Flying from a canoe. Any Advice?

[Phantomrain.org]

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

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.

Not really arguing with you about the wind speed I do agree it does not appear to be that windy.
None the less , the video shows the Rescue Jacket off nicely and I am thankful for the video from him.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Good thing there are people here smarter than me. lol

Depending on how far your going , that really is not a bad idea , A remote start would also work from the Kayak once he got settled to conserve battery.

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

 

[Meta4]

Not really arguing with you about the wind speed I do agree it does not appear to be that windy.
None the less , the video shows the Rescue Jacket off nicely and I am thankful for the video from him.

But it's quite misleading to use it to demonstrate ability to deal with wind.
It shows the ability to fly in light conditions.
And even though conditions were very light, the drone was working as hard as it would if flying against a 20 mph wind

 

[Phantomrain.org]

But it's quite misleading to use it to demonstrate ability to deal with wind.
Even though conditions were very light, the drone was working as hard as it would if flying against a 20 mph wind

Actually Zeus the forum client contacted Air Data after the first time you mentioned the wind speed, Air Data told him that the wind speed module at that time was not made for the Air 2

As far as you thinking that flying with the Rescue Jacket is like flying into a 20 mph wind is not true at all
The Air Data Module is simply at Fault .

When we fly with the Rescue Jacket , its barely noticeable and its agility amazing as we show in several videos .

The Genius behind the Product of the Rescue Jacket is in its low center of gravity , its stream line design and when geared up with the Wet Suit , its insane ability to negotiate the water.

I think what I will do is simply edit the title letting people know that the wind speed was not correct.
The lower the wind speed the more impressive the video is for me..

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

 

[Meta4]

Actually Zeus the forum client contacted Air Data after the first time you mentioned the wind speed, Air Data told him that the wind speed module at that time was not made for the Air 2

As far as you thinking that flying with the Rescue Jacket is like flying into a 20 mph wind is not true at all
The Air Data Module is simply at Fault .

Airdata's windspeeds were not accurate for a time after the Air 2 was released, but they updated things to fix that.
It would be a simple matter to run the flight data through Airdata now to see what windspeed the drag from the accessory is equivalent to.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Airdata's windspeeds were not accurate for a time after the Air 2 was released, but they updated things to fix that.
It would be a simple matter to run the flight data through Airdata now to see what windspeed the drag from the accessory is equivalent to.

I will definitely make mention to Zeus but he has been MIA for while now, but I will try and reach out.

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

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.

Good story. But why are the police never around when you really need them?

 

[offtheback]

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 vote no!

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

Another thing worth mentioning is that Active track is made for people and cars, tracking the canoe may be a hit and miss proposition. You may be doing more manual flying from the canoe than you think.

 

[Huey111]

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.

Sounds good for recovery but motors of any kind do not fare well in saltwater or it’s spray.

 

[iglou7]

Making love in a canoe is better.... It's like drinking Heineken.... F****ing close to water.

 

[dave canada]

thats easy don,t stand up

 

[G Saunders]

I know this is a Mavic forum, but I'd suggest a SwellPro instead of a Mavic or an Air for flying off a canoe or a kayak. They're built for the purpose, can land in and take off from the water. Some models can drop a dozen different lures. I wouldn't take a nice camera drone in a canoe, wouldn't hesitate to take a SwellPro...

 

[MiragePro]

Defiantly use a floatation device. Did not mention if it was a lake or a river. If a river I would not attempt it. Otherwise if it lands in the water, you might find yourself in a **** creek without a paddle, chasing it downstream.

 

[Drone-Retriever]

Presume you are doing lake paddling and not whitewater.
Make sure your home point is set to a dry location.
Recommend you do your research on what to do after a water event. Check out drone-retriever.com for some insight on water events.

 

[macfawlty]

The task would be so much easier and risk would be Minimized by using a Rescue Jacket with the Wet Suit for Splash Protection. This way you Protect the Drone from sinking and catching is 10 times easier. You can also take off from the Water or land on the water..


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

View attachment 132764

I agree with PhantomRain. I bought the wetsuit and rescue jacket for my MA2 after unintentionally descending into a river. I was able to retrieve it after 10 minutes underwater and after a day in rice, only the battery was compromised. I would have bought the rescue package before the trip, but only got the MA2 the day before as backup to my M2P, which was out for repairs after a crash the previous weekend. So, I use the MA2 with the PhantomRain setup when flying over water.
What you should ask yourself, is whether the footage you intend to capture is worth the riskier boat launch/landing. You could just launch and land from the shore and follow your canoe in flight. At least a forced RTH would land in a safe place.
Where I live just outside DC, for 185 miles along the Maryland side of the Potomac River (where I do a lot of my flying/practicing) is National Park land (C&O Canal NP). But the river itself is not in the NP, so I have to paddle out to an island or anchor spot.
I’d agree with Ron-EP and if it’s necessary to fly from a boat, do it with safety in mind. Leave yourself plenty of battery life as it will take a bit longer to catch. Remember also, if you lose signal, it will return to the launch point. I was flying from a moving party barge once, didn’t update my home point regularly and wasn’t watching the battery life. The drone kept flying away as I was trying to maneuver it with one hand on the controller to catch it… unnerving. Live and learn.

 

[Dale D]

Ummm...don't. Unless you have $ to burn.

Unless you are a very efficient canoeist, in very calm waters, and have tons of confidence in hand launching and catching, I would definitely forgo it. Best to let your son from you. This is supposed to be fun, not anxiety. Just dream of the shot instead.

 

[Capt KO]

IMO. Get the rescue jacket. (Ask for forum deal). 90% of my flights are over water and my confidence level now is 100% with the A2 wetsuit/jacket combo. Admittedly, it dropped my flight time about 5 min per battery in moderate winds but that is a very small price to pay in comparison to dropping my drone in the drink. Just using the jacket alone will make retrieval a given. And only takes a minute to put on before flight. A small drawback is, in windy conditions, the jacket edge may be seen on screen when aiming down. Happy owner, highly recommend when flying over water. Enjoy your canoe trip. ?

 

[Flyernh]

I wanna see this
Please video this !!

 

[CharlieR]

I like the safe approach of a shore take-off and landing. We've done that with our kayak, and it works well as long as you just want a few minutes of active track following and don't need to get far from the launch point. We get everything ready to go (M2P and kayak), launch the drone and let it hover. We then launch the kayak, paddle out a few minutes, fly the drone out to us, set active track, let it follow us around for a couple of minutes, fly it back to hover on shore, and paddle back to shore to land kayak and drone. Whole exercise is over in 20 minutes with adequate battery power left.
I also have a short lanyard attached to my controller to keep it out of my way and off the floor when paddling so it doesn't get wet.