I have a piece of laminate flooring, probably not even a foot long, that slides easily into my backpack case if needed. Cannot remember the last time I didn't hand catch the landing, but this would be a small landing target! The flooring worked great for take offs in the snow last week.
I have no problem whatsoever of taking off from nor landing in the snow without using a landing pad. I am not saying to put a 3lb craft down in a foot of fluffy snow and watch it sink to the bottom. Setting down on packed snow works very well. You'd think these things were delicate had to be handle with great care.
A few members like to use a vTX aerial which hangs down beneath the GoPro and sometimes below the landing gear. If you have a rock/picnic table/kerb then launching is not a problem. A lot of the places I fly have none of these, so for a tiny amount of money I made a launch pad which assembles and dissassembles in seconds and is flat enough and light enough to easily fit in a back pack.
Here in Nevada there just isn't much grass so I just launch from the ground - always. Full throttle, of course.
Recently I tried landing on a small portable folding table (about a foot and a half square). All went fine until a gust hit at just the wrong moment - and I just replaced my second set of props. Ahem . . .
Hughie, that's pretty nice work! You've inspired me to make a folding stool out of some light wood, or something...what did you use for the top?
jasonnelson007, yours is pretty cool too - I take off from thick, plush grass and don't give it a second thought, and I always hand catch. What I would like would be a stool that spins on it's legs since I do a lot of low-level pattern flying around a feel - getting ready for the aerial drone racing competition...
Same pad I use. I really like it, the holes keep the prop wash from messing with take off. I also us just the center leg hole to attach to a tripod so that I can have a level launch pad from steep slopes if needed.
My $10 Launching Pad. I purchased a planting pot pad at Home Depot for $6.00 and a decal from eBay for $4.00. Check it out...Here's a link to my Lauching Pad IMG_6506_20150924_102657.JPG
If you have a roofing supply store by you, there are these walkway pads made for commercial flat roofs. They're usually 30" x 30" and made of a thick rubber. Amazing for launching (even used it on a beach). They cost about $15.00
