Initializing aircraft and then moving it before takeoff ?

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Good morning all. I made a little helipad out of a card table to setup the Phantom 4 and lay out my equipment. Question is that the card table has metal legs and I was concerned that initializing the aircraft on the table could introduce some compass errors. I’m not sure. If I initialize away from the table can I then pick up the aircraft and place it back on the table? I’ve taken off and landed from it for practice and seems okay but I just want to be as sure as possible in this endeavor. As always appreciate your time and responses. Thanks !
 

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If the table causes magnetic distortion then you don't want to initialize or take off from it. I would suggest checking with a compass, cell phone magnetometer app, or just by looking to see whether the aircraft heading on the map shows correctly when the aircraft is placed on the table.
 
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In my opinion you should be fine to initialize on the card table. I've flown dozens of flights from the deck of a metal ship where I initialized the drone on the deck and then either launched from the deck or picked up the drone to hand launch. Remember, the home point will be recorded from where you initialize the drone, unless you later change it during the flight. Cool looking helipad!
 
In my opinion you should be fine to initialize on the card table. I've flown dozens of flights from the deck of a metal ship where I initialized the drone on the deck and then either launched from the deck or picked up the drone to hand launch. Remember, the home point will be recorded from where you initialize the drone, unless you later change it during the flight. Cool looking helipad!

Basing general advice on your particular experience is probably a bad idea. Was the deck in question ferromagnetic? If so, and if that worked for you, then you were quite lucky. If not then obviously it will not have been a problem.
 
Thanks guys, appreciate your responses. I’ll keep a good eye on what’s happening with compass and aircraft direction upon initializing startup. If I see any wierdness I’ll just use the table for setting up the operation and coffee.
 

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