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A bit of advice from you Pro guys ..

kakao

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Hi everyone,

just got my Mavic Pro (fly more combo) on Sunday (4 days ago), and could barely sleep since .. out of excitement, of course (you know the feeling, don't you !!;)). What a beautiful peace of technology. Flying every morning (3 fully charged batteries) and every afternoon (also 3 fully charged batteries).


Been reading this forum for a while now to get as much info as possible. Unfortunately, there is plenty to learn, and I'm leaving for holidays in 2 days, bringing my new toy with me. I'll use it over beaches, and wanted to ask you guys, what should I pay attention to, what settings and additional precautions to implement, providing it'll be mainly used over water surfaces?!? How about sensors settings?

Thanks heaps ..Thumbswayup
 
Start by taking time to read the manual!


I'm reading the manual for the second time, that's not an issue.
My questions was more from a practical point of view, for members who have experience with flying over water surfaces in particular, and may have some advises for me. :D
 
Remember if you are flying where the drone interprets that you are flying directly at the sun, you can get obstacle warnings. I have see this flying in bright sunshine even with ND filters on. Running at 350 feet in an environment where the absolute tallest thing around might be a 75 foot tree, and you get that beeping noise. It will wake you up, that’s for sure. Lol
 
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Hi everyone,

just got my Mavic Pro (fly more combo) on Sunday (4 days ago), and could barely sleep since .. out of excitement, of course (you know the feeling, don't you !!;)). What a beautiful peace of technology. Flying every morning (3 fully charged batteries) and every afternoon (also 3 fully charged batteries).


Been reading this forum for a while now to get as much info as possible. Unfortunately, there is plenty to learn, and I'm leaving for holidays in 2 days, bringing my new toy with me. I'll use it over beaches, and wanted to ask you guys, what should I pay attention to, what settings and additional precautions to implement, providing it'll be mainly used over water surfaces?!? How about sensors settings?

Thanks heaps ..Thumbswayup
AS I read your post I'm happy for you and you must be excited and you just ask an honest question and there's ALWAYS someone that has to come out with a wise UNNECESSARY COMMENT. it looks like you have covered your bases and want a bit of help that the MANUAL MIGHT NOT COVER, best thing I can say hook up with other flyers there and have a talk with them they have LOADS of info that might help ya. have fun and fly straight!
 
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Always remember to remove the gimbal clamp b4 power up.
As mentioned above, if your AC is performing as it should and you're not having problem.....DO NOT UPDATE FOR NOW!!!!!You can do that later if you desire.
When flying over open water, be mindful of wind strength and direction.....KEEP AN EYE OF THAT BATTERY LEVEL and DECIDE ACCORDINGLY!!
For sensors, someone from here advised that when flying over water it's best to disable landing protection coz sometimes it fool that sensor of the moving swelling up/down of the waves/water.
Avoid saltwater spray, it will ruin your onboard electronics,fly a little higher.
Last but not least, ALWAYS WAIT FOR THE HOMEPOINT TO BE RECORDED AND CHECKED B4 YOU TAKE OFF!!!

JMOHO!!!!
 
Nothing special about flying over water other then not landing on it. A throwback to old Phantom 3 days is that some people will mention turning off the ultrasonic sensors. This is not really needed any longer. Under normal flight, they no longer adjust the altitude of the Mavic.
 
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Hi everyone,

just got my Mavic Pro (fly more combo) on Sunday (4 days ago), and could barely sleep since .. out of excitement, of course (you know the feeling, don't you !!;)). What a beautiful peace of technology. Flying every morning (3 fully charged batteries) and every afternoon (also 3 fully charged batteries).


Been reading this forum for a while now to get as much info as possible. Unfortunately, there is plenty to learn, and I'm leaving for holidays in 2 days, bringing my new toy with me. I'll use it over beaches, and wanted to ask you guys, what should I pay attention to, what settings and additional precautions to implement, providing it'll be mainly used over water surfaces?!? How about sensors settings?

Thanks heaps ..Thumbswayup
Landing pad for the sand or practice hand launch.
 
I've flown over the ocean and beach, and I've flown pretty low over very choppy seas in high winds to get video of dolphins. I was taking a big chance in those conditions but I risked my bird to get the shot.

You can play it safe by flying higher over water to stay away from sea spray and possible problems with positioning sensors, but it is basically just regular drone flying.

One positive thing at the beaches I've flown at is that the wind has always come from the sea. That has allowed me to fly with more confidence when flying out to sea knowing I will have a wind boost on the return trip.
 
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what should I pay attention to, what settings and additional precautions to implement
At the bare minimum, consider diving into these resources:

My questions was more from a practical point of view, for members who have experience with flying over water surfaces in particular, and may have some advises for me
Don't fly close to the surface unless you can clearly see the Mavic with your eyes. Make sure the Mavic is not over water when the battery is low (since you will likely not be able to recover it if it lands in the water).
 
The above advice looks good, I will add:
  • Check your speed flying away from you and then back to you. If you are going faster away then you will be fighting a headwind coming back and the battery estimator does not take wind into consideration.
  • Because your RC signal will be stronger over water, you may be tempted to fly further out. Try flying along the shoreline instead of away from it. You may still get the range yet be closer to a dry landing spot should your battery run low. And, honestly, the shoreline is more interesting than featureless water.
  • Winds aloft are often moving at different speed and direction than where you launched. If you find you are fighting an unexpected wind try a different altitude. You can use Sport mode against a strong wind but it will deplete your battery quicker.
  • Remember the cancel button on the RC. If you find yourself getting into trouble, hitting it will stop your Mavic and give you time to collect yourself.
  • Have fun!
 
Thanks everyone for their replies (OP here), I'm still reading the manual and watching videos, still learning a lot.

For uploading flight data to a PC - I have connected my MP to my PC but could not see where the data is. (The drone is on, so is the comp, DJI Go4 and remote?!?:D)
Am I missing something here?
 
Remember if you are flying where the drone interprets that you are flying directly at the sun, you can get obstacle warnings. I have see this flying in bright sunshine even with ND filters on. Running at 350 feet in an environment where the absolute tallest thing around might be a 75 foot tree, and you get that beeping noise. It will wake you up, that’s for sure. Lol
FYI, ND filters go on the camera, not the optical sensors, so filters do not impact OA.
 
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True beach flying story...remote beach, few people. I'm flying sorties up and down the beach a hundred yards or so offshore. Battery is low so I bring it to the shore 300 yards from my location, pause there for a minute 200 feet up and snap a pic or two and then bring the MP home to me. Half way home, literally seconds later, a FREAKIN' SKYDIVER sails right through the airspace where I had paused and lands on the beach directly under where I had been hovering. I never saw him coming. Not that I was actually looking for people falling from the sky (I do now). Whenever I feel cocky about my ability to avoid trouble I remember that scary scene.

Situational awareness is everything. There are worse outcomes than splashing your MP.
 
Practice with the pause button. And if you get into a situation where high winds are taking your MP away, don't panic; kick it into sport mode and bring it home as quick as you can.

Always have an emergency landing place in mind in case you run into problems.
 
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My Question:

For uploading flight data to a PC - I have connected my MP to my PC but could not see where the data is. (The drone is on, so is the comp, DJI Go4 and remote?!?:D)

Should I look for flight data on my connected PC or in GO3 app?

Am I missing something here?
 
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