I used to fly without a take-off mat when the ground looked suitable. Tarmac seemed like a sensible option: a hard surface, no long grass and no obvious loose gravel.
Then a tiny stone or piece of loose tarmac struck the camera on my DJI Inspire 2 and cracked the lens filter.
My first thought was that I had damaged the lens itself. With lenses for that setup costing around £1,000—and some considerably more—it was a worrying moment. Fortunately, it was the filter that had cracked.
It changed how I looked at take-off and landing areas.
Tarmac can look cleaner than it is
I had associated loose debris with construction sites, gravel tracks and rough ground. Those are places where you naturally pay more attention to what is underneath the aircraft.
Tarmac felt different. But a hard surface can still have grit, small stones and loose fragments sitting on it. The surface itself might be solid while the material on top is not.
That was the lesson for me: choosing a hard surface does not remove the need to inspect and prepare the launch area.
A small piece of debris, an expensive worry
The fragment was tiny, but the potential repair bill was what went through my mind. When you rely on your drone for work, damage also means thinking about the next job and whether your equipment will be ready.
I was relieved to find the damage was to the filter. I cannot say what would have happened without it, but it was enough to make me reconsider a part of my setup that I had previously treated as optional.
Why a landing mat became part of my kit
A landing mat gives me a surface between the aircraft and the ground beneath it. It covers loose material within its footprint and helps keep the camera and landing gear away from direct contact with grit, dirt or vegetation.
It does not stop debris coming from outside the covered area, and it does not replace checking the ground. I still look for a suitable location, inspect the surface and consider the conditions before flying.
For me, it is another practical step in preparing the equipment rather than relying on the ground looking clean enough.
Using a mat where ground pegs are not practical
One difficulty with using a lightweight mat on tarmac is securing it. You cannot simply push ground pegs into the surface.
Whitetail landing mats use a weighted perimeter, so they can be deployed without installing ground pegs. That makes them useful on hardstanding as well as grass and other suitable surfaces.
The weighted edge helps resist lifting, although the mat still needs to be positioned correctly and assessed against the wind and aircraft being used.
What I check before launching now
- The surface: Is it firm and reasonably level, with loose debris cleared where practical?
- The surrounding area: Is there grit, vegetation or other material nearby that could be disturbed?
- The mat: Is it sitting correctly, with suitable clearance around the aircraft and propellers?
- The conditions: Are the wind and location suitable for the aircraft and setup?
These checks apply whether I am working on a construction site, beside a gravel track or on an apparently clean stretch of tarmac.
A lesson I would rather have learned another way
I would not have expected tarmac to be the place where I cracked a lens filter. That is exactly why the incident stuck with me.
A small piece of debris was enough to cause damage and leave me worrying about an expensive lens. Since then, I have paid more attention to preparing my launch area—even when the surface initially looks suitable.
Explore Whitetail weighted drone take-off and landing mats, available in 3ft and 5ft sizes.