Flying MA2 over water?

[HBJLR714]

I might be asking something that's been asked before, but what's the general consensus on flying over water?

I was watching a YT video and the guy said he doesn't like flying his MA2 over water because it doesn't have redundant IMU and Compass systems like his M2P. I, personally, fly over water almost 90% of the time with my MA2 due to living at the coast within a few minutes of the ocean. Granted, I know if I lose it, it's gone. I am very careful and responsible with my MA2, but I also have no false pretense that accidents can't and won't happen.

 

[HoosierFlyer]

I think the consensus is not flying below 25ft altitude. Or, turn sensors off. You don’t want the vision sensor on the bottom to be getting confused by water and reflection.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Only issue is recovery of the aircraft in the event of a problem for Refresh. A crash on land has a chance of recovery of the carcass. Otherwise, flying over water is safer than over land. No trees or power lines or buildings to run into!

 

[lannes]

How to Fly Safely Over Water - DJI Guides

Check out these essential tips for keeping your drone safe while flying over water.

store.dji.com

 

[GadgetGuy]

How to Fly Safely Over Water - DJI Guides

Check out these essential tips for keeping your drone safe while flying over water.

store.dji.com

Good stuff in there. Anything above 2m over the water is within the capabilities of the aircraft.

 

[ddbros]

I'm new to drones but a 20oz Gatorade bottle will float an Air 2. Should keep the bottle half out of the water based on my weight comparisons. I have DJI Refresh, so I just don't want it to sink. Has anyone tried this? Will it mess with the flight characteristics. I haven't flown with it yet. I can't be the first to think of this idea.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'm new to drones but a 20oz Gatorade bottle will float an Air 2. Should keep the bottle half out of the water based on my weight comparisons. I have DJI Refresh, so I just don't want it to sink. Has anyone tried this? Will it mess with the flight characteristics. I haven't flown with it yet. I can't be the first to think of this idea.

Clever! It will definitely affect performance, but maybe not significantly enough to be unreliable. Looks like the props will clear it. Give it a try in an open space.

 

[Meta4]

I might be asking something that's been asked before, but what's the general consensus on flying over water?

Flying over water is a lot like flying over land, except there are less obstacles and sources of interference.

I was watching a YT video and the guy said he doesn't like flying his MA2 over water because it doesn't have redundant IMU and Compass systems like his M2P.

Something about water spooks a lot of flyers.
Most of my flying is over the ocean and back in the Phantom 3 days all drones had only a single compass and IMU.
It made no difference then and it shouldn't now.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

I'm new to drones but a 20oz Gatorade bottle will float an Air 2. Should keep the bottle half out of the water based on my weight comparisons. I have DJI Refresh, so I just don't want it to sink. Has anyone tried this? Will it mess with the flight characteristics. I haven't flown with it yet. I can't be the first to think of this idea.

?There are floatation products such as foam balls and pontoons for a variety of drones, but I believe thats more about landing without getting wet... even taking off again. I suppose they would offer floatation for recovery too. Your idea is definitely clever... I would like to hear how you make out with a flight ... the additional weight would be negligible.

 

[Meta4]

?There are floatation products such as foam balls and pontoons for a variety of drones, but I believe thats more about landing without getting wet.

All of those floatie contraptions are for giving nervous flyers a false sense of security.
Most would have negative impacts on flight performance that outweigh any positive value they might add.

 

[boblui]

There is

I was watching a YT video and the guy said he doesn't like flying his MA2 over water because it doesn't have redundant IMU and Compass systems like his M2P.

MP has redundant compass but not M2P. Redundancy of IMU and compass has absolutely nothing to do with flying over water which cannot affect the operation of these sensors in any ways.

Turning off the VPS sensor is advised by DJI because ripples may make the drone think that its moving when it is staying in place.

When the drone is actually moving, reflected images of things far away such as clouds and the sun wont change much in positions so the drone may be misled into believing that its not moving.

In both cases, the flight controller may take incorrect actions as the result. This may be true for some old drone models but newer models fuses the information from all sensors such as the IMU and GPS before coming to a solution so fooling only the VPS will not make the drone behave unexpectedly, at least not by any significant extent.

 

[boblui]

Also, regarding the advice " Also, the height needs to be adjusted frequently since the aircraft could possibly drift downwards. Be aware that the minimum height has to be above 1 meter when flying over water. " in DJI's guide, its only true for some old models such as the Mavic Pro running old versions of firmware.

The firmware is designed so that when there is no GPS fix, the drone will NOT fly higher than a certain limit above the ground ( 11 meters if I remember right ) . If you fly out from the balcony, the drone will actually descend to the height limit by itself once outside because the height above ground suddenly becomes much larger. Flying from shore to over water may have the same result because the VPS of the drone may treat reflected images ( cloud, sun or the drone itself ) as objects on the ground . As the positions of these images are all under the water surface, it's possible that the drone will descend into the water as the result.

The firmware has already been fixed years ago in this regard. I have not encountered such problem with my MP ( new firmware version ), M2P and MM.

 

[Giovanni]

All of those floatie contraptions are for giving nervous flyers a false sense of security.
Most would have negative impacts on flight performance that outweigh any positive value they might add.

Also, unless you have a boat what do you do when it's floating where you can't swim?

 

[Meta4]

If you fly out from the balcony, the drone will actually descend to the height limit by itself once outside because the height above ground suddenly becomes much larger.

That's not actually true.
The drone would have no idea of the distance to the ground.
It's only going to understand heights relative to the level of the launch point.

 

[MrLatte]

I would say stay at least 30 feet above the water (outside the range of the visual sensors) and ensure your fail-safe action is set to RTH and not hover or land! Also, ensure your HOME POINT is set properly before you head out over the water.

Also, think long and hard before you takeoff from a boat because your home point won't be the same after you take off!

 

[boblui]

That's not actually true.
The drone would have no idea of the distance to the ground.
It's only going to understand heights relative to the level of the launch point.

Of course the drone knows as long as the ground is within the range of the bottom sensors.

This has been tried by some guys when the Mavic Pro was first out in 2016. They flew the drone out from the balcony, GPS was weak to none, the drone automatically descended, did not respond to throttle input until GPS fix was obtained. There was a video on it but I could not find it now.

 

[Meta4]

Of course the drone knows as long as the ground is within the range of the bottom sensors.

This has been tried by some guys when the Mavic Pro was first out in 2016. They flew the drone out from the balcony, GPS was weak to none, the drone automatically descended, did not respond to throttle input until GPS fix was obtained. There was a video on it but I could not find it now.

Your post above was the first mention of flying from a balcony in this thread so I had to guess what you were talking about.
It seems you have a very particular and contrived scenario in mind.
Now you are filling in the blanks and adding lack of GPS and a balcony that is within 10 metres of the ground.
Most flyers would wait for GPS and have no problem finding it.
Most balconies are going to be >10 metres in the air.

 

[HBJLR714]

I think the consensus is not flying below 25ft altitude. Or, turn sensors off. You don’t want the vision sensor on the bottom to be getting confused by water and reflection.

I generally never fly below 50ft under any conditions just to be on the safe side of unseen telephone wires, etc. Same thing goes for over water just because that seems to be my comfort zone.

 

[Sxottie]

My Mavic Air 2's maiden voyage was over water...

 

[Teacherbytes]

I have flown over the May River in Bluffton, SC with my Mavic Air 2 and as long as you maintain a proper altitude you should have no problems.