TOMAT water landing gear?

[Thmoore]

Does anyone have experience with the TOMAT water landing gear for the MA2? It's an innovative and very colorful adaptation of pool-noodle technology:



(phantomrain, I know your offerings are much more extensive and protective...)

It strikes me as having two possible separate but helpful use cases: 1. Not letting a drone that crashes into water sink to the bottom (easier); 2. Allowing for water takeoffs and landings (harder).

Thanks!

 

[old man mavic]

if you have care refresh ,then hopefully they would keep the drone afloat till you could get to it
and on a glass smooth body of water surrounded by trees then it would probably be possible to land and then take off with some success ,downsides ,include less flight time ,being blown about by wind and getting caught high up in tree branches

 

[Phantomrain.org]

(phantomrain, I know your offerings are much more extensive and protective...)

It strikes me as having two possible separate but helpful use cases: 1. Not letting a drone that crashes into water sink to the bottom (easier); 2. Allowing for water takeoffs and landings (harder).

Thanks!

Thank you for Mentioning me : Phantomrain.org

The Problem with these type of floats is that the Center of Gravity is just to high . so not only do you have the Wind that is going to be a Battle but you actually have the Wind when you land on the Water that can flip these right over.

We have seen videos of where people land these in there Pool and when they go to take off they flip right over.

Its one of the reason why we knew we had to design our Rescue jacket with such a low center of Gravity and half the weight as we wanted confidence in being able to Negotiate the water / waves and the wind.

Where there is open water , wind will always be at its most extreme for that day,

One other aspect that we have come to love is that the Rescue Jackets and I am sure the Floats can increase your Visual Line of Sight to 3000 ft but better to do that with less weight.

Scenario: Your flying over the water pushing your drone on the battery focusing on the flight , you head home the wind is battling you and your about to land 10 ft short , auto landing kicked in you panic a little and within just seconds your drone is gone. Refresh is Gone, Its a heavy price to pay for a few feet .

The idea is solid : Having tools to Negotiate the Water is solid, Knowing that you Drone is not going to tip over and the Ruin the battery is solid:

The extra cost of the Rescue Jacket to act as a reliable tool can pay off very quickly.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2 in the Rain and Land on water.

Did we mention you can hand catch really safely. :}
I hope this helps and thanks again for the Mention.

 

[anotherlab]

This looks like one of those things where you get what you paid for. If you land on anything that is not calm, the odds are that you are going to flip over from the high center of gravity. Since the pool noodles are just snapped into place, I would be worried that one or both of them would pop off.

If I wanted something like that, I would go with the design of @Phantomrain.org's rescue jacket and view it as a recovery tool. It has a lower center of gravity and looks less likely to fall apart when you need it.

 

[Meta4]

Does anyone have experience with the TOMAT water landing gear for the MA2? It's an innovative and very colorful adaptation of pool-noodle technology:

There's no mention of how much that contraption is going to affect the aerodynamic performance of your drone.
You can bet that that speed and battery life will significantly drop with the extra weight and wind resistance.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Meta 4 Brings up a good point but that is why one of our clients made this video to show what is possible with the Rescue Jacket by providing telemetry with the video.

Keep in mind that the day was very windy: Even so the results were very good.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air in the Rain and Land on water.
We offer a Discount to the Forum Members and a really nice Rain & Rescue Jacket package email me at [email protected]

 

[anotherlab]

There's no mention of how much that contraption is going to affect the aerodynamic performance of your drone.
You can bet that that speed and battery life will significantly drop with the extra weight and wind resistance.

It's on the Amazon page for that gear, expect a 20% in battery life.

 

[Meta4]

Keep in mind that the day was very windy: Even so the results were very good.

Your client says the flight was a worst case scenario and it was really, really windy.
The water surface, treetops and leaves tell a very, very different story.
He's mislead, thinking the windspeed shown by Airdata and the strong wind warning in the Fly app are correct.
But they're not.
They are derived from the tilt angle data and the drone has to pitch a lot harder trying to drag the extra wind resistance through the air.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Even if the Pitch/Tilt/Drag/Extra/speed/ and Wind fairy's are not perfect in Air Data.
As long as you dont think that it was an imaginary wind that brought him back were all good.

 

[Meta4]

Even if the Pitch/Tilt/Drag/Extra/speed/ and Wind fairy's are not perfect in Air Data.
As long as you dont think that it was an imaginary wind that brought him back were all good.

I can read the signs of wind when it's present.
The water surface shows quite clearly that what your client describes as"very, very windy" was a very very gentle breeze.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I can read the signs of wind when it's present.
The water surface shows quite clearly that what your client describes as"very, very windy" was a very very gentle breeze.

I also thought the Exact Same thing : HOWEVER I fly every day over the water and the wind is very different until i get past the break wall and the trees as I have posted in countless videos.

This is most likely the case : The Initial flight is Surrounded by the Trees and therefore the wind can in fact be much greater once he is in up in the sky and we should give the benefit of the Doubt to a Seasoned Pilot and not call him out on lying about being a windy day that is crazy.

 

[Meta4]

I also thought the Exact Same thing : HOWEVER I fly every day over the water and the wind is very different until i get past the break wall and the trees as I have posted in countless videos.

This is most likely the case : The Initial flight is Surrounded by the Trees and therefore the wind can in fact be much greater once he is in up in the sky and we should give the benefit of the Doubt to a Seasoned Pilot and not call him out on lying about being a windy day that is crazy.

I'm also a very experienced flyer who flies over open water all the time.
I've also been a sailor for years and understand a lot about wind and reading it.
That flight was not in very windy conditions, no matter what you would like to believe or what the video maker says.

 

[Thmoore]

if you have care refresh ,then hopefully they would keep the drone afloat till you could get to it
and on a glass smooth body of water surrounded by trees then it would probably be possible to land and then take off with some success ,downsides ,include less flight time ,being blown about by wind and getting caught high up in tree branches

Thank you! As one with an MA2 sitting at the bottom of a lake, I am particularly aware of the value of keeping the aircraft afloat until it can be reclaimed for Refresh purposes.

And I had considered the downsides you listed (and consider them compelling!). I’m just wondering if anyone has actually tried it.

 

[Ukung]

Does anyone have experience with the TOMAT water landing gear for the MA2? It's an innovative and very colorful adaptation of pool-noodle technology:

View attachment 120636

(phantomrain, I know your offerings are much more extensive and protective...)

It strikes me as having two possible separate but helpful use cases: 1. Not letting a drone that crashes into water sink to the bottom (easier); 2. Allowing for water takeoffs and landings (harder).

Thanks!

Should have two on each side, it will float even better

 

[anotherlab]

Should have two on each side, it will float even better

The problem is not the buoyancy. It's that the center of gravity is too high and a wave or the wake from a watercraft will topple it over. Also, any part that just snaps in, like the floats, can snap right back out again.

Also, pool noodles are not terribly aerodynamic. You add more on each side and you'll have less flying time from the increased air resistance.

 

[KB9Radio]

Does anyone have experience with the TOMAT water landing gear for the MA2? It's an innovative and very colorful adaptation of pool-noodle technology:

View attachment 120636

(phantomrain, I know your offerings are much more extensive and protective...)

It strikes me as having two possible separate but helpful use cases: 1. Not letting a drone that crashes into water sink to the bottom (easier); 2. Allowing for water takeoffs and landings (harder).

Thanks!

I have one like that for my Mavic 2 Zoom, and it works quite well. The only problem is it is a pain to change batteries because it mounts by a strap right over that area. So you basically have to remove it, swap the battery, and then put it back on. I don't know that is exactly the same as that one by the picture, but it looks like it. I don't fly over water much and therefore don't use it much. I have put it on a few times just to try it in different wind conditions, and it didn't seem to bother at all. Landed it once on some shallow water, and it seemed to work fine. Although I am sure it wouldn't do well in wavy conditions. It would help to recover the drone body it a water crash I would assume. I think a wetsuit might be a better route to go, provided there are provisions for battery changes. I have not seen one other the videos, and don't know how battery changes are accomplished.

 

[Ukung]

The problem is not the buoyancy. It's that the center of gravity is too high and a wave or the wake from a watercraft will topple it over. Also, any part that just snaps in, like the floats, can snap right back out again.

Also, pool noodles are not terribly aerodynamic. You add more on each side and you'll have less flying time from the increased air resistance.

Maybe it would be better to have a Mavic 2 boat ?

 

[NG Wildman]

I have one like that for my Mavic 2 Zoom, and it works quite well. The only problem is it is a pain to change batteries because it mounts by a strap right over that area. So you basically have to remove it, swap the battery, and then put it back on. I don't know that is exactly the same as that one by the picture, but it looks like it. I don't fly over water much and therefore don't use it much. I have put it on a few times just to try it in different wind conditions, and it didn't seem to bother at all. Landed it once on some shallow water, and it seemed to work fine. Although I am sure it wouldn't do well in wavy conditions. It would help to recover the drone body it a water crash I would assume. I think a wetsuit might be a better route to go, provided there are provisions for battery changes. I have not seen one other the videos, and don't know how battery changes are accomplished.

I agree .I have this for my M2P. I actually purchased this separately, but at the same I purchased my M2P. There is minimal effect in the wind. That's because on the light weight. It does have a high center of gravity. This works well when landing on calm water. I have tried. It will stay afloat. I fly over water a lot and I don't use the float. I often launch from my boat too. In choppy water this won't keep your bird dry. It's a nice product, cheap and will stop your drone from sinking. If, however, either of these products mentioned here is attached and you have engine failure, don't expect you drone to land upright. Your drone will be at the mercy of wind, physics and most importantly...Mother Nature. Plan on making repairs one way or another. Thanks KB9.