Drone Flight Over Water Checklist?

[Dakarenduro]

Big difference is recovery. Over land likely, over water unlikely.

But flight wise no difference.

 

[Meta4]

Big difference is recovery. Over land likely, over water unlikely.

Not necessarily, there are plenty of places on land where recovery is unlikely too.

 

[gnirtS]

Big difference is recovery. Over land likely, over water unlikely.

But flight wise no difference.

Not really. Most useful places on land to take good images (mountains, forest, lakes or even urban areas) means if it comes down finding it and recovering it are extremely unlikely.

Thinking "its ok if it crashes on land and worse on water" is a strange approach - id just rather maximise the chances of it not crashing at all. Hence the same checks and procedures regardless of whats below the drone.

 

[Davros007]

My checklist is:
Bank balance ok to get another secondhand mavic pro - check [pending wife approval/convincing].
Return to home set - check
Charged up battery and if windy, onshore -check.
Ok to fly there and no sightseeing planes - check
Blast-off!
I must add, I don’t depend on it for my livelihood, and I’m not rich or stupid, but if it crashed I wouldn’t be totally bereft.
I have flown quite low (6’) over water with no problems, but the water here is rough (not reflective - or is it reflective? Whatever! It’s bumpy!)
The long-term effects may be corrosion from salt air.
If I don’t crash first!

 

[Capt KO]

In summary, Mini’s don’t like water. Because I mostly fly over water, I purchased care refresh and a GetterBack (retrieval float) immediately upon purchase. LOS set to hover and RTH as low as possible. Just enough to avoid obstacles.
Unlike other DJI drones, MM’s don’t have the RTH option to return to your remote, only the home point.
(Note: a new Home Point can be updated continuously during flight). Takeoff over land, or flying back over land to update a new home point, would return the mini there if LOS or RTH initiated. Ie; If friends are on shore, fly to them, pick clear landing location, update Home Point, then RTH sends it to them. Repeat for each flight. When powered On, if in range, you can takeoff and land your mini onshore, from your boat. Practice hand catching too, a lot.

If no CareRefresh, buy insurance. And a float. Enjoy ?

PS; my only mini crash happened with those pontoon floats. Blocks airflow and hover can cause death spin.

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They did protect it from any damage, except props.
Note: Flying over water filled tote in video. LOL ?

 

[BushWacker]

I'm a glutten for close over the water shots! I set the height at just where the landing mode takes place, then raise it up about 6 inches and fly away. Usually increasing altitude as I fly over and of course not in high winds. I know it's risky but I've only landed in the water once and that was because I hit a tree branch I didn't see. I love the shots and live with the risk I might lose it all but I've done it about 50 times or more now and have never had the aircraft crash into the water on it's own. The price of a Mini is low enough to take the risk for me but I wouldn't be doing the same thing with an Inspire that's for sure...

 

[Capt KO]

I'm a glutten for close over the water shots! I set the height at just where the landing mode takes place, then raise it up about 6 inches and fly away. Usually increasing altitude as I fly over and of course not in high winds. I know it's risky but I've only landed in the water once and that was because I hit a tree branch I didn't see. I love the shots and live with the risk I might lose it all but I've done it about 50 times or more now and have never had the aircraft crash into the water on it's own. The price of a Mini is low enough to take the risk for me but I wouldn't be doing the same thing with an Inspire that's for sure...

Teasing? I showed you mine, now show me yours! ? couldn’t help it, wanna watch it. Be careful B-Wack, they can’t swim, but If you can, add a GetterBack. ?? Enjoy your Memorial Day!,

 

[itsneedtokno]

but If you can, add a GetterBack. ?? Enjoy your Memorial Day!,

...or 2!

 

[Nonprophet]

Just out of curiousity, why two? Balanced flight? Redundancy?

 

[itsneedtokno]

Just out of curiousity, why two? Balanced flight? Redundancy?

Redundancy ??

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Twice the chance to spot in the water too !

 

[Capt KO]

Redundancy ??

Never too much redundancy, until max weight reached. ?
They don't fit the Mini arms so I just hang it underneath. Got 2, might try it as they can fail. Redundancy! word of the day. ?

 

[itsneedtokno]

Never too much redundancy, until max weight reached. ?
They don't fit the Mini arms so I just hang it underneath. Got 2, might try it as they can fail. Redundancy! word of the day. ?

I thought about getting a tile pro or similar, a beacon, an audible alert, the getterbacks... Like you said, there's never too much redundancy!

 

[itsneedtokno]

Not really. Most useful places on land to take good images (mountains, forest, lakes or even urban areas) means if it comes down finding it and recovering it are extremely unlikely.

Thinking "its ok if it crashes on land and worse on water" is a strange approach - id just rather maximise the chances of it not crashing at all. Hence the same checks and procedures regardless of whats below the drone.

Flying VLOS should mean that recovery from mountains, forests, or urban areas is still much easier than water.

You mentioned lakes... Shallow ones, sure.

Even flying VLOS, if your bird goes down over water, it's usually game over.

I should know, my MA1 went down 30 feet away from me over water, never to be recovered. (Busy channel, murky conditions, saltwater)

I helped my brother get his racing drone out of an 80 foot tall pine tree two weekends ago.

I'd rather lose control over land one million times, than one time over water.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Recovery from a true water crash is usually only a real benefit if a pilot still has Care Refresh.
Otherwise, might be best to leave it to rest in peace (or pieces) in its watery grave.

 

[gnirtS]

Flying VLOS should mean that recovery from mountains, forests, or urban areas is still much easier than water.

Quite clearly you have no idea what mountainous or wooden terrain looks like. The drones are light. They do not normally fall through trees to get to the floor. Urban areas have gardens, roofs, roads.

If you fly in huge, flat, open areas lacking in vegetation then sure you might get it back. Its also the least interesting place to fly.

 

[Vaideeshwar]

Quite clearly you have no idea what mountainous or wooden terrain looks like. The drones are light. They do not normally fall through trees to get to the floor. Urban areas have gardens, roofs, roads.

If you fly in huge, flat, open areas lacking in vegetation then sure you might get it back. Its also the least interesting place to fly.

He said VLOS. If flying VLOS, it is likely that you have the GPS position transmitting back until the aircraft crashes to the ground/trees or the battery dislodges.

Given that, sure, you may have a hard time locating the drone in multiple trees, but the land area that you would have to search becomes pretty small.

 

[Meta4]

He said VLOS. If flying VLOS, it is likely that you have the GPS position transmitting back until the aircraft crashes to the ground/trees or the battery dislodges.

VLOS is irrelevant.
As long as you have signal, you also have GPS location data

Given that, sure, you may have a hard time locating the drone in multiple trees, but the land area that you would have to search becomes pretty small.

If you fly in your backyard or an open field, it might be easy to find a crashed drone, but there are many situations on dry land where it is far from easy.

 

[Vaideeshwar]

VLOS is irrelevant.
As long as you have signal, you also have GPS location data

If you fly in your backyard or an open field, it might be easy to find a crashed drone, but there are many situations on dry land where it is far from easy.

Right, and it is more likely that you will lose GPS when you fly beyond VLOS, making recovery almost impossible.

Sure, I agree, but from my understanding, he was implying that recovering the drone over land with good drone GPS data right before a crash is much more easier than looking for it underwater.

 

[Vaideeshwar]

VLOS is irrelevant.
As long as you have signal, you also have GPS location data

If you fly in your backyard or an open field, it might be easy to find a crashed drone, but there are many situations on dry land where it is far from easy.

Even if flying beyond VLOS, there are stories like these (with help of experts like @sar104 ) that would give you some hope of recovery. Over water, I don't think you could ever recover your bird.

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