Flying over water

[alexb77]

OK, so I'm going abroad soon to Australia and am looking to get some great footage of the coast. I'm new to the Mavic anyway, probably 20 flights in, all over land and am really enjoying it, getting some good footage too now that I've understood the camera settings more.

I will be totally new to flying over or near water. Does anyone have any tips or guidelines I should follow, I really don't want to lose the drone or damage it, or anyone else!

Please share your top tips!

 

[JoostGT3]

1. Switch off VPS (Vertical Position Sensors), as they seem to get confused over water, leading to unwanted ascends/descends
   
   
2. With water often comes wind. If you are planning longer flights, make sure that you start against the wind, so that when the battery gets empty and the Mav wants to come back, it doesn't need to fly against the wind.

Nothing more to add really... I have done most of my flights over or near to water, and though a bit apprehensive at first, there's not much to it.

 

[msinger]

Please share your top tips!

• Don't fly close to the surface of the water unless your Mavic is nearby and you can see it with your eyes.
• Disable the "Landing Protection" setting in DJI GO (see below) to prevent unwanted ascends/descends.
  

 

[GerdS]

- Avoid flying with offshore winds
- Ensure that Enhanced Flight Modes are enabled
- Turn off Forward Obstacle Avoidence (gives more speed)
- Turn off Smart Return Home
- Disable Downwards Vision Positioning (waves might disturb it)
- In case of emmergency don't rely on RTH but switch to Sports mode, reduce altitude to few meters above water and take the shortest way back to the coast, there fly along the coast in low altitude back to your location)

 

[alexb77]

Those are some great tips, and really important to have known as I wouldn't have done any of that. Thanks!

 

[JLane]

- Avoid flying with offshore winds
- Ensure that Enhanced Flight Modes are enabled
- Turn off Forward Obstacle Avoidence (gives more speed)
- Turn off Smart Return Home
- Disable Downwards Vision Positioning (waves might disturb it)
- In case of emmergency don't rely on RTH but switch to Sports mode, reduce altitude to few meters above water and take the shortest way back to the coast, there fly along the coast in low altitude back to your location)

Good tips, but what do you mean about disabling Smart Return Home? Are you referring to the RTH Obstacle Avoidance Check?

 

[Uzbeckin]

All great advice. I fly a lot on the coast here in AUS. I know it won't help if I drop it too deep but I often fly with getterbacks. (Small tube that pops open and lets out a finder attached by fishing line) if you have the DJI warranty you still need to return something to get a new one.

 

[GerdS]

Good tips, but what do you mean about disabling Smart Return Home? Are you referring to the RTH Obstacle Avoidance Check?

Yes.

 

[JLane]

Yes.

Ok. Just wanted to clarify, since DJI themselves seem to use the same term to describe more then one thing. Smart RTH in the manual is simply an RTH initiated by the pilot using the hardware button or the on-screen button.

 

[alexb77]

Just a follow up question, do you need to turn off Landing Protection even if you intend to take off on land and ascend to say 25m then fly over the sea? Also is Landing Protection the same as downward sensors?

 

[msinger]

do you need to turn off Landing Protection even if you intend to take off on land and ascend to say 25m then fly over the sea?

I'm suggesting you disable Landing Protection when flying over water since the light bouncing off the surface of the water sometimes triggers that feature -- causing the Mavic to auto ascend/descend.

is Landing Protection the same as downward sensors?

No. However, Landing Protection cannot be used if you disable the downward sensors.

 

[alexb77]

OK great thank you for clarifying, I'll just disable downward sensors.

 

[beach_Dr]

I know there's lots of talk of disabling downward sensors etc, I have logged a few hours over the ocean at between 6m and 12m altitude, all with sensors left on, you can see the VPS altitude change on remote as waves roll below, but mavic has never misbehaved, tried to ascend, land, or done anything else strange. Sometimes dropped down to 1.5m above standing water (river estuaries) also no problems with the VPS sensors.

So I'm happy to leave them on.

With regard to above comment on sports mode in emergencies:
- In case of emmergency don't rely on RTH but switch to Sports mode, reduce altitude to few meters above water and take the shortest way back to the coast, there fly along the coast in low altitude back to your location)

If your battery running low - rather fly shortest route to shore in P mode, may take a bit longer, but more efficient flying, you'll get more distance out of the battery than in sport mode.

A previous mavic on the forum has crashed into a dam flying in sport mode full throttle at 2-3m altitude, bird slowly lost altitude and crashed into water (all sensors are disabled in sport mode). So be careful how low you go...

 

[JLane]

all sensors are disabled in sport mode

I believe there's a misprint about this in the manual. On p11 it says both Forward and Downward vision systems are disabled, but everywhere else in the manual it only refers to the forward sensors being disabled. In my experience, it's only the forward sensors that are disabled in Sport mode. The VPS stays active if you have it enabled.

 

[Glen e]

I'm about to flyover water, a small lake that is completely flat, it's an expansion pond that so many of these neighborhoods in Florida are built around, I don't plan to be less than 100 feet over the water. Is it still necessary that I disable some the things that are talked about above? I never will be below that altitude of the water. And actually, I'll probably be 200 feet over the water, so can I leave everything on?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bryman]

I have flown my Mavic many times over water with both front and bottom sensors on and never had any problems. Sometimes as low as about 4 ft. Maybe I have been lucky but I don't see any problems flying over water.

 

[msinger]

I'm about to flyover water, a small lake that is completely flat, it's an expansion pond that so many of these neighborhoods in Florida are built around, I don't plan to be less than 100 feet over the water. Is it still necessary that I disable some the things that are talked about above?

If you keep Landing Protection enabled, you should at least keep an eye on the altitude to make sure your Mavic is not automatically ascending/descending. That's really good advice when flying anywhere though. When over water, it's even more important since you most likely won't be able to recover your Mavic if it starts auto landing and you let it land.