Anyone knows what exactly the danger with extended flying over water is? Read somewhere it is not recommended but with no explanation.  
I flew 1.5km over the sea with no issues of stability/connectivity/video transmission/etc whatsoever.

Thank you.

Omitted to say, querying for a Mavic Air.

I do 80 to 90 % of my flying over water.  Just takes a little getting used to.  If you're on a boat there are some things to know, but I won't go into that now, don't know if you are or not.  I developed a flotation recovery device for my mav for recovery for care refresh insurance.  Let me know if you want to see the vid and I'll give you the link.  Everyone freaks because of the inability of recovery in the event of a crash.  But with me, I live and spend almost all my time near or on the water, so the risks are what they are.  And it opens up a lot more possibilities of shots and vids.  If you need boat tips, let me know or search it, but there are a lot of wrong and misunderstanding water info, so be advised.   Bolton

Hi. There are numerous threads on this question in this forum, but...

It's all down to VPS. Reflective or transparent surfaces (e.g. snow or water) confuse the VPS, and if you're too close to the water, the MA may not be able to determine where the surface is beneath it and decide to go scuba diving. This is a bad thing, and more likely if you lose GPS and it goes into ATTI mode. The recommendation is to turn VPS off when going low over water, but as it's only really used below 8m, if you're flying higher than that then you just need to keep your wits about you.

That noted, I fly over water for videos often (without disabling VPS) and the little guy manages very well.

Punchbuggy Posted at 2018-9-17 18:56
Hi. There are numerous threads on this question in this forum, but...

It's all down to VPS. Reflective or transparent surfaces (e.g. snow or water) confuse the VPS, and if you're too close to the water, the MA may not be able to determine where the surface is beneath it and decide to go scuba diving. This is a bad thing, and more likely if you lose GPS and it goes into ATTI mode. The recommendation is to turn VPS off when going low over water, but as it's only really used below 8m, if you're flying higher than that then you just need to keep your wits about you.

Here is one of the most common misconceptions!!  I hover over water constantly, low, filming people and alligators etc. with VPS on and have never had any issues.  Not typing that they don't exist, but it's never happened to me.  But it is easy to disable the sensors if you don't need them, but I like the VPS when I'm looking at my screen setting up the pic/vid and not VLOS.

Tridiver Posted at 2018-9-17 19:06
Here is one of the most common misconceptions!!  I hover over water constantly, low, filming people and alligators etc. with VPS on and have never had any issues.  Not typing that they don't exist, but it's never happened to me.  But it is easy to disable the sensors if you don't need them, but I like the VPS when I'm looking at my screen setting up the pic/vid and not VLOS.

Sorry, but it's not a misconception just because you haven't experienced issues - which may have simply been due to not being in ATTI mode, not being close enough to the surface for VPS to try to correct, or that the VPS could get a sufficient image (i.e. it could determine texture).
But your comment aside, as I've said above, I fly over water often and haven't had a bad experience (other than being out over ocean with diminishing battery and hitting a head wind on the return - definitely underwear change time then).

Here is a system I developed you may be interested in, for recovery if you have care refresh.  This vid is the testing to see if it will work.



Bolton

Led Zeppelin

The major issue is the drone cannot detect water as a surface.

It is well understood that the vison system may not detect water even if you are getting very close to it, and may therefore simply dive into water...
But is it also possible that you are a fair distance from water (let's say 15 meters), and that the vision system believes that the water is much closer, and prevents you from going down? And if you insist to go down, it would initiate a landing? If this is the case, then disabling the vision system would really make sense.

The exact danger of flying over water is if your drone land or crash you will be very difficult or impossible to get it back. If you not fly too low it’s same as flying on ground. Just be careful further away from ground the wind can be much higher.

the issue i commonly see with flying over water is being too close..   being 5-6 feet over water is still exciting and you can usually still get your shot for most part without risking the drone too much..

just remember, not very many pros that are submitting unedited and ungraded videos...  that's why it almost always looks so good and almost perfect.  good example say you work in a 1080P 30fps timeline in premier, and did drone video in 4K 30... you have a lossless zoom capability in post of 4X and way more pixels to sample and average from to get better color grading and razor sharp supersampled details..

Tridiver Posted at 2018-9-17 20:22
Here is a system I developed you may be interested in, for recovery if you have care refresh.  This vid is the testing to see if it will work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ieUcsHoKU

I am not convinced at all by your experiment. Even if your "drone" is floating, the balloon is not inflated a lot.
This does not correspond to a real situation, where your drone would dive quickly, especially if it falls from some height. And then the water pressure, that increases very rapidly, would simply prevent the balloon from being inflated at all, and I bet your drone would continue to go down...

The main problem with flying over water is;

too low and the reflection can mess with the Vision system and cause the bird to think you want to land
and (what you're probably asking about)
battery life, the remaining time can drop off a cliff when it gets low so while you think you have 5 mins of flight time left you might actually have 1

Also many people don't take into account wind when flying over water, specifically flying out with and and then coming back against it which again will affect your battery life.

Keep about 10m minimum altitude and I also switch off the VPS then no problems at all - unless you crash into the drink and you lose the drone (care refresh/warranty doesn't cover total loss).

Hi. Thank you for reaching DJI Forum. The distance between your drone and the sea is fine. The only circumstance that it is not recommended to fly above the water is if it's too close above the water since it will confuse the sensors below the aircraft as it reflects.

pjollain Posted at 2018-9-18 00:56
I am not convinced at all by your experiment. Even if your "drone" is floating, the balloon is not inflated a lot.
This does not correspond to a real situation, where your drone would dive quickly, especially if it falls from some height. And then the water pressure, that increases very rapidly, would simply prevent the balloon from being inflated at all, and I bet your drone would continue to go down...

Whatch the whole vid!!!  The mockup wasn't supposed to float.  We attached a 3 pound brick to it to check the lifting power.  The Mav only weighs 734g.  The balloon claims 2.2 lbs. of lift and I think it will lift more.  It only took 8 secs for the balloon to inflate, the bird won't be that deep that fast.  I haven't come up with anything better, this will work!!!

A CW Posted at 2018-9-18 02:12
Keep about 10m minimum altitude and I also switch of the VPS then no problems at all - unless you crash into the drink and you lose the drone (care refresh/warranty doesn't cover total loss).

That's why I developed the recovery system!!  I already lost one!

Ridg Posted at 2018-9-18 01:37
The main problem with flying over water is;

too low and the reflection can mess with the Vision system and cause the bird to think you want to land

Care to explain how you don't have the battery power you think you have over water???

Tridiver Posted at 2018-9-18 03:26
Whatch the whole vid!!!  The mockup wasn't supposed to float.  We attached a 3 pound brick to it to check the lifting power.  The Mav only weighs 734g.  The balloon claims 2.2 lbs. of lift and I think it will lift more.  It only took 8 secs for the balloon to inflate, the bird won't be that deep that fast.  I haven't come up with anything better, this will work!!!

Yes, I have watched the full video, but you attached the brick when the balloon was already inflated. This is not the same as having the drone sink first, and then inflating the balloon with the water pressure.
Give it a try, even with only half of the brick to be closer to the Mavic weight, and I am ready to bet that the result will not be what you expect.

Tridiver Posted at 2018-9-18 03:33
Care to explain how you don't have the battery power you think you have over water???

The second point isn't specific to flying over water.

The majority of MA users can testify to the quoted remaining time dropping off and not being linear.
The problem here is if you're flying over water, you can't land on water; if you run out of battery over land you can still land and recover.

Tridiver Posted at 2018-9-18 03:28
That's why I developed the recovery system!!  I already lost one!

Does look cool

You can buy a water recovery device for drones on amazon.
It’s a yellow plastics thingy that floats if your drone sinks,
You just pull the drone up by the string that is attached to the yellow thingy.
Very helpful if you have DJI care and need to recover the drone.
Also everybody talks about deactivating the down VPS sensors,
How do you do that on a spark?

Fly safe
Alex

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-9-17 23:23
the issue i commonly see with flying over water is being too close..   being 5-6 feet over water is still exciting and you can usually still get your shot for most part without risking the drone too much..

just remember, not very many pros that are submitting unedited and ungraded videos...  that's why it almost always looks so good and almost perfect.  good example say you work in a 1080P 30fps timeline in premier, and did drone video in 4K 30... you have a lossless zoom capability in post of 4X and way more pixels to sample and average from to get better color grading and razor sharp supersampled details..

Great tip, indeed.

GDL Posted at 2018-9-17 22:37
The exact danger of flying over water is if your drone land or crash you will be very difficult or impossible to get it back. If you not fly too low it’s same as flying on ground. Just be careful further away from ground the wind can be much higher.

I did get high wind velocity warnings at some point while flying it back towards the shore. Switched to Sport and was all fine. Useless videos but useful to practice flying it in various conditions and in different scenarios (battery levels vs remaining distance with/without winds or losing reception etc) to get experience.

Worst thing could happen is sink in the sea and buy a new Mavic 2. Waiting for an excuse.

A CW Posted at 2018-9-18 02:12
Keep about 10m minimum altitude and I also switch of the VPS then no problems at all - unless you crash into the drink and you lose the drone (care refresh/warranty doesn't cover total loss).

What happens with flyaways, Care Refresh doesn't cover?

gekyr Posted at 2018-9-18 12:07
What happens with flyaways, Care Refresh doesn't cover?

Terms and conditions of Refresh state (amonst other things)
DJI Care Refresh does not cover the following:
1. Lost or partially lost aircraft, gimbal or accessories.
2. Stolen, forgotten, or abandoned product.

Crashed in the drink (and fly away) would be classed as Lost and or abandoned, essentially the Terms state you have to be able to return the drone to them; there have been instanced where support have offered a voucher for a replacement after opening support cases etc

gekyr Posted at 2018-9-18 12:07
What happens with flyaways, Care Refresh doesn't cover?

You have to physically return the drone to claim - DJI have been known to meet customers in the middle but they don't have to if the drone is not recovered to be returned.

I saw DJI posted a tip here: https://store.dji.com/guides/how-to-fly-safely-over-water/

Optimus_Prime Posted at 2018-9-18 18:13
I saw DJI posted a tip here: https://store.dji.com/guides/how-to-fly-safely-over-water/

Hey, I haven't seen that guide before. It summarises all points quite well. Thanks for posting, OP.

pjollain Posted at 2018-9-18 04:37
Yes, I have watched the full video, but you attached the brick when the balloon was already inflated. This is not the same as having the drone sink first, and then inflating the balloon with the water pressure.
Give it a try, even with only half of the brick to be closer to the Mavic weight, and I am ready to bet that the result will not be what you expect.

The mav won't get that deep in 8 secs.  The mockup was 20g over the weight of the mav.  Same size body and that's why I put the props on the simulate drag during sinking, but the damn thing floated.  Even if it gets down a few feet or so, it will be lifted.

Punchbuggy Posted at 2018-9-18 19:09
Hey, I haven't seen that guide before. It summarises all points quite well. Thanks for posting, OP.

DJI also have several posts within that link too. I will never know it if i did not follow them on Twitter.

Alex B. Posted at 2018-9-18 05:51
You can buy a water recovery device for drones on amazon.
It’s a yellow plastics thingy that floats if your drone sinks,
You just pull the drone up by the string that is attached to the yellow thingy.

This is the first I've heard of this and it looks AMAZING! Has there been a documented case where this SAVED a drone after it drown?

https://www.getterback.com/

As far as flying over water goes, I think you can really get some stunning shots over water, you just have think about your emergency landing spots and communicate with the boat operator at all times. And in MY experience if you're between 0-5 feet over the water the sensors may not work properly and the drone might starting landing, so just be aware and keep it LOS while flying close to the water so you can pull up quickly if it starts landing.

I recently took my first flight over the local lake.
Knees were knocking but the Mavic Pro was rock steady and reliable so I hope to get some better photo's as my confidence improves and I learn more about flying over water.
Warranty is expired so now I can have fun.
Recently the lake was covered in fog and only the bridge arches were visible so waiting for more fog to fly and take the special photo  

Well, seeing as how this is becoming a thread on the fact that you Can fly over water (hehe), this is the video I have on my channel to demonstrate this capability. The little guy was about 700 meters out over the ocean.

Great shot!

Bing Err Posted at 2018-9-18 21:19
This is the first I've heard of this and it looks AMAZING! Has there been a documented case where this SAVED a drone after it drown?

https://www.getterback.com/

Wow - good to know!

Boffin Posted at 2018-9-18 23:18
I recently took my first flight over the local lake.
Knees were knocking but the Mavic Pro was rock steady and reliable so I hope to get some better photo's as my confidence improves and I learn more about flying over water.
Warranty is expired so now I can have fun.

With no warranty it's def worth it! Great shots   

Punchbuggy Posted at 2018-9-18 23:27
Well, seeing as how this is becoming a thread on the fact that you Can fly over water (hehe), this is the video I have on my channel to demonstrate this capability. The little guy was about 700 meters out over the ocean.

https://youtu.be/gmjjuoHDa8E

Great footage     

A CW Posted at 2018-9-24 00:25
With no warranty it's def worth it! Great shots

Thanks, I have a lot to learn.

Today I was loading the backpack to get some more late afternoon shots (sun on back, shaded by hills) when I heard a whine.

Went into house (overlooking the lake) and these flew by at about 100m over the lake. Fired up Flightradar24 on the Lenovo Pad to get more info and zilch results. A bit worrying!

Just decided if I have the bird in the sky and they appear, just get low and get home.

Also noticed that they do not appear to carry any kind of registration.

Photo's taken with my old Fuji DSLR from my veranda btw, not my Mavic Pro.

By the time that they left, the light was gone - always manyana I suppose