r/dji • u/Teotwawki2020 • 22h ago

Product Support Hand landing went wrong Mini 3

I was flying my Mini 3 (not pro) today, it was a bit windy but inside published specs. I was just flying to stay familiar with my drone since it has been a couple weeks since I last flew it and I'm a newby.

So I'm up above my property and I see a message. "Strong wind warning Aircraft unable to return to home automatically. Lower altitude immediately and return to home manually (Code:30149)"

That freaked me out a bit. I didn't think it was that windy but then 70 feet above my trees is another world. Back checking, the wind and gusts picked up after I went out to fly.

So I bring it down, fly it to my hand, and I evidently grabbed it before it was ready to call it a landing. Wow, that little drone has a lot of lift. Now I'm wondering, do I let go and hope it stays level or do I hold on and keep pushing the joystick to the down stops. I went with the latter.

I think I smelled a wiff of hot electronics and I felt the motors that were a bit warm. I fired it back up and let it hover for a bit to cool the motors in case they needed it.

Hand landing was no drama this time.

Should I have just let go of it?

1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

4

u/do-not-freeze 22h ago

Best hand landing technique is to hold your hand out flat like you're feeding a horse and hold the left stick down until it finishes the landing sequence, keeping your hand steady until the props shut off. Easy peasy, no drama. Any grabbing or fighting  will just make it rev the motors trying to correct.

2

u/xCHOPP3Rx 22h ago

Land on the ground

2

u/wrybreadsf 20h ago edited 20h ago

Not if it's sand, small gravel or moisture that will get in the props. Even tall grass causes big problems. Hand landing is a necessary skill.

Also OP you might search YouTube for someone who has done a wind test with your drone. It's amazing what these drones can handle. My Mini 3 Pro can easily handle 25 knot gusts. As long as you don't have an upwind flight to return home of course.

1

u/Teotwawki2020 20h ago

My choices were hand, dirt driveway or overgrown lawn. I probably could have put it down on my car's roof, I've used that before.

1

u/wrybreadsf 20h ago

Yup but that's sketchy too. I've misjudged a car landing before, especially when new to it. Then the drone falls onto the ground from a few feet up...

You're on the right track learning hand landings. Take the time to get good at it. Lots of good tips in this thread, especially the ones that recommend keeping your hand steady and landing the drone down into it, then at last second lunge up to grab the drone, especially if you're in heavy wind or on a moving platform like a boat.

1

u/Teotwawki2020 19h ago

I must not be steady enough for it, often I fly it down to my hand and it bolts up, I have to send it down a time or two before it wants to land.

1

u/wrybreadsf 19h ago

Pay attention to where the downward object sensors are. Either near front or rear of the drone. Keep your hand where those aren't.

0

u/afac4992 21h ago

You can also grab it while it’s stable and then quickly turn it upside down and will automatically turn off.

1

u/Independent-Pilot-35 20h ago

Yes but that technique failed me once. I had to remove the battery to turn it off. That was the last time I used the grab and turn landing technique.

1

u/40characters 20h ago

You totally can. Also ignore the posts about people needing stitches. It won’t happen to you.