Boats, Drones and an Idiot - I crashed my beloved Mavic Air

[clydesur]

Mine was very similar thinking I could land on a mini pontoon boat. I thought the boat was not moving but it was oh so slightly and the Spark's landing was so slow it clipped the rail, flipped right into the water. I immediately dove in diving to find it. It was about 10-14 ft. deep and could not see because the bottom was dark and full of weeds. As I was going down my hands went into the weeds and low a behold my hand hit the spark. After rescue I took it apart and put it in rice for 2 days. Tried to fly and it got about two feet in the air and fell to the ground. Next day I let it soak in the hot sun flipping it every 3 hours. That evening put a battery in and off she went without a hitch. Been flying it for over a year now.

 

[rji2goleez]

I land on my open bow boat in the bow with the filler cushion all the time. The key for me is to drop the Mavic 2 Pro into tripod mode before landing. I've even done it in the dark. Just take your time . . . tripod mode really helps to make sure you're lined up.

 

[mavicpro1000]

Do you know what a dronepilot is that never crashed his drone?

A lyer!

I've never crashed mate.

 

[DJI DelBoy]

Nice rib. This might sound crazy but hover low is over a large net. The whole of the front of your rib and kill the engine using the emergency shut down function. Catch the drone in the net. No lost finger tips. Honestly I have hand caught on stationary concrete and that had me breathing steadily. Can’t imagine doing it on a moving boat. I also regularly land on a wooden table about the size of your sun bathing area on my patio. Again takes focus to land in the middle with a very slight breeze. Again no movement. Go well.

How is the emergency shut done? Also, wouldn’t letting the drone fall into netting risk damaging the gimbal?

 

[GadgetGuy]

I land on my open bow boat in the bow with the filler cushion all the time. The key for me is to drop the Mavic 2 Pro into tripod mode before landing. I've even done it in the dark. Just take your time . . . tripod mode really helps to make sure you're lined up.

Tripod mode engages the side OA sensors, which otherwise are always off, and allow you to handcatch from the side without turning off OA for landing. Tripod mode may help you line it up, but it will make catching it harder. In the dark, the side sensors are inactive, and once Autoland is in effect, all OA is turned off, so landing below 10% is actually easier than doing so with more battery power!