Tips for When flying Over Water

[paulatkin73]

Do you happen to know if hitting the pause button would stop this.

dunno. i had this only once and was able to intercept it somehow, but, i do not recall what i pressed. may be i hit either a cancel or switched the flying mode.

 

[RBeaton]

The water isn’t that big of a deal except for keeping wind in mind and returning with the wind, not against it.

More importantly: Maybe do a little research about how wind interacts with mountains/cliffs. There will be some inconsistent wind with updrafts coming up the faces of the cliffs. It could make flying tricky.

 

[aaronwilliam]

Mostly you just need to keep in mind that water is one of the surface types that DJI specifically mentions as being problematic for the drones to establish altitude (shiny and reflective), otherwise as Porky says it's no different to land, only wetter (and usually with fewer obstacles). Make sure you make allowances for sudden gusts of wind (which can be much stronger over open water than ashore, especially if you are on the Atlantic coast and even more so near cliffs like Moher because of updrafts) and wave height when you decide on how close to the surface you are willing to get based on the conditions.

I'd also do a full-preflight check, especially making sure you have a good GPS lock before takeoff and RTH is set, and don't push your luck with the battery - be sure give yourself plenty of time to get it back over dry land. Maybe start with a shorter flight to get your confidence up; there's nothing special about it really, but it's nice to give yourself a bit of assurance of that before going anything more adventurous. Above all have fun; I was a bit nervous on my first few over water flights too, but now have no compunctions about going beyond VLOS when local laws permit.

Like Zocalo said, start with shorter flights over the water to build your confidence, this has really helped me. I used to be deathly afraid of flying over water with my M2P until I did a few shorter flights over the water and now I have absolutely no problems with flying over lakes, rivers, or even over the ocean when I get the chance. The views you can often get when flying over water looking back at land are also particularly great. This is probably the best piece of advice to be given, but please also take in to account the bit about the wind especially when flying over big lakes or the ocean, I don't really seem to notice a huge difference with wind while flying over a river such as the Potomac river here Northern Virginia/DC area.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Addition that I haven't seen mentioned: large expanses of water can mess with your sense of depth / perception, making it more difficult for VLOS to determine your distance from the water surface. So this is a plus-one on the recommendation above to be well above the surface.

Same goes for objects. Water is nice because it lacks the frequent obstacles that land has (trees, buildings, rocks, etc.), but there are still things like boats, wind-surfers, etc. Stay further away from them than you think you need to be. (I learned this one the hard way.)

Chris

 

[aaronwilliam]

Addition that I haven't seen mentioned: large expanses of water can mess with your sense of depth / perception, making it more difficult for VLOS to determine your distance from the water surface. So this is a plus-one on the recommendation above to be well above the surface.

Same goes for objects. Water is nice because it lacks the frequent obstacles that land has (trees, buildings, rocks, etc.), but there are still things like boats, wind-surfers, etc. Stay further away from them than you think you need to be. (I learned this one the hard way.)

Chris

To add on to this. This is very true and messed with me when I was trying to get a few shots of a fisherman standing in the Elbe river in Decin, Czech Republic, I would pay attention to the map provided and also would check your location with the camera switched to the straight down position.

 

[Sandwich]

The Irish make good beer, I prefer Smithwick, pronounced “Smitticks”. Have two before the launch. It will make everything better. And don’t worry, it’s Ireland...be Irish.

 

[Steve L Reid]

DJI Refresh refused to replace my M P 2 that took a notion to do a dive in the drink and they told me it was pilot error, just straight up flying and videoing my Airboat. No recovery, no replacement when I know **** well they've replaced others.

 

[Sandwich]

Adjust your stick inputs so that the curve is very gradual, then steep. This will make any inputs slow at first, which looks better. Don’t use your gimbal to frame a shot unless absolutely necessary. Changing elevation will be smoother. Winds aloft will be much faster than near the ground, and winds are funneled upward or downwards at steep slopes.

 

[paulatkin73]

The Irish make good beer, I prefer Smithwick, pronounced “Smitticks”. Have two before the launch. It will make everything better. And don’t worry, it’s Ireland...be Irish.

Best thing in the world - order half n half - Guinness and smitticks. Guinness gets on top. Great stuff.

 

[Steve L Reid]

Adjust your stick inputs so that the curve is very gradual, then steep. This will make any inputs slow at first, which looks better. Don’t use your gimbal to frame a shot unless absolutely necessary. Changing elevation will be smoother. Winds aloft will be much faster than near the ground, and winds are funneled upward or downwards at steep slopes.

Like this? They've come up with 3 different reasons to prove pilot error.

DJI SUPPORT (DJI Support) May 9, 16:27 CST Dear Customer, Thanks for your patience. This is Lydia from data analysis team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis. For your case CAS-30, we have finished the data analysis, and the result is as follows: 1. The aircraft worked in GPS mode during the flight; 2. The pilot pushed the roll stick rightward, moved the rudder stick leftward, the aircraft flew rightward and turned its yaw to the left, then it crashed at t=12:07, h=9.7 m, d=72.8 m. According to the analysis, the incident was caused by misoperation, please fly with caution. We truly appreciate your support for DJI. If the aircraft couldn't be retrieved, we would like to offer you a 15% off coupon code for the Mavic 2 Pro (without the remote controller and battery charger), which can be used on DJI's online store:

 

[Steve L Reid]

Here they clearly tell me my drone is in the water but won't replace it because I can't retrieve it. The 15% off offer is already the best discount we can offer based on the analysis result while obeying the warranty policy. For any other questions, you may send that to us via email and we will give you a reply as soon as possible.

In regards to your concern on DJI Care Refresh, we can use it if you retrieve the drone and send it to us for replacement. This will not cover cases that the drone was not retrieved.

 

[ScubaBob]

Don't fly anywhere you can't afford to lose the aircraft

Have insurance that covers in the case it goes deep and you can't recover the airframe.

Look into a GetterBack just in case. https://www.getterback.com/

Fly OUT with a headwind and try to return with a TAIL wind.

Turn around and head home well before you "need" to.

Don't fly beyond VLOS.

Know and follow the rules where you're flying.

Share your videos and pics when you return.

This is a great response. I often fly over water and the first thing I do is send my MP out over the water and visually watch the height of wave crests. I make sure my drone stays at least 10 feet (3 meters) above the highest wave crest. Watch at least 7-10 wave crests before determining maximum wave height. Then I look at what my RC says is the altitude and I never go below that 10 foot comfort zone. ALWAYS keep VLOS.

 

[amatog76]

I film my wife surfing her Stand Up Paddle at our local beaches. It was a bit nerve wracking the first few times I did it but no issues to speak of (apart from the odd seagull taking an interest).

I always stand on the beach & I keep the drone just above the horizon as it gets difficult to see otherwise, particularly when filming her on a wave. In Positioning mode over the water, I notice that, between waves, the drone will drift down towards the surface of the water so keeping a visual is essential. I am using a Mavic 2 Zoom & the zoom function comes in very handy ensuring I am not getting too close.

 

[kilomikebravo]

This is obviously an old thread but recently, I've been thinking more and more about picking up a Getterback. Since the OP didn't post a link to Thingaverse, I did a search but only found the listing for the Getterback M1 mount, no M2. I don't THINK that one will fit properly on an M2 but perhaps I'm wrong about that. Does anyone know?

TIA

 

[dewster]

Watch the wind direction, speed and your craft’s battery. Find an alternative landing area in case the wind is too strong at altitude. Expect wind gusts near cliffs.