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Flying over water?

Marcass Carcass

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I have a question I have never flew over water and I know a bunch of you guys do, what I'm asking is what is my minimum height to fly safely without my ma2 taking a swim? TIA
 
Flying over the water is tricky , Battery time: Wind Speed : Geo Zones : Forced Landings , Bird Strikes.

Your height which can change at times over the water so give your self 15 ft as a min if your paying attention to the video on the screen.

5 ft if your watching the Drone itself fly and of course stay within your designated height limits.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and land on the Waves.
Screenshot 09-05-2020 15.22.06.jpg
 
Are you seeking a particular scene, most notably one that would necessity being low?
I would not, in general, go very low if, for what ever reason, I was relying on the screen to give me a sense of height but where the drone has been WELL inside my VLOS and I could see it twitch, I have descended to maybe 2 to 3ft but that was descend, get the view I wanted, then climb.
For general "going from one place to another" I would probably be at 30ft or more, in fact probably more like 60ft+.
I have done one shot, of a buoy, that was made using the screen and again it was a descent, get the shot, climb, maybe 2 to 3 ft or lower but my thumb was hovering over the throttle to push it all the way up if there was a twitch and I think there might have been.
Would I flight horizontally at 2 or 3 ft over water? At speed most definitely NO, as SLOW speed for final positioning maybe but only where the flight mode allowed rapid ascent.
 
i have noticed with mini 2 is that if I stand still over water 2 m. its slowly landing by itself. Maby water reflection messes sensors up or smth.
We have done a lot of tests over the water and wind is much more likely to effect the drone as it can push it down. Waves on the water can push up the drone because of the sensors , but we have yet to have the sensors force land the drone on the water without the help of the wind in over 100 flights on the water.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water.
 
I have a question I have never flew over water and I know a bunch of you guys do, what I'm asking is what is my minimum height to fly safely without my ma2 taking a swim? TIA
Flying over water is just like flying over solid ground.
Except that there are no trees, buildings etc to run into and there's less interference.
Use the same minimum height you would for flying over land.
 
We have done a lot of tests over the water and wind is much more likely to effect the drone as it can push it down. Waves on the water can push up the drone because of the sensors , but we have yet to have the sensors force land the drone on the water without the help of the wind in over 100 flights on the water.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water.
it was not much of a wind. just a river and trees and houses next to the river. Still happened.
 
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You must have very strange winds where you fly.
Most places the wind blows parallel to the earth/water's surface.

Turbulence is created quite a way downwind of obstacles like trees, buildings, and terrain. Even small obstacles like a line of marsh grass or a boat create turbulence downstream. The taller the obstacle, the longer the wind shadow.

That turbulence can have significant vertical components, i.e. it can push a drone up or down.

Further away from obstacles and over open water, the wind is more nearly laminar, flowing parallel to the surface.
 
Thanks for the info everyone, no ocean here, just ponds and lakes......


Watch out for fish and gators if available.

Might see your drone as a snack if hovering too close to the water and come up for a closer look. :D
 
What are updrafts/downdrafts, Trebek?
Something you won't encounter over water,
And something you would rarely find anywhere with sufficient strength to cause concern to a drone flyer.

The idea that wind over water could or would push the drone down just doesn't fly.
 
I have a question I have never flew over water and I know a bunch of you guys do, what I'm asking is what is my minimum height to fly safely without my ma2 taking a swim? TIA
Many of my flights are over water but I keep it relatively high. I try to keep it silhouetted against a while (cloud) background. I am not going to risk loss by skimming the water. That is for others to risk. Not me. It's not woth it to me. See my web site for many videos flying over water.

click here
Dale Davis,M.D.
 
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Flying over the water is tricky , Battery time: Wind Speed : Geo Zones : Forced Landings , Bird Strikes.

Your height which can change at times over the water so give your self 15 ft as a min if your paying attention to the video on the screen.

5 ft if your watching the Drone itself fly and of course stay within your designated height limits.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and land on the Waves.
View attachment 133426
Just ordered my Phantomrain on Saturday
 
Since moving to coastal Australia, all of my flights are over water at some point these days, and I throughly enjoy it! I fly everywhere from a metre or two above the crashing waves to 120 meters up for Panorama & Sphere shots etc. I have never had an issue at any altitude with my MA2 over water including lakes, rivers and dams. I find flying at full throttle in sports mode low down just above the breaking surf is fine with VLOS. You can get down closer that way. Of course you can always fly smoother in Tripod mode and then “turn up the speed” in post if you like.
 
Be
! I fly everywhere from a metre or two above the crashing waves to 120 meters u
be wary of flying near salt water spray, having seen the corrosion inside a Mavic 2 that was in salt water for several days it is SCARY. There is at least one thread in here where a guy went low over rough water and it was reckoned a wave or spray caught the drone.
 
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I have read turning off bottom sensors help. I had a dji spark (now have a Mavic-air-2) and I don't know how close the technology is but my spark would hover 12 in above flat water surface as long as I wanted it to with no problem . Mavic-air-2 I haven't tried yet but I got a pontoon float kit for it. I do a lot of freshwater fishing from a boat. Interested to see how the air 2 does. Fly carefully !
 
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