We all remember our first time of flying above the water. Even though we know that the aircraft is safe and stable this is still one of the scariest steps that the young pilot will do sooner or later.

There are a few things you always consider before taking off:

•1. Turn off your VPS module.
The video positioning system and sonar altitude hold system can measure your altitude incorrectly, and can make your aircraft behave strangely (uncontrolled altitude gains and drops or drifting) However this can be applied only if you are flying lower than 3 meters
•2. Due to the higher level of humidity flying too low above the water also can influence the barometer and bring the aircraft to unexpected gains and drops of altitude, which also could be dangerous for your bird
•3. Seaside is the great place to fly: huge opened space, no any interference sources, but there is still one thing you have to be aware of: the sea breeze. Sometimes wind flow on a seaside can be strong enough to let your aircraft drift.
•4. Flying from the boat you have to remember that the home-point is right on the spot you took off, and in case of RTH aircraft will get back to that spot, so if your boat is already left the bird will land right into the water.
•5. Watch your battery and never let it go to the critical low voltage, because in that case the drone will start auto-landing which is impossible to cancel.

Mind this and fly safe!

So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?

stanleytan200 Posted at 2015-11-28 10:54
So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?

YES Compass calibration is still a requirement

Another hint is to use only full batteries for your flights near water.
Trust me!

Also, do not fly over the water just for fun - fly over the beach and then go out and get the shots you want - and then return. It's a matter of the odds - the more you tempt fate, the more chance you have of losing your bird to Neptune.

stanleytan200 Posted at 2015-11-28 18:54
So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?

    So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?
....................................................................................
YES Compass calibration is still a requirement
You don't need to recalibrate your compass before every flight.
You can go months without needing to recalibate your compass and unnecessary recalibration introduces the potential for a bad calibration ... which is much worse than not calibrating.

DJI-Tim,
I was fortunate to have a wonderful successful flight over Lac St. Anne in Alberta, this summer.
It was one of my most exhilarating flights. I kept the Phantom quite high in the sky.
While knowing interference could affect the flight, if I was down lower, closer to the water level.
It was a lot of fun. I want to get some awesome footage of our capital city River valley this winter.
And of a few large frozen ponds cleared of snow, where people like to skate.

Is flying above frozen water, any different than liquid H2o?

RedHotPoker

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2015-11-29 12:37
So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?
.............................................. ...

What about all iron around the ship? Is that not make compass calibration fail? Sorry for my bad English thx for reply

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2015-11-29 12:37
So it's doesn't need to do compass calibration?
.............................................. ...

What about all iron around the ship? Is that not make compas calibration fail? Sorryfor my bad English
Thx for reply

stanleytan200 Posted at 2015-11-30 18:01
What about all iron around the ship? Is that not make compas calibration fail? Sorryfor my bad Eng ...

Unless you get very close (perhaps 6 metres or closer) to a steel ship, you should be able to safely fly around a ship without compass issues.
If you try to take off from a steel deck, you will have compass problems.

Good tips.  I fly over water a lot but not too close to the waterline.  I will keep that in mind in future.  My big task is landing (actually catching) Inspire on a moving boat in winds.  Bit iffy and it could go very wrong very easily.  Phantoms are way simpler to catch

haha i am not ever gonna fly over water. i only hovered over my pond once

Another suggestion, if you're flying over waves you should fly high enough that if the wave breaks the splash wont get you.

I routinely fly over water, and can't stress enough how important it is to turn off VPS and watch your battery %/voltage. Happy flying!

Tim,

I am diving on a liveaboard ship early next year and I wondered about the magnetic interference from the ship. It's not a cruise ship, but it's a dedicated diving vessel 100' long and made of steel. I can launch from the top deck, but other than RTH issues, what about the steel itself?

Thanks!

Gary C Posted at 2015-12-1 08:28
Tim,

I am diving on a liveaboard ship early next year and I wondered about the magnetic interferenc ...

well, i'd like to ask you about the ship, cause have never flew the drone from the boat.  However, once your signal  and  compass are alright- you are safe

What I do if I'm going to go fly anywhere around metal is just make sure I'm compass calibrated at home. Then when I take off around metal, I get the compass error but as soon as I get up in the air it's all fine.
Also, I don't re-calibrate my compass unless I go more than a few hundred miles away. To me it's better to have a good calibration with no interference then to keep doing a compass calibration every time I fly in different parts of town notknowing if there's metal underground or not.
The compass work from magnetic North and the magnetic declination going East or West is not even 1 degree over a few hundred miles and going magnetic North or South it doesn't change at all.
The only time I re-calibrate my compass is when I go from 500 miles from Arizona to California. I've done this for 5 years and never had an issue on any of my multirotors.

For me, if I was going on a ship and staying within a few hundred miles I would calibrate on land before I left and I think I'd be fine for the whole trip.
That's just my opinion

Gary C Posted at 2015-12-1 08:28
Tim,

I am diving on a liveaboard ship early next year and I wondered about the magnetic interferenc ...

"I am diving on a liveaboard ship early next year and I wondered about the magnetic interference from the ship. It's not a cruise ship, but it's a dedicated diving vessel 100' long and made of steel. I can launch from the top deck, but other than RTH issues, what about the steel itself?"

Do not take off from a steel surface like a steel deck.
The compass is in the bottom of the landing gear and putting it on top of a steel surface will give you a big compass error.
You need to get an assistant to hold it above their head and release as you take off.
And hand catch when you bring it back.

I flew not only over water, but a canyon and I launched from an old metal railroad trestle (where I also performed compass calibration).  I think I flew two or three times without incident, but the last flight when I went to take off, the I1 lifted off and banked into the chain link fence.  This railroad trestle had been converted to a pedestrian bridge (thus the fence), luckily no one was on it at the time (I do not take off/land within 50' of people and luckily there was a fence to catch my bird and save it from a death roll into the canyon.  I will not be doing this again.

My compass calibrations will be done where I take off, I will not be flying around large amounts of steel, I will not be flying around anything that generates large amount of RF or microwave.  I've spent too much money on this bird to lose it because of something out of my control.

naildrivingman@ Posted at 2015-12-1 19:39
I flew not only over water, but a canyon and I launched from an old metal railroad trestle (where I  ...

"I've spent too much money on this bird to lose it because of something out of my control"
In that case you'd better learn what compass calibration is about and stop doing unnecessary calibrations in inappropriate locations and risking getting bad compass calibrations.

RozBujnik Posted at 2015-11-30 17:04
I routinely fly over water, and can't stress enough how important it is to turn off VPS and watch yo ...

I was planning on getting some great lake shots on the boat next summer. Wake boarding and tubing shots using follow me mode. After reading this thread, I'm not so sure. I would think flying over water, you have less obstructions (trees, hills, buildings) making it a safer flight. Obviously there's the sinking thing if it crashes, but other than that, an engine failure from 200-300 feet is going to be just as bad over land as it is over water.

I noticed in your thread, you mentioned watching your voltage. Do you mean watching your battery percentage? I have mine set to alert me at 30% which has always given me plenty of juice to return home. Do you mean something else when you say voltage?

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-1 10:23
30% will usually give you enough time to get home... until that one time where you have a sudden b ...

Yeah, haven't had that happen yet. 22% to 4% would certainly make me a little gun shy. The OP stated to turn the visual sensors off when flying over water. Does he mean to put the drone in P-ATTI mode? According to the manual, this turns both GPS and Visual Positioning off. Or is there another way to just disable visual positioning?

FlyboyNC Posted at 2015-12-1 06:41
I was planning on getting some great lake shots on the boat next summer. Wake boarding and tubing s ...

I used to fly my Phantom2 over lake water all the time and I bought two of these and zip tied them to the legs just in case anything happened. After you do it a few times, you get totally comfortable with it. As long as your in fresh water theres hope that your drone will still fly in case it tkes a dunk. At least with the Water Buoys it wnt sink.
I flew over the ocean a few weeks ago with my P3 Pro and had never done that before. Iwith the salt water getting into everything I don't know whats salvageable.Link for Water Buoys http://www.water-buoy.com/

jasper7821@yaho Posted at 2015-12-1 10:40
I used to fly my Phantom2 over lake water all the time and I bought two of these and zip tied them  ...

Great idea. Sold out every where I've looked in the US. How much are they each?

FlyboyNC Posted at 2015-12-1 09:39
Great idea. Sold out every where I've looked in the US. How much are they each?

Ya, I noticed that. I bought a bunch from Amazon a few years ago and they were only $15.00 or so. I can't seem to find any either. Their website news page hasn't been updated since 2011, don't know what happened.
I really loved them though, they were very small and light.

I fly over water as much as I do land. Lakes, streams, creeks and rivers. I love all the different things you can see.

Jerry

Dirty river run from my driveway:

Great Video. I love flying over the ocean along the cliffs and shore.

Only showed the flight out. Card was full and I didn't realize. Sometimes excitement just overtakes you.   Love my phantom

Seadog1967 Posted at 2015-12-1 14:53
Great Video. I love flying over the ocean along the cliffs and shore.

https://youtu.be/Vm9Ff_spInk ...

Beautiful video Seadog! Love the waves breaking over the rocks!

Jerry

hy

i would like to ask what is  VPS module. that u have to turn off before you are flying above water

and if it MUST  be turn off

most of the time i am taking video above water

thank

I still don't get all the drama about flying over water. For me I feel more relaxed when doing it. For starters I get better distance from far less interference. If there is a total failure I know for sure it's not going to fall on anybody's property or worse. My vps is always on and after 110+ phantom 3 flights over the Adriatic I have never once experienced a problem. Same for a few times over a mountain lake.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2015-12-1 07:20
"I've spent too much money on this bird to lose it because of something out of my control"
In that ...

Well...we all live and learn.

BTW everyting I've read regarding compass caliibration "suggests" that one does it at the home point or very near the home point.  Given what happened to me, I should have calibrated away from the home point?

naildrivingman@ Posted at 2015-12-2 09:28
Well...we all live and learn.

BTW everyting I've read regarding compass caliibration "suggests" th ...

"BTW everyting I've read regarding compass caliibration "suggests" that one does it at the home point or very near the home point.  Given what happened to me, I should have calibrated away from the home point?"

Compass calibration is one of the most misunderstood aspects of flying a Phantom and for some that don't understand it is almost a superstitious ritual.
Getting a bad compass calibration is more dangerous than not unnecessarily calibrating.
Calibrating the compass on or close to a large quantity of steel is a recipe for disaster/
You don't need to calibrate every flight and you can travel a long way from where you calibrated and safely fly without recalibrating.
You will fly safer if you understand what it is about.
This thread is a good one to understand compass calibration:
http://www.phantompilots.com/thr ... plete-primer.32829/

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-2 04:06
The VPS module is the "Vision Positioning System" camera (and is also sometimes said to include th ...

thank u paul it was very helpfull to understand it

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-2 08:52
You're welcome.

I'm glad that I managed to explain it with sufficient clarity.

hy paul

one more question i forgot to ask

how to cancle vps mode

thank

oren

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-12-1 14:25
I fly over water as much as I do land. Lakes, streams, creeks and rivers. I love all the different t ...

Nice job. Kansas?

Seadog1967 Posted at 2015-12-1 15:53
Great Video. I love flying over the ocean along the cliffs and shore.

https://youtu.be/Vm9Ff_spInk ...

Where in the States was this taken? I am in New England.

rodger Posted at 2015-12-2 07:54
Nice job. Kansas?

Thanks Rodger! That one was South Dakota.

Jerry

rodger Posted at 2015-12-2 21:56
Where in the States was this taken? I am in New England.

That was taken in Ogunquit Maine. Was flying from the deck of the Seachambers Motel but you could launch anywhere along the Marginal way.  It was wicked awesome. You should go. I'm in Western Ma.

i love flying over water.
Watch my video at P mode with vps always on
.30 flights above sea. Never bellow 3 meters. No problems yet.

alextsampas Posted at 2015-12-2 16:07
i love flying over water.
Watch my video at P mode with vps off.30 flights above sea. Never bellow 3 ...

Beautiful Video Alex! Love the prop wash!

Jerry