Need advice on settings for launching off a cliff or a boat & flying out over open sea.

[markwalters]

Did you take these with your drone?

Yes!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Will be going iceberg hunting in the East Coast & have never flown over open seas. I have flown several times over rapids with my Mavic 2 Pro before I acquired my Mavic 3. Here are a few of my questions:

1. Do I set my RTH to “Smart RTH”. Something tells me I should not set via height because the cliff I launched from is higher?

2. Seems unanimous that I turn OFF Obstacle Avoidance but isn’t the only way to do this is set the drone to “Sport Mode”?

3. For hand catching on a boat, I have read a lot of people saying to set Obstacle Avoidance to “Brake” which makes it easier. I have hand caught on dry land but never in open seas!

I have a Firehouse Arc II strobe light mounted at the top rearmost point on my Mavic 3 so I can keep VLOS as these icebergs could be as far as 2km from shore. I will also be using my Asus ROG 5 mobile gaming phone that has 2 USB-C ports that I can as an option connect my Epson Moverio BT-40 smartglasses to get a clear FPV view of what I’m shooting along with keeping VLOS at all times. Was planning on getting the RC Pro but decided not to because of random disconnect issues stated in various forums. I will be using UAV Forecast app to monitor for ideal flight conditions as I will be spending a week iceberg hunting.

Any advice on flying in the environments I just described above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

You might consider getting a Mavic 3 Rescue Jacket for an easy and safe way to Catch off the boat. .as well as providing your drone the ability to Float on the Water and land on the Glacier.

Gear to Hand Catch your Mavic 3 on a boat and Float.
Phantomrain.org

 

[4k Drone Footage...or 5]

No, hand catching is possible even with obstacle avoidance on.

The "trick" is to hold the catching hand under the M3 for a few seconds without moving and then land the M3 into it using the RC controls.

The "real" trick is to make sure your fingers don't stick out through the top....from personal experience I know that you''l have at least four nasty cuts in your finger if not done with great care

 

[Robert Prior]

The "real" trick is to make sure your fingers don't stick out through the top....from personal experience I know that you''l have at least four nasty cuts in your finger if not done with great care

When Stewart of Drone Film Guide does it in his videos, he wears a glove on his catching hand. He also stands with the wind on his back, so a sudden gust doesn't blow the drone into him.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Not that I've never nipped a finger top on a spinning prop, but when hand catching, it's never happened because I lay my hand/palm out flat. I only wrap my fingers around the fuselage after it's landed flatly in my palm.

You want your hand flat anyway to be sure the VPS sees it properly.

 

[jephoto]

There is no need to do anything different for your RTH settings.
Just use an RTH height sufficient to clear any obstacles that could be between you and the drone.

You should be able to disable obstacle avoidance in the app settings.
Surely they haven't taken that way too?

There are a few things about flying from a boat that are different from what you are used to.
Out at sea is the worst place to be learning new techniques, so make sure you have practised everything you'll need on dry land before you go.


Be aware that if the boat is sailing, your homepoint is back where you were when you launched and it could be miles away.
To avoid a situation where the drone heads back there for a low battery RTH you will need to reset the home point every 5 mins or so to keep the home point near enough to where you are.
If the drone is close enough, it won't matter if you reset to the drone's location or yours.

Retrieving a drone from a moving boat is more difficult that anyone who has only flown on land can imagine.
Make sure you bring it in while there is still lots of battery, because it will probably take a few attempts.

Re:Resetting the Homepoint to the controller’s CURRENT position.

Question from someone who does not yet have the Mavic three. My experience is all been with phantoms and using an iPad as my controller.
I’ve been Flying Phantoms (2,3p,4p) since 2014 and have never yet been able to reset the Homepoint to my current position if I’ve moved.
I’ve been told that the GPS through Apple devices was not accurate enough for DJI to allow changing the home point.

When I get my M3 my intention is to get the mid range controller. The smart RC controller.
Has anyone here currently using the Mavic 3 with that controller and have been successfully been able to reset your home point if you’ve been moving away from where you launched?

 

[jephoto]

When Stewart of Drone Film Guide does it in his videos, he wears a glove on his catching hand. He also stands with the wind on his back, so a sudden gust doesn't blow the drone into him.

They make gloves for when you are slicing vegetables with a mandolin slicer to keep from shredding your fingers. I would think those would be pretty decent protection.
Some thing like these:

Dowellife Level 8 Reinforced Cut Resistant Gloves Food Grade, Mandoline Protective Gloves, Knife Safety Gloves for Meat Cutting, Oyster Shucking, Fish Fillet, Kitchen Slicing and Wood Carving(Medium) https://a.co/d/4m4XwGB