Flying from a canoe. Any Advice?
- Thread starter Baron von Richthofen
- Start date
Wilson Photography
Active Member
This shot of a partially frozen reservior from a kayak in January 2021 with a Mavic Mini 2. My 2nd or 3rd flight so I was a little nervous to say the least. I did have a landing pad sitting on the kayak since I did not know how to land "grab" it from the air at the time.
Attachments
I do it on the Hudson river a few times a week. But always with a takeoff and landing from the nearby dock. The ability to send it home with one push is very seductive, and for most canoeing, you're
a. not going that far
b. going back where you started
have fun.
a. not going that far
b. going back where you started
have fun.
keirvt
Member
On rare occasions I launch my drone from a canoe on the harbour. Good to have two persons, one to manage the canoe and the other to catch the drone. One trick is to take a GPS and mark the waypoint at launch. Upon retrieving the drone you return to that way point. If for any reason the "return to home" feature is triggered, you are in the right place.
synthesis7
Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2017
- Messages
- 6
- Reactions
- 3
- Age
- 36
I have hand launched from canoes and boats from multiple locations. Due to timing and surroundings constraints, launching from the coast was not possible. All my hand canoe launches/catches were on lakes with easy conditions.
For a canoe launch I would consider the following:
- if you are on a river, don't. Just go to shore and film another canoe crew, your image will be very close-up anyway, it will look a bit weird seeing a guy staring at his screen. Also, with currents it just is too dangerous
- if on a lake, sure. Just don't go too far, and make sure you have 10+ minutes of flight time left before you hand catch. I have had numerous disconnect issues over water which took some time to fix. (MP1)
- If there are a lot of trees nearby, wait till you have done 5+ boat launches. This adds a whole new layer of complexity. I lost my first drone due to this (drifting into a tree while not paying attention to the screen for 3 seconds)
I think the most important thing is to have perfect control over both boat and drone, so you can steer either into the direction of the other if needed
Boat shots are always some of the best ones in aftermovies I make - don't forget the straight top-down shot, always a winner. This is a video from Greenland: (canoe shots at 2:20)
For a canoe launch I would consider the following:
- if you are on a river, don't. Just go to shore and film another canoe crew, your image will be very close-up anyway, it will look a bit weird seeing a guy staring at his screen. Also, with currents it just is too dangerous
- if on a lake, sure. Just don't go too far, and make sure you have 10+ minutes of flight time left before you hand catch. I have had numerous disconnect issues over water which took some time to fix. (MP1)
- If there are a lot of trees nearby, wait till you have done 5+ boat launches. This adds a whole new layer of complexity. I lost my first drone due to this (drifting into a tree while not paying attention to the screen for 3 seconds)
I think the most important thing is to have perfect control over both boat and drone, so you can steer either into the direction of the other if needed
Boat shots are always some of the best ones in aftermovies I make - don't forget the straight top-down shot, always a winner. This is a video from Greenland: (canoe shots at 2:20)
howard.allum
Well-Known Member
I would say being fully confident of the different ways of updating your home point is the most important thing about flying from a boat. Also, I have ski type landing gear fitted (light and cheap) which makes hand launching, and particularly landing, much easier and safer.
Having said all that, the idea of practising the flight sitting in your canoe on dry land makes a lot of sense.
Good luck! ???
Having said all that, the idea of practising the flight sitting in your canoe on dry land makes a lot of sense.
Good luck! ???
I took pictures with my MP from a kayak several time and it works fine with quiet condition but for safety reason, i always launch it / land it from the water with some kind of a home made safety jacket i designed myself and machined on my cnc. Very cheap to do. Yes flight performances are affected but who cares, it does the job : very stable vidéo, no sign of gimbal and/or safety jacket on pictures. The weight is less than 40 gr.
Attachments
I'm getting ready to buy a Mini 2, and I have a Grumman 17' square stern canoe, so I am reading this thread with great interest. I do a lot of improvised (i.e., cheap
mods to my canoe. It seems to me that a light folding landing deck could easily be made from either soft foam board with a few supports for rigidity, or corrugated plastic board (Coroplast, et al). For those who aren't familiar, Coroplast is the material that the white USPS baskets are made from - corrugated cardboard recreated from strong plastic. The deck would need to be lashed to the gunwales when deployed. Another thing to keep in mind is that you would want to deploy the landing deck very close to the canoe center of balance; the ideal site in a solo paddling situation would be directly in front of the paddler. It wouldn't be very much fun executing a safe landing, only to have the drone pitch off the side of the canoe as the paddler maneuvers to retrieve it from the landing deck. Obviously relatively still waters and winds would be required for this kind of drone use.It's pretty clearly lashed with cord (para or bungee) to cleats attached to the sides of the canoe. Most canoes don't have these, I suspect they are either aftermarket add-ons or specific to this canoe model.
Similar threads
