Dear Dji members

I would like to know if there is someone who has experience with flights from boats in mid sea...........and If you have any totorials from that subject.
The question is about the Dji Inspire 2.........1.how to take of.......2.how to calibrate compas on a boat..........3. how to grab the Inspire2 again.

ys. Poul Christensen

Without knowing the specifics of a given vessel, it's difficult to come up with sound advice. Launching a drone of the boat is a no brainer, just be persistent. Landing is problematic. No matter how calm is the weather, the boat will always move if not anchored. Therefore Home Point recorded at launch may be hundred feet away when landing. Landing on a deck is a "white knuckles" experience, landing on a deck bouncing up and down on waves is a recipe for failure. Landing Inspire 2 on a huge deck of a motor boat can be successful, landing on a sail yacht is a mission next to impossible. However, with a helper brave/fit enough you may employ hand catching technique. It's a dangerous approach, make sure you know what's at risk.

1. Install Inspire 2 Handle Grips.
2. Disable automatic lowering of landing gear.
3. Disable obstacle avoidance system.
4. Train a crew member to grab the drone while hovering above (on land first!). Maintain loud and clear verbal communication with him/her. After a firm hold is confirmed by the helper, pull and hold left RC stick down. After 3 sec the motors will stop spinning and the grabber must handle sudden weight of Inspire 2.
5. Lower the landing gear.
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Reserve enough battery power for several failed attempts to land/hand catch!
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Don't calibrate the compass unless you've moved hundreds miles away. Check compass reading bar before take off.

Note 1: operating from a steel hull is always risky due to possible magnetic interference. If such is reported by the app, DO NOT perform compass calibration! Abort the flight instead.

Note 2: marine radar can mess the compass, make sure it's off.

Good luck!

Thanks alot........sounds like we have to practice. Very good and full description.  

I've done it once from quite a large vessel.

Things to watch out for.

Make sure and take off and land in atti mode. This is the most important tip I can give you. As above, it was pointed out about the GPS being confused because the boat moves. A very important thing is that the drone will also record what direction its facing when you initiate the launch. If the boat rotates at all while you are launching, the drone will spin in the air to realign itself to it's original position and potentially crash.

It happened to me on the first lift off and it nearly gave me a small heart attack!

Similarly for landing, bring it in close to you in GPS mode, then flick it into atti to hand catch it. This is because the hoat will move, so if you're hand catching it and you move and drag it with you, itll fight you to get back to where your last control input left it.

To hand catch it, reach up and hold it between the sensors on the back (careful of these, if you cover them while reaching up the drone will fight you and try to fly higher to avoid hitting you) and the gimbal on the front.

Dont pull the drone down, try to let it rest in your hand while holding down on the control stick to decend.

Alternatively, and I haven't done this, enable the option in the settings that allows you to kill the motors with 2 opposite inputs on the controller. That will kill the props and just let it drop into your hands


Now, your mileage may vary with this. I did it on a daily calm day without much of a swell in the water so altitude wasnt a problem, but if the sea is rougher, just be aware that the bobbing of the boat might cause you a lot of headaches

Have you got any fottage from your flights and by the way thanks for a go replay...........very helpfull

Mike9129 Posted at 8-16 00:34
I've done it once from quite a large vessel.

Things to watch out for.

Good idea with ATTI, although it will require practicing on land just to get the confidence flying Inspire in this mode.
A. I'm not sure the surprising spin just before landing descend is the issue, since RTH procedure is not recommended in this scenario. This is fully manual operation.
B. Simply turn the drone head away just before landing attempt, eliminating the stick movements confusion.
C. Disabling bottom sensors will allow the drone to ignore the hands trying to grab her from back/bottom.
D. I strongly recommend employing trained crew member to grab the landing Inspire. Slim protective gloves may be required for safety measurements.
E. The risk factor of an attempt to grab the Inspire with one hand and shut the motors with another is just too high, IMHO. BTDT ... Mavic, oh, no problem ...

Mike9129 Posted at 8-16 00:37
To hand catch it, reach up and hold it between the sensors on the back (careful of these, if you cover them while reaching up the drone will fight you and try to fly higher to avoid hitting you) and the gimbal on the front.

Dont pull the drone down, try to let it rest in your hand while holding down on the control stick to decend.

To hand catch it, reach up and hold it between the sensors on the back (careful of these, if you cover them while reaching up the drone will fight you and try to fly higher to avoid hitting you) and the gimbal on the front.

That'll not work. She'll detect hands and try to avoid them. Disable bottom (landing) sensors instead.

Don't pull the drone down, try to let it rest in your hand while holding down on the control stick to descend.

Desperate and risky attempt with Inspire ...

Alternatively, and I haven't done this, enable the option in the settings that allows you to kill the motors with 2 opposite inputs on the controller. That will kill the props and just let it drop into your hands ...

Both options for shutting the motors down are with 3 sec delay, be aware. Good luck operating two sticks with one hand and trying to juggle 5kg brick with another ...

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 8-16 09:38
To hand catch it, reach up and hold it between the sensors on the back (careful of these, if you cover them while reaching up the drone will fight you and try to fly higher to avoid hitting you) and the gimbal on the front.

That'll not work. She'll detect hands and try to avoid them. Disable bottom (landing) sensors instead.

No, all that actually works.

I flew offshore and thats exactly how i did it.

If you avoid the downward sensors with your hand it will allow the drone to power down. Deactivating the doward sensors would help ofc. I just prefer them on for avoiding the rest of the boat just in case.

I did it as a solo operator. Hand catching and hand launching the drone. You need the strap for the controller tho so you can use it one handed.

Its a case of getting the drone to a close enough position and then dropping her down.


As for the take off (not landing) spin, i found it only happened in gps mode. The time the drone takes to start up is enough time for the boat to rotate and cause the spin. It soubds easy to say keep the boat aligned, but if youre far out, your refence points are non existant.

As for footage, i have nothing bts to show you, the video that was produced doesnt show the boat situation, sorry.

Mike9129 Posted at 8-16 11:51
No, all that actually works.

I flew offshore and thats exactly how i did it.

All right than, fotografen received enough first hand tips to deal with ...

I have taken off a couple of times from a 32' +' sailboat, have done the Inspire 2 with Mavic Air. The First time with the Inspire 2 was in SF Bay and a bit harrowing when I was trying to receive it. All times, I hand caught the drones. The Bay is choppy and you have to have a bit of steel and focus, I would not do an Inspire 2 again, too large. If hand catching does not work, for the Mavic (still difficult). you can use a fishing net. Did my compass calibration on land before sailing.
Also monitor the battery, start bringing the drone back at 50%, it will take a lot to get it back in choppy waters and a moving sailboat (my experience). Lastly make sure you change your RTH battery % as that can cause issues, I brought mine really low