Does anyone else get that pit in their stomach...

[WDKZoom]

Helicopters are another thing entirely. I don't know how people can fly them with such precision. I took a few computer classes on helos and was even gifted an actual lesson. I declined the lesson knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to continue if I liked it. Drones are a bit safer, but without any sensory input it's kind of scary, especially once you can't "really" see them...

...Which leads me to my next thought... You're supposed to keep them in line-of-sight so you can see them without any visual aids (i.e. binocs.) I can't believe that most drone pilots don't break that rule from time to time, maybe often. Let's be real... Once you're past 1000 feet out if you don't have binoculars you have super vision if you can really still see your drone. Even if you have a spotter, if you're sending your drone out 5000 ft unless your spotter is chasing it, can he truly see it? I don't expect anyone to fess up in writing publicly.

I believe the point he was trying to make in this respect as I have flown RC helicopters is that they do have more problems and they crash a lot more often for pilot and mechanical reasons even at 20 feet away. It’s the money and time it’s going to take you to fix it and you equate that to your drone and thus that pit in your stomach. A good chopper especially depending on the size is going to cost you as much if not more than an MP2.

WDK

 

[DroneFlyerNick]

Water is the only thing I fly my M2Z over. If it falls into the water, it falls in the water.. Save your money, work overtime, go buy another one and repeat. I’d rather it fall in the water then on a person or someone’s property. This photo was taken Sept 26 20.

 

[henrysunderland]

... when flying over water? And/or do you get nervous the moment you can no longer see your quad (even though it's techincally in LOS)? It has just occurred to me that one of the reasons for flying is to be able to capture things from a perspective that no other traditional method has been able to (economically) do until now. So while one can totally avoid those circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to as those scenarios are a large part of why we get drones in the first place.

I suppose I haven't become that seasoned yet to fully trust the technology or even fully understand what the camera is showing me- or can't show me. Does anyone else get hyper-alert to the point of nerves as soon as you take off? I think all these rules, regulations, ordinances, authorities ready to pounce make me a bit apprehensive as well.

So, what is your level of anxiety or plain ol' matter-of-fact attitude when you take off, whether it be over water, when your drone becomes no more than a spec in the sky- somewhere up there?

I fly almost exclusively over water now and don't have anxiety. I set myself a minimum altitude when over water and never push below 20 feet above water. I guess you just get over the anxiety at some point. Check out my videos if that helps. San Diego Drone Videos

 

[Wozza]

Water is the only thing I fly my M2Z over. If it falls into the water, it falls in the water.. Save your money, work overtime, go buy another one and repeat. I’d rather it fall in the water then on a person or someone’s property. This photo was taken Sept 26 20.

Nice...

Where is that?

 

[Van Shteffy]

... when flying over water? And/or do you get nervous the moment you can no longer see your quad (even though it's techincally in LOS)? It has just occurred to me that one of the reasons for flying is to be able to capture things from a perspective that no other traditional method has been able to (economically) do until now. So while one can totally avoid those circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to as those scenarios are a large part of why we get drones in the first place.

I suppose I haven't become that seasoned yet to fully trust the technology or even fully understand what the camera is showing me- or can't show me. Does anyone else get hyper-alert to the point of nerves as soon as you take off? I think all these rules, regulations, ordinances, authorities ready to pounce make me a bit apprehensive as well.

So, what is your level of anxiety or plain ol' matter-of-fact attitude when you take off, whether it be over water, when your drone becomes no more than a spec in the sky- somewhere up there?

I would say that I'm actually afraid of losing the drone. I paid for the damage insurance but nothing for losing it..

 

[Jbish1226]

I've been flying drones about five years now, I still get a bit on edge everytime.

 

[Greekislandlover]

The only time I have ever had that feeling is when I sent my Spark off on a Litchi mission and the rather short range of the wifi cut out. I had no ability to cancel the mission and control what's happening. Thankfully that was a rare occurrence.

I have no fear of flying over water. I don't fly so low that the visual sensors can get confused. The thing about water is that there are no trees there. Anything I have ever had a problem with is trees. Them and drones don't mix.

I can see the rationale behind the fear in that if it's over land you stand a chance of recovering the drone. But going by the threads about gps trackers for finding drones over land, I'm not so sure that it's a well founded fear.

My advice would be to be comfortable in your ability to pilot the drone, and know how it will behave in situations. That way you can fly with confidence over any terrain you need to. I have no data on this, but I believe that most crashes are the result of human error. So pilot skills are key - not a reliance on the onboard systems.

 

[RussDrone]

My interpretation of LOS is that you can control your drone well enough to void aircraft. It's not enough to see an aircraft in the airspace in which you are flying. You need to know where your drone is relative to the other aircraft and fly along the best path for avoidance. If you can see your airspace but not your drone (e.g. over 3000 feet away) you are kidding yourself if you feel you are complying with the spirit of the FAA rules.

 

[DroneFlyerNick]

Nice...

Where is that?

90mins North of Montreal, Quebec the lake is called Lac-des-Seize-Îles (lake of 16 islands).

 

[halifax]

Been in this game for over 10 years and what I've learned is: approach every mission with respect, always run through your checklists, don't beat up your batteries, and use a spotter if you can. Water/no water doesn't matter to me because I fly large landscapes where the likelihood of finding a crashed machine is really remote, even though I run Communications Specialists RF beacons on all of my aircraft.

Most of my catastrophes were in the Ancient Days when we built machines from scratch and had to program them and tweak them endlessly. You thought that you set up something correctly but nope. I've lost a machine over a high elevation pond, another had a bird strike over a heavily invasive-shrub habitat and I could never find it afterward because the place was impenetrable, and had one fly into the top of a giant tree on an unscheduled RTH and just hang there. Yes, it's still there, years later. I consider it an offering to the flight gods.

Point is, you learn from your mistakes. I have come to grips with the idea that loss of aircraft is part of the game but you do everything possible to prevent that from happening (respect/checklist/proper battery management/spotter). Just keep learning, always gaining knowledge in every aspect of flying. It helps to be an absolute expert in RTH capabilities of your controller/software. Anyway, since picking up the Mavic Pro when it 1st came out and retiring my homebuilds, I have not had a loss except for a little Tello that I launched under the forest canopy and the wind swept it away once it got above the trees.

I still carry State Farm insurance on my machines.

Oh, and perhaps more importantly, it helps to have a wife who understands the risks, knows how to console the crestfallen pilot, and after a loss, always tells you to buy another one tomorrow.

 

[Andy57824]

I will never fly over water again having lost my drone in a large lake in the north of England last week and couldn’t find it. Unfortunately for me DJI will not honour my care refresh. They say in their policy you should retrieve your drone so long as it safe to do so, it wasn’t. Don’t think I will buy another DJI product again. All this is a bit annoying when I’ve just watch someone on YouTube get a new drone from DJI after a fly away. ?

 

[AlaskanGuy]

I get a bit "anxious" when it's a new aircraft or when I'm flying in a technically difficult area/situation especially with Search & Rescue. But for the most part I don't get anxious at all for flights and it's 2nd nature.

I flew in a "difficult" situation this past weekend for a client. I was there to document their new property for their Architect (they have never seen the property in person). The property was HEAVILY wooded with the only canopy opening barely larger than the UAS itself and I had to ascend through this narrow opening for several feet with fairly strong winds trying to push it off course. I had to pass through this "green leady/branch" column 8 different times and each time it was "Laser Focus" intensity.

I am here with you on this one. i gotta tell you, when you go Non GPS in heavy timber, it changes you... lol, and your shorts. thats all we have here is heavy SE Alaska Rain forest, and for most GPS Flight, your over water. the rest of the time, is pucker time. there is always drift.

 

[Madjigen]

Serious pilots are always nervous. It means they’re taking it seriously.

 

[halifax]

Serious pilots are always nervous. It means they’re taking it seriously.

Amen to that, Brother.

 

[WDKZoom]

Amen to that, Brother.

Ditto!!!!

 

[pooderbill]

... when flying over water? And/or do you get nervous the moment you can no longer see your quad (even though it's techincally in LOS)? It has just occurred to me that one of the reasons for flying is to be able to capture things from a perspective that no other traditional method has been able to (economically) do until now. So while one can totally avoid those circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to as those scenarios are a large part of why we get drones in the first place.

I suppose I haven't become that seasoned yet to fully trust the technology or even fully understand what the camera is showing me- or can't show me. Does anyone else get hyper-alert to the point of nerves as soon as you take off? I think all these rules, regulations, ordinances, authorities ready to pounce make me a bit apprehensive as well.

So, what is your level of anxiety or plain ol' matter-of-fact attitude when you take off, whether it be over water, when your drone becomes no more than a spec in the sky- somewhere up there?

 

[pooderbill]

There's an old saying among fliers: There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there aren't any old bold pilots.

I am flying regularly in heavy forests next to the ocean. In documenting an extremely tall red cedar (150ft), it is closely surrounded by similar sized trees with one opening to the sky. The hole has a clear space about 100ft across but it is above a dense underbrush so launch starts under the canopy. I have run several vertical panos and videos over the last year and I'm getting better. I practice some of the flight plans in open fields.

With close spaces, practice and moving slowly works well.

BTW the dense tall trees are a problem with GPS close to the ground. Sometimes takes 5 minutes to get 8 or 9 satellites.

 

[Gringorio]

... when flying over water? And/or do you get nervous the moment you can no longer see your quad (even though it's techincally in LOS)? It has just occurred to me that one of the reasons for flying is to be able to capture things from a perspective that no other traditional method has been able to (economically) do until now. So while one can totally avoid those circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to as those scenarios are a large part of why we get drones in the first place.

I suppose I haven't become that seasoned yet to fully trust the technology or even fully understand what the camera is showing me- or can't show me. Does anyone else get hyper-alert to the point of nerves as soon as you take off? I think all these rules, regulations, ordinances, authorities ready to pounce make me a bit apprehensive as well.

So, what is your level of anxiety or plain ol' matter-of-fact attitude when you take off, whether it be over water, when your drone becomes no more than a spec in the sky- somewhere up there?

Flying over the ocean and out of vlos, I'm always nervous at first. Not for flying over the water, but for anticipating getting the drone safely back aboard. I admit, the first time I flew my Phantom I over a river I was freaked out. So now, whether over land or water, I just hope for a successful retrieval of the drone ?.

 

[vindibona1]

Flying over the ocean and out of vlos, I'm always nervous at first. Not for flying over the water, but for anticipating getting the drone safely back aboard. I admit, the first time I flew my Phantom I over a river I was freaked out. So now, whether over land or water, I just hope for a successful retrieval of the drone ?.

I'm thinking DIY pontoons, but it seems to me that even with a "successful" water landing one would have to have a means to do a rescue. I suppose I should put a label inside of the battery compartment with my name and phone number in the event that "survivable water catastrophe" should happen.

 

[Deleted Member 997]

I copied models like the marine one pictured below with red on the right, green on the left thinking that it was correct. What I hadn't realized is that marine and aircraft nav light positions are opposite of each other! Isn't that interesting? Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps I should reverse them.
View attachment 113631View attachment 113630

This absolutely wrong. Green is right. Red is left