Flying from a canoe. Any Advice?

[Phantomrain.org]

Now this would reduce the consequences of a screw-up significantly. How much does this device affect the flying characteristics of an MA2?

This is a video sent to us from a Client in the Forum:
He takes it down to A 39 percent battery and the Rescue jacket gives him about 3000 ft line of sight with his drone.

We dont really know what the Wind Speed was as the AIR DATA Module being used was not made for the Air 2 but the client was not aware at that time, Making this an even more impressive video.

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

Email me at [email protected] for the Forum Discount Package.

 

[CaseyTibbs]

Why not turn your canoe into an aircraft carrier and fabricate a landing pad in the middle of the canoe with a large orange dot on the pad? Practice landing on the canoe on dry land before trying it in the water.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Why not turn your canoe into an aircraft carrier and fabricate a landing pad in the middle of the canoe with a large orange dot on the pad? Practice landing on the canoe on dry land before trying it in the water.

I have thought about that also. When I use my canoe it is because I want light and portable. I fish lakes that are far off the beaten path. The less junk I have to transport in and out the better. If you have a light weight solution I would surely like to here about it.

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

This is a video sent to us from a Client in the Forum:
He takes it down to A 39 percent battery and the Rescue jacket gives him about 3000 ft line of sight with his drone.

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

Email me at [email protected] for the Forum Discount Package.

Thanks for this, I'll look into it. Although the sight of the little guy bobbing about in the waves, dipping his rear motors into the water was genuinely stressing me out.

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

Why not turn your canoe into an aircraft carrier and fabricate a landing pad in the middle of the canoe with a large orange dot on the pad? Practice landing on the canoe on dry land before trying it in the water.

Like this, but smaller? And a bit less comfortable...

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I think some kind of canopy like this might work. Just found this picture but does not give any details on how it attaches.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Thanks for this, I'll look into it. Although the sight of the little guy bobbing about in the waves, dipping his rear motors into the water was genuinely stressing me out.

The DJI motors are Aluminum Brushless motors designed to Negotiate the water as they are the same type of motors used in submersibles, In the last 4 years of landing on the water , never had a motor failure . This is why we can fly the Drones in the Pouring Rain..

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

 

[Jagerbomb52]

OK a little more research on my post #26 these are called spray decks. I do not do any white water canoeing so had no need for them. Looks like you need to have your canoe rigged with tie downs on the side. Something I am not willing to do. Maybe I will just use my very big fishing net and scoop it out of the sky ?

 

[Macinfo]

Really? More than 50% chance of either losing fingers or the drone in the water. Or both..? Surely not.

I guess the odds are up to you.. I err on the side of caution, there are just obvious ways to fly under conditions where you increase the odds of an accident.

Sure, one can be optimistic, because they've done it once or twice perhaps and got away with doing something risky during a flight, and perhaps they are in a position not to care because they are insured in some way or have money to burn and don't care.

Maybe whenever you plan to give this a try you'll show us a great video of your trip, or you could be asking how care refresh works if you have it and never used it before.. Either way, its up to you...

 

[BSauce955]

We have a two-person canoe and a Mavic Air2. The canoe's open-topped 'Indian' type, with no deck, not a kayak or sit-on. I'm thinking of using my drone to follow us and film from it, but while the rewards for success are great, I'm well aware this is fraught with risk, particularly for the unprepared or inexperienced. Is anyone out there who has done this type of flying and can offer some suggestions and advice that will help ensure it doesn't all end in tears and disaster?

One idea I had that really plays it safe is to cheat a bit and take off from the shore, well back from the water's edge. Then paddle out, do a couple of hundred yards along the river with one of the auto tracking settings running on the drone, then back again to our start point and the drone's home point where we can land both boat and drone.

The alternative of course is what my son dubbed the 'suicide method', ie to run the entire operation from the canoe - take-off, flying and landing (hand-catching). Has anyone done this successfully or is it, as we both suspect, just not worth the risk? Are there any other possible ways a film like this (where the film-maker/AC controller is in the canoe) can be achieved?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts folks
The Baron

I don't know if anyone said this but if you launch from the canoe, DO NOT use RTH and land well before the drone automatically returns to home.

 

[maggior]

If you are able to launch and land in very calm water I think it would be doable with some practice like others said in the backyard sitting in the canoe. I think you'd also want to bring it back with PLENTY of battery left to give you plenty of time to futz around to get it down. If you feel pressured to get it down, that's probably when something bad would happen.

Good luck!!

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

The DJI motors are Aluminum Brushless motors designed to Negotiate the water as they are the same type of motors used in submersibles, In the last 4 years of landing on the water , never had a motor failure . This is why we can fly the Drones in the Pouring Rain..

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

Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

OK a little more research on my post #26 these are called spray decks. I do not do any white water canoeing so had no need for them. Looks like you need to have your canoe rigged with tie downs on the side. Something I am not willing to do. Maybe I will just use my very big fishing net and scoop it out of the sky ?

And if it all goes horribly wrong, you can always use it to scoop it out of the water

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

I don't know if anyone said this but if you launch from the canoe, DO NOT use RTH and land well before the drone automatically returns to home.

I suggested taking off from the shore and setting that as the home point in case of an emergency. RTH to a moving canoe on a river can only end one way…

I guess the odds are up to you.. I err on the side of caution, there are just obvious ways to fly under conditions where you increase the odds of an accident.

Sure, one can be optimistic, because they've done it once or twice perhaps and got away with doing something risky during a flight, and perhaps they are in a position not to care because they are insured in some way or have money to burn and don't care.

Maybe whenever you plan to give this a try you'll show us a great video of your trip, or you could be asking how care refresh works if you have it and never used it before.. Either way, its up to you...

If I give it a go I’ll post the results. Either a great little film or a flight log so you can tell me what I did wrong?

 

[RGallant]

I agree with the canoe platform idea but I it appears to be over thought it all you need is something you can land on. A small piece of quarter inch plywood, and piece of 1/2 strip screwed on the edges so you just drop it in place. I have a 14 x 17 inch soft folding pad I use for my Air 1, that is all space you should need.

When you are done it should just drop in the bottom

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

We have a two-person canoe and a Mavic Air2. The canoe's open-topped 'Indian' type, with no deck, not a kayak or sit-on. I'm thinking of using my drone to follow us and film from it, but while the rewards for success are great, I'm well aware this is fraught with risk, particularly for the unprepared or inexperienced. Is anyone out there who has done this type of flying and can offer some suggestions and advice that will help ensure it doesn't all end in tears and disaster?

One idea I had that really plays it safe is to cheat a bit and take off from the shore, well back from the water's edge. Then paddle out, do a couple of hundred yards along the river with one of the auto tracking settings running on the drone, then back again to our start point and the drone's home point where we can land both boat and drone.

The alternative of course is what my son dubbed the 'suicide method', ie to run the entire operation from the canoe - take-off, flying and landing (hand-catching). Has anyone done this successfully or is it, as we both suspect, just not worth the risk? Are there any other possible ways a film like this (where the film-maker/AC controller is in the canoe) can be achieved?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts folks
The Baron

I wouldn't take off from the canoe. Nope.

But I'll tell you this. It's relevant. I tracked my car with my MA2 one day. I put my car at the end of my driveway and I put the drone on the driveway. I took off and set the drone to track the car as I drove. The drone tracked me as I turned onto a secondary street and kept up with me. I then turned onto a main road and the drone was still tracking me at about 12 feet above and behind the car. I was about to turn around and go home by making a u-turn, but I saw a cop sitting their on the side of the road. I was like oh blankity blank! As I did my uturn to go home, I immediately pressed the RTH button. The drone flew all the way to my driveway and landed without me there. The police just thought a drone was either following me and left or he never noticed it. So the police didn't follow. So I drove home and saw my drone sitting in the driveway waiting for me. That was a very scary moment. I knew I was breaking quite a few rules. The police just happened to be there when I did. I blanked my pants.

So yeah, Launch your drone from the shore line away from the water, hover it over your canoe and start tracking. Take your canoe out while the drone follows. Then turn around, and as you get close to your launch area, press the RTH and let the drone land on shore. It's the safest way to go. Just mind the trees, if any.

 

[Meta4]

This is a video sent to us from a Client in the Forum:
He takes it down to A 39 percent battery and the Rescue jacket gives him about 3000 ft line of sight with his drone.

That range test video is very misleading.
It's very clear that conditions were not at all windy.
The flyer took his windspeed from Airdata's calculations based on the tilt of the drone.
But because of the additional drag caused by the bulky accessory, the drone has to tilt further to achieve the same speed, rendering Airdata's wind speed calculations useless.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

That range test video is very misleading.
It's very clear that conditions were not at all windy.
The flyer took his windspeed from Airdata's calculations based on the tilt of the drone.
But because of the additional drag caused by the bulky accessory, the drone has to tilt further to achieve the same speed, rendering Airdata's wind speed calculations useless.

That makes it even more impressive for me as I always thought it was the 20 mph wind that allowed him to come back on 39 % battery.

So knowing there might not have been 20 mph winds makes the Rescue Jacket even more impressive but I do think there were some winds that helped...

One thing to note that all the weight in the Rescue Jacket is in the Back.
So normal flying mode is really smooth with very little drag and tilt.

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

 

[Meta4]

That makes it even more impressive for me as I always thought it was the 20 mph wind that allowed him to come back on 39 % battery.

There wasn't a 20 mph wind at all.
That video shows near calm conditions.

One thing to note that all the weight in the Rescue Jacket is in the Back.
So normal flying mode is really smooth with very little drag and tilt.

The drone cannot go forward without tilting.
If it goes faster (or works harder because of the extra wind resistance, it has to tilt more.
And it's that tilting forward that gave the erroneous Airdata wind speed numbers that convinced the flyer that it was a very, very windy day, even though the plants and water surface show that it wasn't.

 

[BSauce955]

I suggested taking off from the shore and setting that as the home point in case of an emergency. RTH to a moving canoe on a river can only end one way…

Good thing there are people here smarter than me. lol