Hand Launching

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Hear a lot about hand catching which I do myself. Haven't heard anything about hand LAUNCHING but did try it once myself. Wasn't difficult, kind of a reversal of the hand catch process. Anyone else tried it?
 
Looked like that Seattle Space Needle flyer hand-launched out of his hotel window.
 
I have a hard time imagining how to hold the Phantom with two hands and use my other two hands to hold the transmitter. Got a picture or video of how you do it?
 
You should power up the Phantom on a level (ish) surface and let it sit while it powers up and initializes otherwise you could get IMU problems which may result in a flyaway.
 
I always hand-launch my Parrot AR2 ( just lie it flat on the palm of one hand, and tap the "Take Off" button with the other hand), but unless you're an octopus it seems to me that nobody has enough hands to hand-launch a Phantom!
 
Done it at many locations where the terrain was challenging. However i usually fly with an observer who launches it.

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ianwood said:
You should power up the Phantom on a level (ish) surface and let it sit while it powers up and initializes otherwise you could get IMU problems which may result in a flyaway.
Can you elaborate on this? Seems to me if you calibrate your IMU on a level surface like you are supposed to it shouldn't matter much how level you are when you launch. How can launching from a not level surface cause a flyaway?
 
IrishSights said:
Done it at many locations where the terrain was challenging. However i usually fly with an observer who launches it.

Sent from Samsung S4 via Tapatalk

Hi guys, this was how I did it on the beach: I asked my wife to hold it high and assisting her to balance P2V+with her hands slightly opened up then closed her hands after it well balanced, then I stepped back 3-5 feet away, then started up engine ( kept telling her not to panic) and increased power 60-70% when I saw her hands slowly opened up ( when she felt the pull)that's when pushed the left stick all the way up with my right stick ready to move to opposite direction of tipping. I might have done this 25-30 time on my vacation at the beach. I can't tell if it was easy, because I didn't hold it but my wife said it was easy after 3-4 times.
 
I hand launch mine quite a bit actually, I just hold the controller with my left hand with my thumb on the left stick, and I grab the landing gear with my right hand, with my arm out and above my head. Once I get it up to a good hovering speed I just let go of the phantom and step away as I quickly balance it out if I need to.
 
On my one and only hand launch, I just gave it full throttle and let go when it reached max rpm. I'm not sure that I understand the need to "balance" after liftoff. Does your Phantom not hover if you let go of the sticks? Just asking.
 
BlackTracer said:
ianwood said:
You should power up the Phantom on a level (ish) surface and let it sit while it powers up and initializes otherwise you could get IMU problems which may result in a flyaway.
Can you elaborate on this? Seems to me if you calibrate your IMU on a level surface like you are supposed to it shouldn't matter much how level you are when you launch. How can launching from a not level surface cause a flyaway?



It easy enough to test but I will say in my CP heli days it was always recommended to place the a/c level and do not disturb while the [tail rotor] gyro was initializing. It seems likely the IMU uses similar technology and doing so could not hurt.
As far as a flyaway cause, don't know.
 
wow guys. its really not that difficult to hand launch..

one hand holding rear right leg of phantom. use left have to do csc with transmitter sticks,, throttle up and let go when phantom becomes weightless.

not rocket science
 
N017RW said:
BlackTracer said:
ianwood said:
You should power up the Phantom on a level (ish) surface and let it sit while it powers up and initializes otherwise you could get IMU problems which may result in a flyaway.
Can you elaborate on this? Seems to me if you calibrate your IMU on a level surface like you are supposed to it shouldn't matter much how level you are when you launch. How can launching from a not level surface cause a flyaway?
It easy enough to test but I will say in my CP heli days it was always recommended to place the a/c level and do not disturb while the [tail rotor] gyro was initializing. It seems likely the IMU uses similar technology and doing so could not hurt.
As far as a flyaway cause, don't know.

My understanding is similar. The IMU initialization doesn't necessarily need to be perfectly level but needs to be stable for an initial period of seconds after startup otherwise there is a risk that it gives a false reading despite being calibrated.

It would be very hard to prove direct cause and effect, however I've seen many flyaway videos that start with someone powering the Phantom on while moving it around in their hands or on a boat that is moving. There seems to be a correlation with an increased number of flyaways as result of it powering up without a period of no movement.

I always power up on a stable surface and do not touch the Phantom for a good 20 seconds.
 
+2. I don't touch my P2 until I get the "Course Lock Established" rapid flashes at 30s after power-up. This may be unnecessarily cautious, but better to be safe than sorry.
 
No -not unnecessarily cautious at all.
 

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