Landing on a boat Using a Mav 2 pro

[UberStonks]

Hi all
Im new to drone flying and will be going on a weeks boat trip Around Croatia in a few months. My question is about return to home. I want to take off when the boat is moving, take some shots of the boat sailing and then return to the boat. If I hit the return home button, Will the drone try and return to the position it took off from or will it return to my new position. I have read a few posts regarding flying over water but none seem to address RTH. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[UberStonks]

I forgot to add im using a Maveric pro 2 and the smart controller

 

[Meta4]

Im new to drone flying and will be going on a weeks boat trip Around Croatia in a few months. My question is about return to home. I want to take off when the boat is moving, take some shots of the boat sailing and then return to the boat. If I hit the return home button, Will the drone try and return to the position it took off from or will it return to my new position. I have read a few posts regarding flying over water but none seem to address RTH. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

RTH uses the home point that the drone records when you start it up and it first gets good GPS location data.
On a boat you never want to let the drone try to RTH and autoland.

Out on a boat you can get some great images, but, it's a very unforgiving environment.
Just one little mistake can easily mean losing your drone.
Before attempting to fly from a boat, you need to have plenty of experience and know your drone very well.
You need to know everything you will be doing without having to think about it and you have to have practised it on dry land several times.
You will have to hand launch and hand catch.
And one other thing ... if the boat is moving that makes things quite a bit harder.
It makes for problems that are hard to imagine until you try it.

I would not recommend flying from a boat for a new flyer.

 

[Lurch003]

Everything above... but most especially " I would not recommend flying from a boat for a new flyer. "

Check out some YT vids on boats & drones

 

[UberStonks]

Thanks for the tips

 

[Dale D]

Everything above... but most especially " I would not recommend flying from a boat for a new flyer. "

Check out some YT vids on boats & drones

There are numerous You Tubes on this subject. You need to set the RTH for the remote controller location, I believe. I would not want to risk losing my drone but there have been some great videos recently from Canada of a kayaker. Cannot recall when but in the past were or two.

 

[Karl D]

There are numerous You Tubes on this subject. You need to set the RTH for the remote controller location, I believe. I would not want to risk losing my drone but there have been some great videos recently from Canada of a kayaker. Cannot recall when but in the past were or two.

No point in setting RTH to the controller on a moving boat

 

[Lurch003]

There are numerous You Tubes on this subject. You need to set the RTH for the remote controller location, I believe. I would not want to risk losing my drone but there have been some great videos recently from Canada of a kayaker. Cannot recall when but in the past were or two.

I didn't make that clear, I meant check out YT vids of all the accidents to either learn or scare the OP into not trying it!

 

[pelagic_one]

I want to take off when the boat is moving, take some shots of the boat sailing and then return to the boat.

Hallo. I am an avid sailor, here in the San Francisco Bay. From experience I can share that it’s risky taking off from a moving sailboat, fully rigged with full sail. And it’s nearly impossible to land on that same fully rigged and moving sailboat.

If you’re chartering and sailing the boat yourself, you can always stop or slow the boat by “heaving to” the wind for launching and landing. But if the wind is blowing quite a bit, make the judgement call of aborting the Mavic’s mission for now.

If you’re going to be in a crewed vessel, you’re at the mercy of the captain/skipper, so like any cruise ship, ask in advance if you can even bring the drone. With other passengers aboard, it would take a nice tip/gratuity to have the skipper conduct special sailing maneuvers for your flight.

Hopefully you’ll have plenty of deck space on which to land. If not, ensure you‘re quite proficient at hand-catching on dry land before boarding that vessel. And above all, never use RTH on a boat. Even with sails down or even anchored, the typical drift or sway would have you landing on water.

 

[old man mavic]

as you will have gathered from the replies you have received so far flying from a boat has its own special risks ,something else to consider when taking your drone to another country is check if you will encounter any problems at the border, and if there are any particular restrictions where you are intending to fly while you are there

 

[Searat290]

If you were going to be near enough to a safe location on land, you could set the home point there. A friend on land could retrieve it if you were going to be a while getting in.

 

[UberStonks]

Thanks again for all the help

 

[caryg]

All previous comments are solid. I'd add, though, that theoretically you should be able to set the home point to your controller, launch the drone, take your shots of the moving boat, then stop the boat and hit RTH then, so the drone has a stable target to return to.
Considerations, though:
--Ideally the boat's deck would be Fiberglas or wood. Steel will mess with your compass and increase the complexity of the task.
--As someone else noted, you'd want a big, flat surface to target -- if there are sails and rigging lines all over the place, you've got problems, especially if it's windy.
--Finally, when I say theoretically, that's what I mean, because I've only read about this. Haven't done it myself, so take my advice with a grain.

 

[sar104]

All previous comments are solid. I'd add, though, that theoretically you should be able to set the home point to your controller, launch the drone, take your shots of the moving boat, then stop the boat and hit RTH then, so the drone has a stable target to return to.
Considerations, though:
--Ideally the boat's deck would be Fiberglas or wood. Steel will mess with your compass and increase the complexity of the task.
--As someone else noted, you'd want a big, flat surface to target -- if there are sails and rigging lines all over the place, you've got problems, especially if it's windy.
--Finally, when I say theoretically, that's what I mean, because I've only read about this. Haven't done it myself, so take my advice with a grain.

It really needs to be emphasized that setting the home point to the controller is not a dynamic setting - it sets it to the location of the controller at the time that you choose that option. If the controller then moves the home point doesn't move with it.

 

[caryg]

It really needs to be emphasized that setting the home point to the controller is not a dynamic setting - it sets it to the location of the controller at the time that you choose that option. If the controller then moves the home point doesn't move with it.

Hmm...that wasn't my understanding. I had the impression that the reason you'd choose the controller as a home point, rather than a terrestrial spot, is that it does in fact create a dynamic HP. That way (the theory goes) you could set a controller HP, launch the drone, then walk or drive somewhere else, and be able to bring the drone to you there. Again, I've only read about this, but otherwise, why be able to designate the controller as a HP at all? There'd be no reason to have that option...

 

[sar104]

Hmm...that wasn't my understanding. I had the impression that the reason you'd choose the controller as a home point, rather than a terrestrial spot, is that it does in fact create a dynamic HP. That way (the theory goes) you could set a controller HP, launch the drone, then walk or drive somewhere else, and be able to bring the drone to you there. Again, I've only read about this, but otherwise, why be able to designate the controller as a HP at all? There'd be no reason to have that option...

As I said - that's incorrect. The reset to controller option exists so that if you change location during the flight you can designate a new home point. It is not continuously updated after that as the controller moves.

 

[caryg]

Ah, OK -- thanks for clarifying that.
That said, though, this would offer a way for the pilot to do the boat shoot, yes? Could he do the shoot, stop the boat, designate a new controller HP, then land?

 

[sar104]

Ah, OK -- thanks for clarifying that.
That said, though, this would offer a way for the pilot to do the boat shoot, yes? Could he do the shoot, stop the boat, designate a new controller HP, then land?

Yes - as long as the boat doesn't drift and the controller coordinates are accurate enough. It would still almost certainly require the pilot to cancel RTH and land manually.

 

[Lurch003]

Haven't done it myself, so take my advice with a grain.

Definitely listen to this guy ???

 

[Meta4]

Hmm...that wasn't my understanding. I had the impression that the reason you'd choose the controller as a home point, rather than a terrestrial spot, is that it does in fact create a dynamic HP.

That feature was available in the old Phantom 2 series, but not in any of the later models.
Here's the message you get on your screen in Go 4 when you reset the home point that way:

That said, though, this would offer a way for the pilot to do the boat shoot, yes? Could he do the shoot, stop the boat, designate a new controller HP, then land?

Most boat flyers aren't flying far from their boat and they can easily spot the boat on their screen.
The OP mentioned he will be on a sailing vessel so start/stop operations aren't really an option.

Yes - as long as the boat doesn't drift

All boats drift unless they are tied to the dock or have run aground.
On a boat you need to hand catch and never want to let the drone autoland.