Float insurance

[Rojillio Santoro]

Master of disaster here again. I want do some flying over water, surf videography etc. Having lost 3 drones to flyaways my confidence is not great so making my Mavic pro and spark float would make me feel less paranoid. Have any of you had experience or even opinion on using something like these? Amazon.com: mavic pro float kit

 

[Meta4]

Having lost 3 drones to flyaways my confidence is not great so making my Mavic pro and spark float would make me feel less paranoid.

The sort of floatie contraption you showed is appealing to nervous new flyers.
It might be useful if you really needed to launch/land on water but it's going to handicap your drone's speed, flight time and ability to handle wind.
In the event of a loss of power, the drone would land upside down and to retrieve the wet wreck, you'd probably have to find a boat.

Have you found out what caused the loss of your drones?
Understanding would be the best thing for your confidence and help to avoid the same mistakes.
There's nothing particularly risky about flying over water.
There's usually no obstacles to hit and no interference helps maintain signal.

 

[Lee Shaver]

I have used them on my Mavic 2 Zoom. They are OK but doo slow the aircraft and really eat up the battery. If it went down its the water though at least it will not sink.

 

[KB9Radio]

Master of disaster here again. I want do some flying over water, surf videography etc. Having lost 3 drones to flyaways my confidence is not great so making my Mavic pro and spark float would make me feel less paranoid. Have any of you had experience or even opinion on using something like these? Amazon.com: mavic pro float kit

My kids did get me a float kit for Christmas, but I haven't tried it yet. I know it might slow it down a bit but don't need to get anyplace that fast. Once in a while I fly over some small ponds or lakes, and figure if it went down for some reason there is a chance it would land properly, or even if it flipped over at least I could retrieve the body. It could go down due to a stupid move on my part, or do an unexpected auto-landing due to battery level or something. So, I guess I'm game to give it a try.

 

[Hawkeyetoo]

Master of disaster here again. I want do some flying over water, surf videography etc. Having lost 3 drones to flyaways my confidence is not great so making my Mavic pro and spark float would make me feel less paranoid. Have any of you had experience or even opinion on using something like these? Amazon.com: mavic pro float kit

As a high time Cessna 185 floatplane pilot I could hardly wait to get a set of floats for my Mavic 2. I chose the ones with two bright foam tubes. It is fun landing among the Lilly pads and maneuvering around water. If you do go down, I think your bird is most likely to stay attached and float, perhaps with the Mavic upside down just like happens with float planes sometimes. Performance is degraded or changed by the float mass, drag, and keel effect but still lots of fun.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If Care Refresh was held, at least it could be possible to retrieve the 'body' for return.
The chances of pontoons or balls helping any drone land on them is pretty slim, unless self landing on VERY still water in almost no wind (even then there is some risk involved).

If desired for retrieval, then the main point of failure is how well the float devices stay attached.
If balls just push on the legs, they will likely come off.
If the pontoon frame is weakly attached, they too would likely get ripped off in anything but a controlled landing.

Personally, I feel if there is any wind at all, these devices are likely going to be more of a curse than a help, and could possibly contribute to a loss of aircraft by reducing control through wind gusts / resistance etc.

 

[hiflyer201]

MS oz sez
"If desired for retrieval, then the main point of failure is how well the float devices stay attached.
If balls just push on the legs, they will likely come off.
If the pontoon frame is weakly attached, they too would likely get ripped off in anything but a controlled landing."
Nylon ties and they're not going anywhere far...and I would consider them anywhere but where I am..near the Ocean. The sea seems to return everything but..where and when is a different story.
I'm loving Hawkeye's photo. It looks like a lot of fun. Are you saying you can Taxi it around?

 

[Rojillio Santoro]

The sort of floatie contraption you showed is appealing to nervous new flyers.
It might be useful if you really needed to launch/land on water but it's going to handicap your drone's speed, flight time and ability to handle wind.
In the event of a loss of power, the drone would land upside down and to retrieve the wet wreck, you'd probably have to find a boat.

Have you found out what caused the loss of your drones?
Understanding would be the best thing for your confidence and help to avoid the same mistakes.
There's nothing particularly risky about flying over water.
There's usually no obstacles to hit and no interference helps maintain signal.

I've been a new nervous flyer going on 2 years now. I might be advised to find a new pastime, but I'm having too much fun. A boat likely wont be necessary if I'm shooting surf as the bird will wash up on the beach or on to the rocks and get smashed up like our surfboards did here in Santa Cruz before Pat O' invented the leash. As long as I recover the remains dji care will replace it.

 

[Rojillio Santoro]

As a high time Cessna 185 floatplane pilot I could hardly wait to get a set of floats for my Mavic 2. I chose the ones with two bright foam tubes. It is fun landing among the Lilly pads and maneuvering around water. If you do go down, I think your bird is most likely to stay attached and float, perhaps with the Mavic upside down just like happens with float planes sometimes. Performance is degraded or changed by the float mass, drag, and keel effect but still lots of View attachment 88855fun.

I like that one and with the endorsement of a pilot for High Times it must be good. Which brand is it?