Flying over the sea

[KTM Junkie]

Today i went for a drive down by Milford on Sea. from the beach i could see the needles just off the Isle of Wight. I thought should I fly out and take some video, but i bottled it as ive only had my Mavic 2 a couple of weeks and Im scared of loosing it. so i went back inland and flew a mile away and back I was worried in case it would not return but it did and landed on the landing pad. i would love to fly further but am worried about if it falls or does not return. would you fly over the ocean ???

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yes, but in your situation there I would be waiting for pretty much no wind or at least a light offshore wind blowing away from you to the target . . . might take a while but those perfect (no) storm days do occur from time to time.

Read up here on the forum and be aware of how ocean winds and flying home or RTH (manual or auto) can cause loss of aircraft.

Is it a mile ? That is 1.6km and with good LOS for signal should be a cake walk.
Use a take off point somewhat elevated above sea level (ASL) to help signal at distance.
I would keep the M2P up fairly high as it got further away near the target, just to be sure you keep signal and full control.

Change RTH settings to a suitable height . . . if flying from a reasonably high vantage point (say for example a cliff edge 15m above sea level, then say 10m RTH altitude should be more than ample.
If you are higher than that over the target, and you lose signal / RTH kicks in, it won't descend, but stay at your current altitude.
As it comes back over the ocean, you can then bring it down manually to a safe height (out of possible increased higher wind speed).
In the example above this would be 25m (~ 80') ASL.

It'll be a bit nerve racking for you, so maybe try some other shorter such trips first . . . the Isle of Wight isn't going anywhere soon ?

 

[KTM Junkie]

Yes, but in your situation there I would be waiting for pretty much no wind or at least a light offshore wind blowing away from you to the target . . . might take a while but those perfect (no) storm days do occur from time to time.

Read up here on the forum and be aware of how ocean winds and flying home or RTH (manual or auto) can cause loss of aircraft.

Is it a mile ? That is 1.6km and with good LOS for signal should be a cake walk.
Use a take off point somewhat elevated above sea level (ASL) to help signal at distance.
I would keep the M2P up fairly high as it got further away near the target, just to be sure you keep signal and full control.

Change RTH settings to a suitable height . . . if flying from a reasonably high vantage point (say for example a cliff edge 15m about sea level, then say 10m RTH altitude should be more than ample.
If you are higher than that over the target, and you lose signal / RTH kicks in, it won't descend, but stay at your current altitude.
As it comes back over the ocean, you can then bring it down manually to a safe height (out of possible increased higher wind speed).
In the example above this would be 25m (~ 80') ASL.

It'll be a bit nerve racking for you, so maybe try some other shorter such trips first . . . the Isle of Wight isn't going anywhere soon ?

Thank you for your reply, a few things to think about there.

 

[DanMan32]

You're apprehension is understandable. Give it some time to get familiar with your M2 and more comfortable with it, especially over long distances. It is easier to recover if it crashes on land, not so when it crashes over water. Granted you have less obstacles to contend with over water than you do on land.

 

[Meta4]

ive only had my Mavic 2 a couple of weeks and Im scared of loosing it. so i went back inland and flew a mile away and back I was worried in case it would not return
... would you fly over the ocean ???

I would but I don't think you should be right now.
Your drone is very easy to fly but that can encourage new flyers to get too adventurous too early.
Given your inexperience and you flying a mile away already, it sounds like that's what you are doing.

There are a hundred things that can go wrong and to be a proficient flyer you have to have a good understanding of the potential problems and how to make sure they don't happen to your drone.
Keep your drone much closer and learn a lot more about its operation.
Start with the RTH section of the manual and testing it so you understand how RTH works, how to initiate RTH and how to cancel it and resume control.
Learn about wind issues before flying at sea and always consider how the wind will affect your flight home.

 

[rbtmckny]

I agree you are doing too much to early. Get to know your Drone. Keep in mind, the wind can be very strong over the ocean.

 

[beach_Dr]

One of the good things about flying over the ocean is nothing to block your signal, you can go pretty far out (I've done 2km +) with great signal.

One of the bad things about flying over the ocean is wind, which can be different off shore to what is onshore. I've almost lost mavic due to wind - struggling to come home.

Don't fly out far with a breeze blowing offshore, I only fly with onshore breeze, or breeze blowing across the beach - can always land downwind on the beach and walk to retrieve it if needed, cannot retrieve it from the ocean! And wind normally much stringer higher up, I normally fly at around 10-12m altitude when far out over the ocean, unless I need to get high for a particular shot. That height has much less wind.

Some people mention sensor issues over water - I've never had problems with downward sensors over ocean (though mavic 1 had different downward sensors to mavic 2 I think)

 

[DanMan32]

The other bad thing about ocean flying: if something goes wrong and crashes, it is likely unrecoverable. On land, you have a good chance and may even have minimal damage.

 

[Unknown Pilot]

The nice thing about ditching in the sea is you don’t have to waste time looking for it.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

. . . unless you have Care Refresh !!! ?

 

[Unknown Pilot]

. . . unless you have Care Refresh !!! [emoji6]

Care refresh, no. Insurance, yes.

 

[Dakarenduro]

Agree with all the comments. As to sensors, I believe it may have issues if you are flying close to water level. No exact data to back this uP. But with my MA if I'm flying over the water as long as I am say 7+meters high it will accurately hold height, but if I am lower it seems to drift up/down and you need to be aware of that as you fly it so you don't mistakenly run it into the oocean!