Flying from a boat?

[Jersey Johnny]

How can I launch and return my MA2 3 miles out at sea, have it follow the boat, then return it to boat safely? Thanks

 

[UltraMagnusLRLL]

It can certainly be done, but the driver of the boat has to work with you.

For Launching, wait till you have enough satellite signal, then hand launch and immediately climb away from the boat. If the boat is moving, do this off the back. KEEP CLIMBING once you launch, because once you are out over the water you're committed. If possible, do this when the boat is anchored or at least not powering ahead.

Best keep VLOS while you're up(for real!), and remember depending on the drone, the boat, and the wind, you might not actually be able to keep up with the boat if it's going full throttle so again, make sure the driver of the boat is on the same page as you.

To Land on the boat, you MUST be confident while dropping in for your final approach. Make sure the driver of the boat is going as slowly as possible, or dropped anchor, etc; the drone can hover in place but the boat cannot. Don't be afraid to grab the drone by the main body when it gets close- it might be the only wait to stop it from going into someone's hair!

Lastly/most importantly, make sure you launch with a 100% FULL BATTERY and you bring it back with plenty to spare; chances are you will need to try your landing approach more than once...

I did this with a Mavic Mini last summer and would have tried it with the Air 2 this past weekend, were it not for inclement weather. With the Mini, I snatched it out of the air to land because the pontoon boat we were on was full. It also helps if your buddies get the "Danger Zone" Top Gun theme going with the bluetooth speaker to cheer you on.

Best of luck!

{#_#}

 

[Phantomrain.org]

How can I launch and return my MA2 3 miles out at sea, have it follow the boat, then return it to boat safely? Thanks

Couple things you go right off the bat, Minimize your risk by getting a Rescue Jacket for the Air 2s since you have the boat. Second set your home point to lead to the Controller. .

Take a preflight over the Water with the Rescue Jacket to see if you run into signal loss or geo areas,
Knowing there is a weak signal area can provide the insight need to get around it.

The Rescue Jacket will take a lot of the stress away and provide 3000 Ft visual line of sight.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water. Phantomrain.org

 

[Meta4]

How can I launch and return my MA2 3 miles out at sea, have it follow the boat,

Yes

... then return it to boat safely?

That depends ...
Out at sea, you are flying in an unforgiving environment and not the place to learn new techniques.
One mistake can easily be one too many.
You need to be familiar with everything you will be doing with the drone from practice on land before attempting it at sea.
You'll need to be hand launching and hand catching.

You'll also have to be careful if the boat is moving any distance and avoid getting to a point where the drone wants to leave you and return to where it was launched, because of the distance and battery level.
Prevent this by resetting the homepoint to the drone's location every few minutes.

And allow a generous safety margin, returning to the boat early as it might take longer than you expect to catch the drone if the boat is moving.

 

[Jersey Johnny]

Yes

That depends ...
Out at sea, you are flying in an unforgiving environment and not the place to learn new techniques.
One mistake can easily be one too many.
You need to be familiar with everything you will be doing with the drone from practice on land before attempting it at sea.
You'll need to be hand launching and hand catching.

You'll also have to be careful if the boat is moving any distance and avoid getting to a point where the drone wants to leave you and return to where it was launched, because of the distance and battery level.
Prevent this by resetting the homepoint to the drone's location every few minutes.

And allow a generous safety margin, returning to the boat early as it might take longer than you expect to catch the drone if the boat is moving.

Very helpful information and much appreciated!! J

 

[Jersey Johnny]

Couple things you go right off the bat, Minimize your risk by getting a Rescue Jacket for the Air 2s since you have the boat. Second set your home point to lead to the Controller. .

Take a preflight over the Water with the Rescue Jacket to see if you run into signal loss or geo areas,
Knowing there is a weak signal area can provide the insight need to get around it.

The Rescue Jacket will take a lot of the stress away and provide 3000 Ft visual line of sight.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water. Phantomrain.org
View attachment 132410

This is fantastic advice thanks! One question, how do I set the home point to lead to the Controller? In advance...thanks. J

It can certainly be done, but the driver of the boat has to work with you.

For Launching, wait till you have enough satellite signal, then hand launch and immediately climb away from the boat. If the boat is moving, do this off the back. KEEP CLIMBING once you launch, because once you are out over the water you're committed. If possible, do this when the boat is anchored or at least not powering ahead.

Best keep VLOS while you're up(for real!), and remember depending on the drone, the boat, and the wind, you might not actually be able to keep up with the boat if it's going full throttle so again, make sure the driver of the boat is on the same page as you.

To Land on the boat, you MUST be confident while dropping in for your final approach. Make sure the driver of the boat is going as slowly as possible, or dropped anchor, etc; the drone can hover in place but the boat cannot. Don't be afraid to grab the drone by the main body when it gets close- it might be the only wait to stop it from going into someone's hair!

Lastly/most importantly, make sure you launch with a 100% FULL BATTERY and you bring it back with plenty to spare; chances are you will need to try your landing approach more than once...

I did this with a Mavic Mini last summer and would have tried it with the Air 2 this past weekend, were it not for inclement weather. With the Mini, I snatched it out of the air to land because the pontoon boat we were on was full. It also helps if your buddies get the "Danger Zone" Top Gun theme going with the bluetooth speaker to cheer you on.

Best of luck!

{#_#}

All makes perfect sense and will be very helpful. Love the top gun idea????

 

[Meta4]

One question, how do I set the home point to lead to the Controller?

That's not possible, but on a boat you won't want use the return to home feature anyway.
That's because the boat won't be wherever home was recorded.
You need to be aware of where the drone is relative to the boat and bring it in manually.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

How can I launch and return my MA2 3 miles out at sea, have it follow the boat, then return it to boat safely? Thanks

Keep the drone packed away and hang a GoPro off a kite, fly it behind the boat and then haul it in …….. ? ? ? ?? ?

 

[TerryToast]

How can I launch and return my MA2 3 miles out at sea, have it follow the boat, then return it to boat safely? Thanks

All possible, except for the “safely” part.

Picture the boat rising, falling and pitching in the swell and ocean breeze as you try to perform a difficult hand catch. Suddenly the boat lurches just as you grab at the drone …

Now picture your drone sinking into the ocean, while you repeat to yourself “why did I do that??!!”

 

[hiflyer201]

the drone can hover in place but the boat cannot.

you could practice hand catching while skate boarding.

 

[Capt KO]

Get the rescue jacket. I did even though I can boat fly without it. S**t happens. I set LOS to hover instead or RTH so can turn back and regain signal. Even so, I update my homepoint during flight to assist retreaval. Hand catch from a boat is easier if you fly in backwards so controls exactly match the movement of the drone. Avoid launching near motors or other electronics that mess with the compass, first checking that the drone is pointing same direction as shown on the map. Otherwise you Will be needing that jacket to get it back. Water retrieval is easier that chasing all over the ocean. Practice on land first, preferably from a moving vehicle/pickup bed.
Good luck

 

[Capt KO]

To film the boat underway, practice 'active track' with a vehicle then do the same with the boat/vessel. You can control the drone while keeping the boat in frame for some cool shots. You don't even need to be onboard, only within range. With 'follow me', you do need to be aboard and device needs gps.

 

[umanbean]

I don't own a boat nor probably will ever launch from one (too chicken lol)... but will be re-reading all the great answers in this thread - at least twice!

@Jersey Johnny... Not trying to tell you what to do, but if it were me I'd do a forum search for the key word 'boat', titles only, and read most if not all the threads that result. Also please take the advice to practice all the anticipated maneuvers on land.

Good Luck!

 

[UltraMagnusLRLL]

you could practice hand catching while skate boarding.

...If I had or rode a skateboard. I've done it on inline skates and on a bike, tho. Last year on the pontoon boat, it was my first time doing it; no practice at all. The boat was full of little kids, parents, bagpipes, and drums- no room to attempt a proper landing. I just had to trust my eyes and not let it land on my son or any of the other kids! In the end it was not a big deal. I imagine that the Air 2 will do better, being a more capable machine than the original Mini.

 

[MA2 317]

One question, how do I set the home point to lead to the Controller? In advance...thanks. J

You can update the Home Point in the app to where you are at with a GPS enabled device.

It's not a follow me feature, it just updates the HP to your device.

If you get further away from your original HP, the low battery RTH may kick in and want to go there unless you update the HP to you a few times during the flight.

Blow the map up during the flight and the HP selection is on the right with two options. Reset the HP to the aircrafts current location or the device.

It's not a one and done thing so keep updating as you move.

 

[eaglesurfing]

I never take any chances over the water without one of these.....

 

[Capt KO]

I never take any chances over the water without one of these.....

View attachment 132478

Could be mine! Cheap insurance, imo. Quick install, easy to use. If you fly a mavic over water, get one. There is a forum discount too.
Note: I am paid for this, but I got one.?

 

[z28lt1]

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You can update the Home Point in the app to where you are at with a GPS enabled device.

It's not a follow me feature, it just updates the HP to your device.

If you get further away from your original HP, the low battery RTH may kick in and want to go there unless you update the HP to you a few times during the flight.

Blow the map up during the flight and the HP selection is on the right with two options. Reset the HP to the aircrafts current location or the device.

It's not a one and done thing so keep updating as you move.

This is all correct, and I'll add:

-Depending upon your situation on the boat, it is very likely best to set your failsafe (loss of signal) action to hover instead of RTH. As long as the boat driver is willing to go back to get your signal, that's better than it flying back to where you started and landing in the ocean.
-A third way to set the home point is any point on the map. This won't help you if you are really 3 miles away from shore, but for those boating in a lake or close to land, it might be best to set RTH to a safe spot on land, this way if the battery gets low or something, it will end up on dry land and not in the ocean. You of course have to get yourself to that spot, and having it come back close to you (but resetting it to your current location multiple times as mentioned above) may still be the better choice, but don't rule out the spot on land as an option....

 

[JeffreyS]

Will the moving boat you want to capture be less than a mile from shore? Can you make that so? Then you can simply launch from shore, follow the boat for a while, and RTH safely.

 

[SaltyDoug]

I love flying my Mavic Pro off my boat, but that wasn't always the case. I saw and recreated a simple solution to launching and retrieving my drone while underway. It's documented in a short YouTube video. Would appreciate and constructive criticism and feedback. Cheers! - Salty Doug

Drone boat-landing solution video