There's obviously an increased risk when flying your drone over water. I got my Mavic Mini mostly for recording my flatwater kayaking adventures, sunrises/sunsets by lakes, etc. so, I'm hoping I'll be flying near water a lot. I plan to almost exclusively fly on days with little to no wind as I really like the "glass-like surface" of lakes on flat calm days. I have a great solo canoe that I paddle, and for now I plan on hand launching and catching/landing.
I'd like to put together a "flight over the water safety checklist" that I can go through before each flight, and it'd be great if some of the more experienced drone pilots could give me some input on this.
Here's what I'm thinking so far:
1. Make sure all batteries, RC, and phone/tablet are fully charged.
2. Once onsite with all local maps loaded on phone/tablet, set phone/tablet to airplane mode.
3. Calibrate drone compass and IMU before each over water flight whether prompted to or not.
4. Check UAV app for optimal conditions.
5. Set RTH height high enough to clear any trees or other obstacles in my intended flight path.
6. Be sure to keep drone at least 10-20' above the surface of the water at all times.
7. If there's and wind, fly into the wind at the start of the flight so the wind can carry the drone back to the Home Port.
Ok, that's what I've got so far. I remember there being some settings in the RTH menu that needed to be adjusted so that the drone would not descend into the water if it lost connection with the RC/phone, etc, but right now I can't remember what those settings were/are.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
I'd like to put together a "flight over the water safety checklist" that I can go through before each flight, and it'd be great if some of the more experienced drone pilots could give me some input on this.
Here's what I'm thinking so far:
1. Make sure all batteries, RC, and phone/tablet are fully charged.
2. Once onsite with all local maps loaded on phone/tablet, set phone/tablet to airplane mode.
3. Calibrate drone compass and IMU before each over water flight whether prompted to or not.
4. Check UAV app for optimal conditions.
5. Set RTH height high enough to clear any trees or other obstacles in my intended flight path.
6. Be sure to keep drone at least 10-20' above the surface of the water at all times.
7. If there's and wind, fly into the wind at the start of the flight so the wind can carry the drone back to the Home Port.
Ok, that's what I've got so far. I remember there being some settings in the RTH menu that needed to be adjusted so that the drone would not descend into the water if it lost connection with the RC/phone, etc, but right now I can't remember what those settings were/are.
Any help is greatly appreciated!