Reluctant to fly over water?

[Phantomrain.org]

I fly over still & rough water regularly. Have not invested in any floatation kits (yet). What’s the general opinion on the best option for rough water?

ok Waking up :}

When it comes to Rough Waters , your best option is the Rescue Jacket as its designed and engineered for rough landings in 3 ft waves, it does carry a heavier Footprint at 4.3 ounces but makes up for the weight in way less drag do to its counter balance and stream line design.

Ease of use is something we focus on with all our products since I use them everyday and it only takes about 10 seconds to put one on and off.

Now here is the Rescue Jackets in Action.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavics in the Rain and Float on Water.

Here is a Client that tested its long distance ability taking the flight out to 39% before bringing it back , very inspiring.
Because of its low center of gravity we recommend you also get the Wet Suit if you plan remote landings on the water.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I too get still get nervous flying over water... and I've been flying drones since 2013, flying R/C for 40+ years...

If I am flying extensively over water, I attach one of these "Getter Back" devices. Designed for fishing gear, they have obviously picked up on the UAS market, new packaging, possibly new mount - and of course almost double the price since they first came out. Still a viable solution to recovery if not too deep, but obviously won't save your drone from a dunk.

HERE is basically your idea, in a kit form on Amazon.

Getter back seemed like a great solution and we put one on the Phantom 4 Pro and lost that in the lake erie as it never deployed so we put two of the Getterbacks on one on each leg of the Phantom 4 and we lost that one also as we were testing our rescue jackets for the phantoms.

A Great idea but was not a secure product , I even tried to buy the company and the product and the owner stated it was not a finished product at that time, that explained a lot.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain / Snow and land on water.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Done hundreds of flights offshore where there's currents pulling you one way, wind pushing you another, and then the swells; never had an incident. Keep all that crap off the drone, disable all of the vision sensors, manually update YOUR home location on the DJI app as the boat moves, learn to hand grab/launch, and you wont have any problems. Water is probably the EASIEST environment to fly in, there's nothing to hit!

 

[Galeforce1]

I fly over water (ocean) regularly. The key is to be prepared, and to do all your pre-flight checks thoroughly.

I check the batteries, make sure they are charged, healthy and tightly attached. I check the props for nicks & scratches and that they are securely attached. I check GPS signals are strong. Most importantly, I hover over the take-off point until the app gives the message that the RTH point has been updated. Then I fly.

A few days ago I had some minor signal interference while I was 800 metres out taking photos of a ship, and the video started to break up. I tried to return manually, but it was difficult to tell which direction the Mavic was facing, and I inadvertently flew further out to sea (revealed when I checked the log in Airdata afterwards). The signal returned intermittently along with the video feed, but still not enough to be able to fly back manually. Ended up using RTH function, which worked perfectly.

The problem was some sort of signal interference even though it was 800 metres off-shore and the only ship around. Without the RTH function working I would have almost certainly lost the Mavic.

 

[danny_2020]

I am wondering, if you fly the drone high up and then it looses battery, or whatever and plops into the water, will the pool noodles keep the drone completely out of water, or will there be some minor splashing going on?

 

[Meta4]

I am wondering, if you fly the drone high up and then it looses battery, or whatever and plops into the water, will the pool noodles keep the drone completely out of water, or will there be some minor splashing going on?

Almost zero chance.
In a fall-from-the-sky incident, the drone won't have a smooth right-way-up descent.

The other important thing that's ignored by proponents of these things is how much they handicap the performance of the drone's speed and range due to increased wind resistance.

 

[Thomas B]

Almost zero chance.
In a fall-from-the-sky incident, the drone won't have a smooth right-way-up descent.

The other important thing that's ignored by proponents of these things is how much they handicap the performance of the drone's speed and range due to increased wind resistance.

Agree... just make it easier to retrieve the hulk.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I tried to return manually, but it was difficult to tell which direction the Mavic was facing, and I inadvertently flew further out to sea (revealed when I checked the log in Airdata afterwards). The signal returned intermittently along with the video feed, but still not enough to be able to fly back manually. Ended up using RTH function, which worked perfectly.

So the app wasn't showing you what direction the UAS was facing? Video feed is usually first to go but I've always been able to tell what course im on with the app. Ive had phone crashes during low battery moments. Watch the remote and watch the distance, keep correcting until it starts shrinking, eventually you'll hear/see it and bring her home.

 

[Augustus]

Reluctant to fly over water?

A Simple Solution to a very big Problem! (Total loss of drone when over water)

DIY from readily available 3' x 3.5"swimming noodles (In Australia, other Countries?)

An idea worth considering if you are flying your drone over water!

Simplicity, safety, easy to make and install.

The floats only weigh 63 grams including the 8 No 64 rubber bands.

Flotation test in Town supply water leaves camera around 3" above water level.

Probably only suitable for calm water, have not tried this yet!

Appears to make very little discernible difference to flight controls or stability.

May decrease overall flying time. More testing needed.

Some drag could be reduced by rounding front and rear ends of floats.

Enjoy, but only at your own risk!

Pictures tell the story better than words.
View attachment 123638View attachment 123639View attachment 123640View attachment 123641View attachment 123642View attachment 123643View attachment 123644View attachment 123645View attachment 123646
Feed back appreciated!

I had the same concerns. Great solution as there are accessories similar for $20 but your solution is the same for less. How is it working so far? I’m thinking of doing the same and was wondering how your testing is going.

 

[RuudF]

Reluctant to fly over water?

A Simple Solution to a very big Problem! (Total loss of drone when over water)

DIY from readily available 3' x 3.5"swimming noodles (In Australia, other Countries?)

An idea worth considering if you are flying your drone over water!

Simplicity, safety, easy to make and install.

The floats only weigh 63 grams including the 8 No 64 rubber bands.

Flotation test in Town supply water leaves camera around 3" above water level.

Probably only suitable for calm water, have not tried this yet!

Appears to make very little discernible difference to flight controls or stability.

May decrease overall flying time. More testing needed.

Some drag could be reduced by rounding front and rear ends of floats.

Enjoy, but only at your own risk!

Pictures tell the story better than words.
View attachment 123638View attachment 123639View attachment 123640View attachment 123641View attachment 123642View attachment 123643View attachment 123644View attachment 123645View attachment 123646
Feed back appreciated!

Yugh, ugly!
Also has negative effect on battery life and range.

When I bought my Mavic 4 years ago, amazon of eBay sold a buoy called Getter Back for retrieval of fishing rods.
It attaches to an arm using velcro and it deploys when in contact with water.
The buoy floats to the surface on a fishing line 100 meters long (300 ft).
The line is strong enough to retrieve a fishing rod and reel so the weight of a drone isn't a problem.
See the picture and the measure tape is in centimetres.

admittedly also ugly but a lot better than those big blue suppositories.

Ruud

 

[Phantomrain.org]

There is a reason why they say Rod Recovery rather than Drone / Rod Recovery as they get caught up easy and dont always fire as we learned loosing Two Phantom 4 Pros when we first started flying drones do to the Getterbacks.

We compensated by putting Two of them on each leg, after loosing the second phantom 4 we were done with that system, as we needed something a little more secure.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[eaglesurfing]

There is a reason why they say Rod Recovery rather than Drone / Rod Recovery as they get caught up easy and dont always fire as we learned loosing Two Phantom 4 Pros when we first started flying drones do to the Getterbacks.

We compensated by putting Two of them on each leg, after loosing the second phantom 4 we were done with that system, as we needed something a little more secure.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

And the debate lingers on.
Lose 5 minutes of flying time and get my drone back.
I can go for that.
I am still going for getting my drone back.

 

[dirkclod]

There is a reason why they say Rod Recovery rather than Drone / Rod Recovery as they get caught up easy and dont always fire as we learned loosing Two Phantom 4 Pros when we first started flying drones do to the Getterbacks.

We compensated by putting Two of them on each leg, after loosing the second phantom 4 we were done with that system, as we needed something a little more secure.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

Yes thats what you say but they Do work. Please stop knocking them to sell your sponge. It’s getting old Coal. They’ve worked for me numerous times with rods and though never had a drone hit the water with one one and used them with all my Phantoms.
Even found a way to use them with my FPV drone if I decided to
use them.
Your system does what you say they do no doubt.
But to continue and knock other ways has got old. Please stop.
Do not knock all options.

 

[AZDave]

There is a reason why they say Rod Recovery rather than Drone / Rod Recovery as they get caught up easy and dont always fire as we learned loosing Two Phantom 4 Pros when we first started flying drones do to the Getterbacks.

We compensated by putting Two of them on each leg, after loosing the second phantom 4 we were done with that system, as we needed something a little more secure.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

Except that they do now specifically talk about drone recovery now on their web site ... even have a video of it in action.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Anyway how do you get to it once it's in the water and many meters from shore, it will just float away taken by the current ?
Best not take the risk if your worried about loosing it

Buy a cheap Kayak and drone rain jacket.I did. And dont fly too far offshore. Adds peace of mind, opens up new videoing opportunities and is great excercise on its own. I don't land on water but I can retrieve it for return to DJI if necessary. But then, I have never been one to allow fear to rob me of opportunities.

 

[projectarjun]

As long as it float back towards the shore, I'm cool with this floatation device

 

[CatfishAJ]

I almost went that way but I have seen other videos of them tipping over to easily.

That is the reason why I went with Coal's model.
View attachment 123650

Not flying anywhere til wetsuit and

I almost went that way but I have seen other videos of them tipping over to easily.

That is the reason why I went with Coal's model.
View attachment 123650

Mine coming in 2 days!

 

[Guido Cangelosi]

Reluctant to fly over water?

A Simple Solution to a very big Problem! (Total loss of drone when over water)

DIY from readily available 3' x 3.5"swimming noodles (In Australia, other Countries?)

An idea worth considering if you are flying your drone over water!

Simplicity, safety, easy to make and install.

The floats only weigh 63 grams including the 8 No 64 rubber bands.

Flotation test in Town supply water leaves camera around 3" above water level.

Probably only suitable for calm water, have not tried this yet!

Appears to make very little discernible difference to flight controls or stability.

May decrease overall flying time. More testing needed.

Some drag could be reduced by rounding front and rear ends of floats.

Enjoy, but only at your own risk!

Pictures tell the story better than words.
View attachment 123638View attachment 123639View attachment 123640View attachment 123641View attachment 123642View attachment 123643View attachment 123644View attachment 123645View attachment 123646
Feed back appreciated!

For sure you will see two blurry blue lumps on both sides of your camera.

 

[RSDonovan]

Reluctant to fly over water?

A Simple Solution to a very big Problem! (Total loss of drone when over water)

DIY from readily available 3' x 3.5"swimming noodles (In Australia, other Countries?)

An idea worth considering if you are flying your drone over water!

Simplicity, safety, easy to make and install.

The floats only weigh 63 grams including the 8 No 64 rubber bands.

Flotation test in Town supply water leaves camera around 3" above water level.

Probably only suitable for calm water, have not tried this yet!

Appears to make very little discernible difference to flight controls or stability.

May decrease overall flying time. More testing needed.

Some drag could be reduced by rounding front and rear ends of floats.

Enjoy, but only at your own risk!

Pictures tell the story better than words.
View attachment 123638View attachment 123639View attachment 123640View attachment 123641View attachment 123642View attachment 123643View attachment 123644View attachment 123645View attachment 123646
Feed back appreciated!

You should have put a photo of it floating and landing

 

[mereflyer]

You should have put a photo of it floating and landing

Yes I will do that when the local weather improves - too cold, windy and raining almost every day down here in SA.