ok so my buddy keeps telling me i need a landing pad and i honestly dont see the point. i usually fly at parks or open fields and just land on grass. he's saying it protects the sensors and keeps dust out of the motors but i've been flying for about 8 months without one and havent had any issues so far.

is this actually a real concern or is it one of those things people buy because it looks professional? i did see some videos where people land on gravel and it kicks up a ton of debris so maybe i get it in that situation. just dont want to spend money on something thats more gear-bro accessory than actual useful thing

honestly they're like $15-20 for a decent one and they fold up to basically nothing so i dont think the cost vs benefit argument really holds up against them. yeah on a perfect grass field maybe not essential but the amount of times ive been somewhere that seemed fine and then the ground was actually sandy or had loose gravel or whatever... the pad just takes that variable out of the equation entirely. also makes it way easier to spot the drone when youre landing in longer grass

mine lives permanently in my bag at this point, never really think about it. its one of those things where you probably wont notice when its helping but you'd definitely notice if something got sucked into a motor

I got one mostly for the wet grass situation tbh. dew in the morning can be pretty bad and even if the drone itself is supposedly water resistant to some degree I dont love the idea of it sitting in damp grass on landing. the pads dry off quick and its just a cleaner setup. also yeah the visual contrast thing is real, bright orange against any background makes auto landing and manual landing both easier to judge.

that said i flew for two years without one and my drone was fine so its def not like mandatory equipment or anything