I do it with Copter by selecting “Arm” and then “Mission Start” in the Actions Tab and the quad takes off and goes according to the plan.
With Plane I suppose I could click “Start Mission” then throttle up and launch in the general direction of the first waypoint - but I don’t know if this is the correct and safe way to do it.
Also, could I launch in Manual Mode. loiter at some position nearby, then select Mission Start?
What does the “Auto” mode do and how is it related to Mission Start?
I recommend manual (or FBWA, or similar) takeoff to get the plane safely airborne. Once the plane is flying safe and well, use a transmitter switch to change to AUTO mode. The plane will begin the mission at that point, starting with your first mission instruction.
Does this help?
In the future, if you want automatic takeoff, that’s a capability as well with hand-launched planes.
Hand launch auto takeoff, auto landing or rtl following with autolanding with do_land_start is working well in my case : more than 100 missions.
Process : battery power up, airspeed calibration, checking remote control and fbwa if controls owrks well, arming in fbwa, switch to auto, running or moving it fast (arspd_min_acc =5), launching it and that’s it.
Launching in fbwa require 2 people or good synchronisation between one hand launch and remote which could be difficult with some platform. Auto takeoff is amazing and reliable with arduplane
I will try it first with a hand launch in MANUAL mode as the airplane is docile and has the prop on the front. Once I verify that both me and the plane are operating normally, I’ll switch to AUTO mode. Will the plane go to the first waypoint or the nearest one?
After the last mission command which is RTL I can switch back to MANUAL for landing.
Later I’ll try the automated hand launch - I’ve seen a video of a rock-solid automated launch and climb out that looked really cool.