Fly Mavic Pro over ocean

Andrew F · Jul 20, 2017

MavicPro said:
Let me start off by saying.....
I SCARED.
Is it me or does it seem alot of mavics like taking the plunge into the big ocean? More than any other DJI Drone. Or is it more likely that owners of mavics are more likely to fly over the ocean?

I'm going camping for a week next to the beautiful Pacific Ocean. I'm pretty terrified to fly my mavic over it, as I've read alot of reports of mavics getting lost out at sea.
Any tips for a first time Mavic over the ocean flyer? Thank you fellow Mavic Owners!

I fly a LOT over the ocean and low. I'm a contrarian as I leave my sensors on so I don't accidentally get too close to the water. I've never had any unwanted switches to auto landing and I'm still flying .4 so I can just easily push up if it happens. Wind awareness as others say is critical but otherwise just enjoy the amazing views.

RckSti · Jul 20, 2017

Stride8 said:
For peace of mind, get a PAP policy through State Farm to insure your drone just in case. $60 buck a year

Jusr got mine today. I'm not anticipating going down but I do fly over the Hudson River alot and lakes in upstate New York. Well see how it pans out if I should ever take a plunge

Jeto · Jul 20, 2017

I've flown over several bodies of water with no floats or backup plan.

My furtherest was 1.5km from the shore

Your mavic has got this!

Fletcher500 · Jul 20, 2017

I send mine out over the ocean all the time. The previously noted precautions are good to follow.

Landing it on the boat has been dicey. Between the SS railings (mag interference) and the boat moving around, I almost sent mine to the bottom of the ocean last week. The water was 2K ft. deep, so King Neptune would be the new owner.

gnirtS · Jul 20, 2017

I cant imagine ever landing on a boat, stationary or otherwise, just too many parts where wind can swirl, magnetic interference and the fact the boat swings around and the drone doesn't. I always hand launch and hand catch.

Blucenturion · Jul 20, 2017

You got a lot of good advice before I saw this post. I only fly over the Pacific Ocean; eliminates many, many problems. You needn't worry about flying out with a tailwind. The wind doesn't blow toward the ocean in California, except in SoCal during Santa Ana winds.
This is what you'll see;

Nigpd · Jul 21, 2017

Andrew F said:
I fly a LOT over the ocean and low. I'm a contrarian as I leave my sensors on so I don't accidentally get too close to the water. I've never had any unwanted switches to auto landing and I'm still flying .4 so I can just easily push up if it happens. Wind awareness as others say is critical but otherwise just enjoy the amazing views.

Is it because you are still on .400 that you can easily push up? Would .900 not allow you do do this at all or as effectively?

euphoria · Jul 21, 2017

I got this drone two days ago and have been flying over water most of the time. What is this 0.4 and 0.9 you are talking about? I haven't disabled the sensors...

Nigpd · Jul 21, 2017

euphoria said:
I got this drone two days ago and have been flying over water most of the time. What is this 0.4 and 0.9 you are talking about? I haven't disabled the sensors...

It's the firmware version

gnirtS · Jul 21, 2017

.9 is fine. the unable to cancel auto land was fixed several revisions ago.

Fletcher500 · Jul 21, 2017

It is dicey, but worth the risk for the footage I have captured offshore. Heading to some offshore islands in 2 weeks to get more.

gnirtS said:
I cant imagine ever landing on a boat, stationary or otherwise, just too many parts where wind can swirl, magnetic interference and the fact the boat swings around and the drone doesn't. I always hand launch and hand catch.

gnirtS · Jul 21, 2017

Surely just easier to hand catch and hand launch rather than risk landing on a moving platform containing a ton of metal and RF?

rodrigo.botter · Jul 21, 2017

Syphon said:
Most of my flights are over ocean or lakes. Key is, if it is going to crash, it will be difficult to recover even when over land.

Very good tips! I do fly most of the time over water and take the reminders above into account.

Fly safe over water and enjoy!!

Qaazar · Jul 22, 2017

Fletcher500 said:
I send mine out over the ocean all the time. The previously noted precautions are good to follow.

Landing it on the boat has been dicey. Between the SS railings (mag interference) and the boat moving around, I almost sent mine to the bottom of the ocean last week. The water was 2K ft. deep, so King Neptune would be the new owner.

Yeah, landing on the boat might not be smartest idea. When I do it I always catch and launch from the hand, I figured solution that's helping me with it.

OP, just be careful and enjoy, ocean is not some terrible beast just waiting to eat as many Mavics as possible. As others mentioned before, I'd also recommend turning VPS off if you want to fly low, and check your wind, batteries before heading out.

And perhaps to ease you a little, bit from my flying

Launched and recovered from the boat.

Dspace · Jul 22, 2017

gnirtS said:
Surely just easier to hand catch and hand launch rather than risk landing on a moving platform containing a ton of metal and RF?

So do you have some video of hand catching/launching your magic from a drifting boat? Most of what I've seen still looks pretty dicey

Qaazar · Jul 22, 2017

Dspace said:
So do you have some video of hand catching/launching your magic from a drifting boat? Most of what I've seen still looks pretty dicey

To make things easy, I am using this:

More here: Mavic Lifejacket

gnirtS · Jul 22, 2017

Sounds like an amazing way to reduce battery life and handling, especially in wind. Plus dont forget spray and waves - the bottom of the mavic is full of vents and holes to allow salt water to splash in.

Blprice21 · Jul 22, 2017

I fly over water all the time with no problems with all of my drones (inspire, phantom, mavic) This is over the Pacific 1100meters out.. Yes I'm wearing the goggles.

PISMO BEACH WHALES 2017.wmv
PISMO BEACH WHALES 2017.wmv

NetDoc · Jul 22, 2017

Qaazar said:
To make things easy, I am using this:

More here: Mavic Lifejacket

What and where? I need this!

90% of my flying centers around my diving. That means I fly quite a bit of time over oceans. That float system looks awesome!

Qaazar · Jul 22, 2017

gnirtS said:
Sounds like an amazing way to reduce battery life and handling, especially in wind. Plus don't forget spray and waves - the bottom of the Mavic is full of vents and holes to allow salt water to splash in.

You'd be surprised, I didn't notice any significant reduction in air time per battery, neither handling in the wind. Granted I don't fly in extremely bad weather, but in conditions shown in the video it was fine. An I am not forgetting about spray and waves, this is handle for hand launch and (as mentioned in photo album) life-jacket. It's not designed for landing on the water but to keep drone from drowning in case something wrong happens. I did design and tested float setup that allowed water landing but that one had issues with handling due to floats being significantly lower and was rejected.

NetDoc said:
What and where? I need this!

90% of my flying centers around my diving. That means I fly quite a bit of time over oceans. That float system looks awesome!

Thanks, that is my own design and construction.
Floats foam is repurposed pool noodle, plastic parts are made using 3d printer. While I already build few of those and could make one more, shipping it to you would be very expensive, I am in Europe and my guess is that you are from US like most of the forum members.
But if you have access to 3d Printer, or know someone who have, and don't mind some DIY, I could provide files and instructions for the assembly.