ok so ive been flying for about 8 months and just been hand launching and landing the whole time and it's been fine. my buddy keeps telling me i should get a landing pad especially for dusty or grassy areas because of motor ingestion or whatever but honestly i've never had an issue. he has the hoodman one and swears by it.

curious what people who've been doing this longer think - is it genuinely useful or is it more of a nice to have. i mostly fly parks and hiking trails, occasionally beach. also do the foldable ones actually stay flat on the ground or do the edges curl up and become a whole thing

the foldable ones absolutely curl up if theres any wind, yeah. i had a lekufee one and the edges would catch the downwash from the drone and it would basically become a sail. ended up putting small rocks on the corners which kinda defeats the purpose of having a clean landing surface lol. eventually got a heavier one with a stuff sack and some corner pockets for stakes and thats been way better.

as for whether you need it - honestly on grass its more about your own peace of mind than anything. beach is where it actually earns its keep, sand getting into motors is a real thing and ive heard enough horror stories that i dont risk it anymore. for parks youre probably fine without one but theyre like 15 bucks so might as well

I thought the same thing as you for the longest time. Then I did a landing in some long grass and got a piece of something stuck in a motor. Wasn't catastrophic but had to clean it out and one motor sounded slightly off for a flight or two after. Got a pad the next week. Might have been coincidence but yeah, don't really question it anymore.