Do you add flotation to your P3 when flying over water, such as what is shown in this link?  
http://www.sjps.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130821_081027.jpg

This wouldn't keep it upright if it did crash (it would probably be top-heavy and go upside-down), but hopefully it wouldn't sink.  I've read some reports on various forums where people claimed that their P3 worked after going for a swim.  
One thing to consider: does the negative effect of poor aerodynamics outweigh the benefit of adding flotation.

POLL: Do you add flotation to your P3 when flying over water?

That foam is probably going to stop it from sinking, but would almost certainly get in view of the camera. If a Phantom goes down in fresh water you can most likely save it, but if it goes down in salt water, you are less likely to restore it to operating condition.

Geebax Posted at 2015-10-28 16:39
That foam is probably going to stop it from sinking, but would almost certainly get in view of the c ...

I tried, and it didn't actually get in the view of the camera unless you had a sudden acceleration forwards/backwards.

If I can get my Phantom back,  I can repair it cheaper than buying new, maybe.

No way I'm adding extra weight to it. On my opinion, it is mostly useless.

Say I'm on top a river, 1000 meters away. God forbid it falls into the water and the rivers carries it. Now I have paid extra to give to somebody else.

If it is sea, not sure the Phantom can surf.

If a lake, may be I can rent a boat to go after it.

Nah.


Cheers. ;)

Any flotation that would really work is going to seriously affect the flying.
You don't strap a pillow on the drone on land, why would you use floats over water?
Get over your fear and enjoy the view.
Flying over the sea is safer than flying on land - there's nothing to hit.

'Flying over the sea is safer than flying on land - there's nothing to hit.'

And no bird if it goes down. I would at least prefer to have the mangled remains to pick over

No, I learned how to swim, when I was a kid.

So dive dive dive. . .  Hehe

RedHotPoker

I don't think flotation will help if you drop your copter right into the water..

My flights are counting more and more over salt water than the ground. Today it have more than 30 flights over the water surface and I am more than happy to head it straight into the sea, mainly because I maintain and store my batteries as it's suggested and properly explained in the manual. Really, I am sure in my bird and the batteries which are always freshly 100% charged before every flight. p.s. As it's my first UAV, I've eaten every single word of the manual to be informed and acknowledged in the sky. In other words and because of the topic - I will never install such as anti-sinking elements on my Phantom

Fly safe!
Todor

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2015-10-28 21:29
Any flotation that would really work is going to seriously affect the flying.
You don't strap a pill ...

I flew with floatation, and it didn't affect the flying, it still flew beautifully.

Paniza Posted at 2015-10-28 17:55
No way I'm adding extra weight to it. On my opinion, it is mostly useless.

Say I'm on top a river,  ...

I live by a wide, slow-moving river.  If my phantom crashed in the water and floated down, I could retreive it because it would float down and eventually get snagged along the edge of the river where I could retrive it.  I'd guess it wouldn't float down-river more than 2-3 kilometers.  No boat or swimming needed to get it back.

flying-camera Posted at 2015-10-29 10:50
I live by a wide, slow-moving river.  If my phantom crashed in the water and floated down, I could ...

That is good man!

I'm my case, it feels too me that is not going to work when I need.

Cheers.

I often fly at the beach right over the water (salt water). I know if it goes in it more than likely going to be damaged beyond repair. I am willing to live with that risk and therefore I don't add any extra weight or anything that could accidentally put me into the ocean.

Aloha,

     The only reason to add flotation is if you plan to land in the water for some reason.  The reasoning would be the same if you were to add cushioning because you want to land and take-off of asphalt or concrete all the time (it might even be the same sort of cushioning).  I have to agree with labroides that the fear of water should be no more than the fear of crashing on land.  Enjoy the view - cuz you are not crashing anywhere!  Fly safe!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2015-11-1 20:25
Aloha,

     The only reason to add flotation is if you plan to land in the water for some reason.   ...

I disagree, you might fit flotation so the aircraft will not sink. In case you are not aware, the P3 does not float. At least if you can make it float on the surface you might recover it. In fresh water, it is possible to dry it out and perhaps restore it to working order. In sea water it is less likely to be able to be restored to working condition.

Aloha Geebax,

     That is the trade-off implied by labroides.  If you crash on land, you break.  If you crash in water, you sink.  So do not crash.  Enjoy the view!

     On the other hand, if you put a light flotation system on the P3, it could also act as a cushion for landing on land if it is done right.  But, I have a P2 with Zenmuse gimbal and Hero4 Black camera and the needs to get that thing operating with half the capability of a P3 increase the weight and drag excessively - and burn the battery much faster.  That has turned me off to add-ons on top of add-ons.  Just fly and enjoy the view.  (But, I still want to try landing a Phantom on water.)

Aloha and Drone On!

Well , i think that is better if you get something like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phan ... ksid=p2047675.l2557

No. It's called buying insurance. It's not expensive and you should insure anything you have that you paid a decent amount of money for. It also makes you less stressed when you're flying because you're not overly concerned with losing it.

You're design is pretty much what I plan to do. Salt water will cause massive shorts and probably fry everything on board, but it'd be nice to get the footage. And who knows, on a calm day you may be lucky.

lido_bmt Posted at 2016-1-28 00:42
No. It's called buying insurance. It's not expensive and you should insure anything you have that yo ...

I have insurance on mine also,  but it will only get replaced or repaired if i can FIND it.

I strap this on when over water
http://www.getterback.com/
the phantom may die when wet, but at the very least, I can get the data from the sim and maybe frame the phantom on a wall of shame

dewayt@gmail.co Posted at 2016-1-27 13:04
I have insurance on mine also,  but it will only get replaced or repaired if i can FIND it.

What's the average cost of insurance and who is a good insurance company to go with? Has anybody on here actually used insurance to repair/replace a Phantom 3? I'm just wondering  if it's worth it and if they will really replace/repair your device.

I thought about using the bubble wrap that came with the shipping box for a floatation pad.  Will send the design to all when done.  Also have an umbrella attachment for rainy days to keep the bird dry.  You have to fly/turn slower, that's the only downside.  That design will be posted too, both by April 1st.

I used to use these, but can't seem to find them anymore.
http://www.water-buoy.com/

wmw1490 Posted at 2016-1-28 13:34
I thought about using the bubble wrap that came with the shipping box for a floatation pad.  Will se ...

By April 1 - very good.

tim.hulse Posted at 2016-1-29 02:41
By April 1 - very good.

I figured I'd get slammed by most folks before they caught on.  I may post some photos of each to keep the myth going.  

wheeliesteve Posted at 2016-1-28 11:33
What's the average cost of insurance and who is a good insurance company to go with? Has anybody on ...

Not much. I already have an existing policy for my camera gear (a lot of Canon stuff, including two full frame bodies, multiple high end lenses and tons of accessories); coverage for $20k of equipment was $90/year. Adding the phantom 3 was an additional... nothing. They just tossed it in. If it was just the P3 it would've been I think around $80. To me that's a no-brainer.

This is a simple, straightforward Personal Articles insurance plan, which is actually one of the most expensive per dollar insured. If you can get a rider for any existing policy you have it could be even cheaper. This covers anything that happens to it, including you being an idiot and slamming it into a wall then falling into a lake and you being unable to retrieve it. The only thing it doesn't cover is liability, which is if you lost control and it fell into a crowd and injured someone. Though I don't fly near crowds, I've been considering getting a quote for it just in case.

lidolido77 Posted at 2016-1-28 14:01
Not much. I already have an existing policy for my camera gear (a lot of Canon stuff, including tw ...

If you get an AMA membership that includes liability insurance I believe. Something like up to 2.5 million worth of coverage in case you crash on to a highway and cause a major accident or something.

wheeliesteve Posted at 2016-1-28 14:57
If you get an AMA membership that includes liability insurance I believe. Something like up to 2.5 ...

That's interesting - I know AMA membership has some other decent benefits as well. I'll have to check out the details to see if you're covered when you're out flying by yourself when not at an AMA club / group event as well. If so, that could easily be worth it.

lidolido77 Posted at 2016-1-28 15:15
That's interesting - I know AMA membership has some other decent benefits as well. I'll have to ch ...

Let me know what you find out. I had planned on getting the AMA membership to have the coverage and because a local miniature aircraft club where I live requires you to have it and i'm going to look into. I'm still  2 or 3 weeks away from getting my Phantom.

I'm afraid this kind of floats will make the bird extremely unstable on even slightly shaky water due to high center of gravity and typical for Phantoms small footprint. Actually I'm in the process of developing an detachable floats for both Phantom and Inspire birds of mine. Phantom modification will permanently replace original landing gear with lightweight carbon fiber tube frame of much wider footprint, providing more secure landing on grass. The floats will be easily screwed on in a matter of minutes when take-off or landing on water is required (i.e. during boating trip). Moreover, the structure of landing gear and floats is to be deliberately weakened at joints, allowing for destructive deformation during crash landing. This approach, commonly employed in car industry, assumes the ability to absorb a portion of impact energy, therefore reducing damage of bird itself. The floats, however, shall hold the wreck afloat to be retrieved ... That's the theory ... The floats will add approximately 200g of extra payload, of course significantly taxing both range and performance of the bird, but will allow me to do things previously impossible. This is to be tested soon and I'll gladly share my findings here...

wheeliesteve Posted at 2016-1-29 01:33
What's the average cost of insurance and who is a good insurance company to go with? Has anybody on ...

I purchased my insurance from Neary aerial https://neary-aerial.com/ for my investment it was a decent deal for me.  I spoke with the owner a few times and then purchased it.  I did not check with my home owners first, but i do see several people saying their home owners are covering it but i wonder if thats liability insurance or loss.  Ama offers liability insurance, but if you read their fine print, it appears they only cover if your following "ama rules, or on an ama site etc) I wonder if its easy for them to back out of coverage due to a fine print item.  Hopefully none of us ever need it in the first place. However, i am going to check on an umbrella policy anyways from my home owners from a liability stand point just simply to assist with any damage my quad causes if it does crash.

Geebax Posted at 2015-10-28 22:21
'Flying over the sea is safer than flying on land - there's nothing to hit.'

And no bird if it goes down. I would at least prefer to have the mangled remains to pick over

LOL.....

Heck with that , If it's not under DJI refresh........ let the evidence sink

Geebax Posted at 2015-10-28 14:39
That foam is probably going to stop it from sinking, but would almost certainly get in view of the camera. If a Phantom goes down in fresh water you can most likely save it, but if it goes down in salt water, you are less likely to restore it to operating condition.

Saved mine from a river.
Flies like a charm

Hardly seems worth the performance penalty just to be safe when flying over my jacuzzi, which is the only open body of water for dozens of miles in any direction.

DJI-Ken pubblicato a 2016/01/28 09:48
Ho usato per usare questi, ma non riesco a trovare più.
http://www.water-buoy.com/

Trovato:

http://www.dronepoint.com

masro Posted at 2017-2-8 13:36
Trovato:

http://www.dronepoint.com

Yes, those are what I used to use. They were only $10 each on Amazon when I purchased mine.

I do not really want floats, because my dad is super scared, and I like flying over water, he does not. LOL

No need since I usually fly over salt water of the Pacific.  If it goes into the ocean the salt water will ruin it.  Having floats will only allow me to retrieve the SD card then maybe give the P3P a Viking funeral.