabbing and not catching. Just my thoughts.
 
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None of the Phantom's should crack from hand catching if done properly. That said, there is a difference in molds and quality. I've owned all the P3 and P4 models, except V2 , and in my opinion the P4 original is the strongest of all the Phantoms. Go catch, don't worry.
 
Hey all!
Just curious if anyone thinks constant hand catching a Phantom the way most do by grabbing a landing gear near the top will eventually cause stress cracks? Sometimes after catching it and bring it down it seems I hear cracking or just the plastic shifting. There is none yet as I inspect it regularly. Curious what everyone thinks. Thanks!
I can tell you that hand catching a phantom can put very deep cuts into your forearm.
 
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It's a lucky dip.
I had two shells that only lasted a year each.
The third is two years old now with no cracks.
It's been hand caught every flight and never landed.

There is much truth to this: We posted about it at the time we got them.

Last year we purchased 10 Phantom 4 Pro and one of the tests we did was to Squeeze the Legs with 1 hand really hard and if it made noise or squeaked on any of the Legs we took the Phantom back for exchange.

We also tested the Horizon on each and if it was not perfect from the Factory we took it back

Last if there was more than a 1/16 of gap on the right side of the battery we took it back.

Out of the 10 Phantom 4 Pro purchased for clients : 3 of them went back and were exchanged for a better made one.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Phantom in the Rain.
Coal
 
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I can tell you that hand catching a phantom can put very deep cuts into your forearm.
Well yeah if you try to twist to side to cut the motors like a Spark or a Mavic instead of cutting the motors using the controller or you do a tight grip before cutting motors. I have never come close to injury hand catching.
 
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Been hand catching for quite a few years now. Only been nicked by a prop once.

That was enough. Won't let the prop close enough to do that again. [emoji37]
 
i always hand catch. It depends on how you actually catch it. If you have a hard grip on it (actually grab it) before cutting the motors then I can see a possibility of stress. The motors will fight the grip. If you put a very loose hand on it,, cut motors and then grip then there is very minimal stress. The drone motors arent fighting your grip. If you ever hear motors revving up during a catch then you are doing it wrong. You are grabbing and not catching. Just my thoughts.

If you are correct you definitely just taught me something. Totally makes sense.
Thanks!
 
If you are correct you definitely just taught me something. Totally makes sense.
Thanks!
Think of it this way. If you have a loose hand around the vertical support, when you cut the motor, it just slides down the hand and the top of rhe hand acts as a stop against the belly of the drone. At that point is when you tighten the grip. There is no fight with the motors since they are off.. I am certainly not an authority but it works for me.
 
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The last time I hand-landed my P4P, the leg cracked just under the obstacle avoidance sensor.
 
Hmm...I assume you meant hand caught? Can you please give more of an explanation? Details of the damage.

Hand caught - hand land is the same to me. I caught by left leg and as I said the leg cracked (actually broke) just below the sensor
 

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