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any tips for when flying over water with M3Pro

Lilith5th

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hi,
I m interested in flying over water, and before I do that, are there any tips?
Does putting the drone in sport mode make it less likely to autoland in sea?
Or is the only rule of thumb "keep it above 10 meters"?
 
I m interested in flying over water, and before I do that, are there any tips?
There's nothing special about flying over water.
Fly just as you would over land.
Does putting the drone in sport mode make it less likely to autoland in sea?
Your drone isn't likely to autoland in the sea, whether you are in Sport Mode or not..

 
If you are flying low over moving water (rivers) expect the drone to start drifting with water flow.

If water surface is very still the drone can start spontaneously descent.

TL DR be careful when flying very low over water. 20+ m is usually safe.
 
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Flying along and over high surf can be fun and merely requires awareness that the waves are higher than sea level, and that salt spray and wind can wreak havoc with the drone, so use your tele lenses or modest digital zoom, and don't fly too low.
 
Ive seen a lot of videos where drones autoland in water. is there a way to disable autoland feature, or interrupt it if it starts.
 
I've flown my Mavic 3 over lots of bays and lakes with no issues. I always come back over land sooner than I might if I was just over land just to be on the safe side. And as mentioned above, I don't fly very low - 25' or more is a good rule of thumb. Also pay attention to wind direction and velocity and plan accordingly so you aren't fighting it on the way back with a low battery.

There is a member on this forum that sells floats, you can supposedly land on water with them. I don't own one so I can't vouch for how good it works, but might be worth a look at to see if it's worth it for extra piece of mind.
 
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Ive seen a lot of videos where drones autoland in water. is there a way to disable autoland feature, or interrupt it if it starts.
It's a lot of reasons that a drone auto lands & if it can be cancelled or not, below some reasons for a auto landing that comes to my mind...

-running the battery really low will trigger a low battery auto land (can be delayed by keeping a constant ascend command with the stick)

-running the battery totally empty will end with a forced low voltage auto landing to prevent the drone starting a free fall as a rock (can't be stopped)

-activate a RTH will end with a auto landing (can be stopped)

-taking off without a GPS lock, inside a no fly zone... generates a auto landing later once a proper GPS position is established (can't be stopped)

-have something below your drone within 0,5m & holding the descend stick for approx 3sec (can be stopped)

-flying in ATTI mode & losing the RC connection generates a auto landing (can't be stopped)

None of above reasons gets more likely just because you fly over water... it's just that the consequence of a landing over water is much more unforgiving & is better to publish on YT as a click bait. Not any fun to look at a ordinary RTH landing over dry land is it?
 
Its no big deal BUT yes You should exercise caution when flying around and over Water . The two major problems have been stated above.
1. Salt water spray will DESTROY your drone keep your height above the spray. if your drone gets salt water spray on it you will need to take it apart and give it a clean bath.
2. It is known (one only needs to google it) That sunlight reflections from the water can cause problems with the sensors. This can happen on very bright days or during the hours of sunrise or sunset. It doesn't happen that much but yes it can. You simply need to keep that in mind while flying and be prepared for any strange movements the Drone makes.
Most Drone users flying over water will never see this happen. I fly over water at times and I have never had an issue.
 
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As mentioned, try to avoid flying really low over water. At ten plus M there should be no problems what so ever.
 
2. It is known (one only needs to google it) That sunlight reflections from the water can cause problems with the sensors. This can happen on very bright days or during the hours of sunrise or sunset. It doesn't happen that much but yes it can.
Most Drone users flying over water will never see this happen.
You are spreading myths about something you don't understand.
Most drone users flying over water have never seen this happen, because it never happens.
 
Ive seen a lot of videos where drones autoland in water. is there a way to disable autoland feature, or interrupt it if it starts.

More likely videos in which the video poster claims the drone autolanded.

Pushing the right stick forward aborts a landing, unless the battery level is critical.
 
Most of my flights are over water as the action is always on the other side of a lake. No big deal - just fly with full battery power, beware of winds impacting your return, and be cautious that water reflection can confuse obstacle avoidance. On my very first flight in 2017 the drone stopped over the water at 350 feet due to obstacle avoidance from water reflection. Being a newbie at that moment in time it really confused me and I almost lost the drone as the issue had not been reported yet and I didn't know what was going on.
 
The thing about flying over water is that there are no trees or buildings to jump out at you. On the other hand, the pilot has to be careful with battery level. A low voltage landing on water is going to be much more hazardous to your drone than a similar landing over land. Know your wind directions when flying any distance over water. Ah heck, you need to know the same thing flying over land.
 
Most of my flights are over water as the action is always on the other side of a lake. No big deal - just fly with full battery power, beware of winds impacting your return, and be cautious that water reflection can confuse obstacle avoidance. On my very first flight in 2017 the drone stopped over the water at 350 feet due to obstacle avoidance from water reflection. Being a newbie at that moment in time it really confused me and I almost lost the drone as the issue had not been reported yet and I didn't know what was going on.
350 ft high?
Obstacle avoidance is not affected by water reflections, but is commonly affected by flying towards a low, bright sun.
 
350 ft high?
Obstacle avoidance is not affected by water reflections, but is commonly affected by flying towards a low, bright sun.

In my case the sun was not low as it was about noon on the day it occurred in mid summer. It was definitely water reflection of the sun confirmed later on a forum. When it happened I was stunned as I was at 350 and there were no obstacles at that height over water. Again, as a newbie I was confused and dumbfounded. I flew back to the shore on the other side of the lake and then followed the shoreline home getting there with 7% power. The problem disappeared over land proving it was sun reflection on the water that caused it in the first place. In hindsight - I could have turned off the OA, flown backwards, etc. But this was my first or second flight and I simply didn't know the drone well enough at the time or even how to get to the various screen settings.
 
It was definitely water reflection of the sun confirmed later on a forum
Obstacle avoidance is looking forwards, not downwards.
It's not by reflections or anything else 350 feet below the drone.
The problem disappeared over land proving it was sun reflection on the water that caused it in the first place.
Any obstacle avoidance issue will go away when you change direction relative to whatever causes the obstacle avoidance issue.
 
Sorry, still disagree, I was there, and coming back home over the shore the sun was still in the same position and angle relative to the drone but with no issue over land. When I tried going back over the water half way home I got the same obstacle avoidance issue again and went back over land.
 

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