I have flipped my H on landing 3 times now. ENOUGH!
- Thread starter Texy
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FlushVision
Premium Pilot
I agree with this, but also to be directly behind the aircraft while landing if at all possible. For me, though, I now like to take off with me to the left and rear of the aircraft for personal reasons.
Well....that's it for me.
After hand catching for 90 % of my flights, I decided to try landing again after reading this thread. Flipped today for the first time ever in nearly perfect conditions. Maybe I was too focused on doing everything to a tee and trying to leave left lever pushed down and centered....craft throttled down but did a slight bump on landing then throttled up and flipped breaking 2 props despite leaving lever fully depressed and holding red shutoff button.
I will now follow those that have flown for a long time and always hand catch such as CaptainDrone
Have never even come close to an issue with hand catching......it sometimes throttles up on me before the red button does it's trick but it's not a problem holding back a couple pounds of force.
I'm not hand catching for the cool factor....In fact I think it looks cooler to land normally but in my case I feel it's safer and cheaper for me to hand catch.
Most of my landings are on uneven ground or long grass and most recently boat landings where it is almost a necessity to hand catch.
oh well...to each their own I guess
After hand catching for 90 % of my flights, I decided to try landing again after reading this thread. Flipped today for the first time ever in nearly perfect conditions. Maybe I was too focused on doing everything to a tee and trying to leave left lever pushed down and centered....craft throttled down but did a slight bump on landing then throttled up and flipped breaking 2 props despite leaving lever fully depressed and holding red shutoff button.
I will now follow those that have flown for a long time and always hand catch such as CaptainDrone
Have never even come close to an issue with hand catching......it sometimes throttles up on me before the red button does it's trick but it's not a problem holding back a couple pounds of force.
I'm not hand catching for the cool factor....In fact I think it looks cooler to land normally but in my case I feel it's safer and cheaper for me to hand catch.
Most of my landings are on uneven ground or long grass and most recently boat landings where it is almost a necessity to hand catch.
oh well...to each their own I guess
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That stinks. It's actually been the opposite for me. After hand catching 100*/* of the time, I started landing after reading this thread and have not had any issues. After landing successfully for the past 7 or 8 flights, I can understand why most of the replies have hinted towards human error, but I am almost 100 */* confident that my tip overs were not human error. The ones that are confident that it is human error obviously feel that way because it hasn't happened to them.
The only thing that may have possibly happened in my case today was prop wash from landing on mostly asphalt with some gravel mixed in....Like I said, I usually have horrible areas where I launch from(hence the hand catching)...so this time I went to the flattest area I could find and it back fired..lol. Oh well only 2 props....coulda been worse I guess but the H was beeping when it was on it's side. Is that normal?
PatR
Premium Pilot
For me, I've found stopping the descent a foot or two off the ground to bleed off downwards velocity and stabilize the aircraft always allows for a safe touchdown. It also provides an opportunity to observe if the aircraft is stable or not before touching down. If not stable it goes back up to try again.
I won't say that I've never tipped one over on landing, because I have. Several times during test flights with a T-810, almost every time during testing of a 1300mm heavy lifter when the gear collapsed, never with either a 3DR quad and X8, 4 times with a Chroma, and once with the H. That's over 4 years of multirotor flying. The tip overs pretty much ended after discovering the stop and hover check process with the Chroma.
In any case, do what works best for you.
I won't say that I've never tipped one over on landing, because I have. Several times during test flights with a T-810, almost every time during testing of a 1300mm heavy lifter when the gear collapsed, never with either a 3DR quad and X8, 4 times with a Chroma, and once with the H. That's over 4 years of multirotor flying. The tip overs pretty much ended after discovering the stop and hover check process with the Chroma.
In any case, do what works best for you.
No....I have never tried that(as of yet)
A place I use often(my backyard) for the launch has a small picnic table propped up fairly level with bricks for levelness under the legs but there are 2 trees overhanging the table. So I fly up about 6 feet and it takes a bit of finesse to clear the trees. I have landed before on the table but it does take some time and is a bit risky,so I usually hand catch .
Another area frequently flown has a tiny flat clearing for the launch surrounded by tall grass and bumpy ground .....again ,so much easier to hand catch in that area.
. Flew from my Pontoon boat for the first time 2 days ago.....thought I was going to have to try hand launching but I took a 3 x 2 foot section of plywood and layed that between the rear seats so it was propped up off the floor level with the seats. No problem launching except I took off in turtle mode(pilot error) by mistake and nearly caught the overhead bar to my bimini top because it lifted so slowly.
I definitely wasn't going to try and land on the wood with a drifting and slightly rocking boat....so it just took a little extra caution in the hand catch as the H did fight me until the motors shut down.. I always catch overhead and arms as far from body as possible. Sometimes I do notice the H will move slightly as my hand approaches...probably from the prop wash...so everything is done in a slow deliberate fashion.
I'm not looking to get hurt but in my case I find hand catching to be most practical and safest(for me and the craft) for my locations
As Pat has said above, "Do what works best for you"
I would, however, strongly recommend practicing your landings as much as possible. The advice above of stopping short of the ground and letting the H 'sit' certainly makes things easier, rather than coming down 'too hot'. The reason I talk about practicing the landing is that, one day, you may be in a situation where hand catching is not the most ideal option (for whatever reason). The other issue I have with hand catching is that people new to this hobby, with no prior experience (who don't understand just how dangerous this can be) may see someone hand catching, or advocating for it, and try it. They may be okay, they also may not. We have to remember that while we know what we are doing, we can't assume others are also of the same frame of mind.
I was brought up in the RC multi-rotor culture of giving the upmost respect to a spinning prop, and always making sure the multi is off/powered down before approaching it. These things can be dangerous if put into the wrong hands, or if operated by someone without adequate knowledge/understanding.
I'm stepping off the soapbox now and going to grab my LiPo's off the charger - time to fly.
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The same can be about potato peelers, Frito Corn chips, and water. You cannot "Idiot proof" anything.
So very true.
"As soon as someone makes something idiot proof, someone else comes up with a better idiot".
It is just fortunate that the vast majority of members on this forum do not fall into the above category, and hopefully, but continuing on with the high degree of safety that is posted about on numerous threads, that if an 'idiot' does come along, lets hope they can read.
PatR
Premium Pilot
Friend of mine is ultra experienced with these things. None of that experience helped the day a hex did something it was not commanded to do. The result was 95 stitches and staples in his face. He could stick his tongue out the middle of his cheek. Consider that as you will.
PatR
Premium Pilot
That's why people went from having names, to become resources, then assets, and finally a number.
It could be alot of things GPS, operator issue etc...I've never had it tip over. Came close many times. When it starts to tip I just give to throttle to get it up off the ground. If I can't land on the ground then I go to hand catch. Have not broken a prop in a long time.
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Even when flying real aircraft you have to be ready to abort your landing. I have had to go around the pattern on numerous occasions because of deer and other animals on the runway. When landing at night on a rural airport I use to fly over the field at slow speed with lights on looking for critters. An armadillo will cause costly damage to landing gear or a prop if you are unlucky.
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- Joined
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- Reaction score
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- Age
- 71
Personally, I catch my H in mid-air 95% of the time. I rarely find the need to land it. I lower it to about 7 feet, reach up and grab a landing gear with my right hand while hitting the red button with the left hand. Always works great. I've never had an issue, and I don't have to worry about it tipping over.
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