What, if any settings need to be changed if I want to fly over water, say 50 ft. I have read on numerous occassions that this can be tricky, and I just want to make sure I don't make a rookie mistake 2 scenerios I want to be doing is, 1) take off from ground and fly over a rather large lake. 2) Take off from my boat on the same lake. Any help and explanations will be appreciated.

Ok, here is my advice for you.
1. Don't fly too low (like 1 foot above the water) or your drone might hit the water because of a sudden altitude drop.
2. Hand-catch your drone when you are on your boat, it is safer that attempting to land it
3. Minimum GoHome altitude- set your minimum GoHome altitude to a level suitable for you.
4. Do not use GoHome when you are flying from your boat, because the boat can drift slightly and your drone will return to home and land in the water. If you use GoHome, let the drone automatically fly close to you, then manually bring it in to you and hand-catch it.
5. BEWARE OF JETSKI WATER TRAILS! The water shooting up from a jetski can down your drone in the lake.
Suggestions for filming: Turn your brightness down slightly for best results, if you want to have fun you can chase your boat with the drone
Hope this helps,
Robi

My advice is this.
Fly over water ONLY to get valuable shots you can't get any other way.
Take off with full batteries only.
Pay attention to any warning messages.Make sure you understand ATTI mode and regaining control with lost GPS...and have it tested on land.

DO NOT place a warranty claim for your drone when you lose it to the water. That is, as pilots we assume the risk for flying over ANYTHING.
If you wish to have your drone warranted, buy DJI Care or 3rd party insurance and add floats to it so you have something left to send in (no warranty on lost drones, even with extra insurance).

Good luck~

Thanks, some really good advice !

droneflyers.com Posted at 2016-6-26 14:15
My advice is this.
Fly over water ONLY to get valuable shots you can't get any other way.
Take off w ...

Why would someone not file a claim just because they fly over water. That has to be the dumbest advise I have read on here. There are plenty of people who have successfully filed claims with DJI for failures over water even without recovering the quad. Flying over water is no different than flying over land.
Unless you are thinking that he is going to intentionally flow to low and crash into the water?
Why is everyone so paranoid about flying over water. It makes zero sense.

There are two things I noticed when flying  high above, over top a lake, or of our city River.
It's the most dangerous place to be flying, as retrieval will be zero% if it fails.
It's one the most exciting places to be situated while flying, and yes, beautiful scenery usually aways abounds.
I wouldn't make it an everyday event, but flying over a large body of water has to be experienced to be appreciated. ;-)
The video and pics, speak for themselves...


RedHotPoker

The main point is, they won't warranty it if you LOSE it in the water (cannot retrieve).  If you can't send them the damaged drone, you're out of luck.

04red6 Posted at 2016-6-26 15:27
Why would someone not file a claim just because they fly over water. That has to be the dumbest adv ...

You can agree or disagree, but for some unknown reason the FAA and all worldwide aviation authorities feel that flying over water is different than flying over land.

So, either they and I are correct - or you are. My guess is you are not in the aviation or insurance business.

The very basics - before we get into matters like GPS reflectance, etc. are:
1. MANY scenarios, including low battery, etc - force the craft to land where it is. Over land you would have it in good condition. Over water it is a goner.
2. MANY other scenarios cause a hobby drone to crash or fall from the sky. Over trees, grass and other such materials, a fall from 50 feet (as pilot is flying) will result in little or no damage - OR AT LEAST a good part of the model to repair or send back for warranty. If they are over way - well, no craft left.

I guess common sense may not be too common. So let me state it as a fact. There is more chance of you losing your hobby machine when flying it over water. Period.

04red6 Posted at 2016-6-26 15:27
Why would someone not file a claim just because they fly over water. That has to be the dumbest adv ...

You can agree or disagree, but for some unknown reason the FAA and all worldwide aviation authorities feel that flying over water is different than flying over land.

So, either they and I are correct - or you are. My guess is you are not in the aviation or insurance business.

The very basics - before we get into matters like GPS reflectance, etc. are:
1. MANY scenarios, including low battery, etc - force the craft to land where it is. Over land you would have it in good condition. Over water it is a goner.
2. MANY other scenarios cause a hobby drone to crash or fall from the sky. Over trees, grass and other such materials, a fall from 50 feet (as pilot is flying) will result in little or no damage - OR AT LEAST a good part of the model to repair or send back for warranty. If they are over way - well, no craft left.

I guess common sense may not be too common. So let me state it as a fact. There is more chance of you losing your hobby machine when flying it over water. Period.

As to why I mentioned the claim - it's like insurance claims or fraud. I don't want you getting in a car accident because you drank a bit much or didn't sleep well. The result is that the price of ALL insurance goes up. If a bunch of pilot dunk their machines and yap at DJI to replace them...DJI does not eat those costs. They pass them on to the responsible and conservative pilots.

I'd say those who like to take a lot of chances should stick to video games where they can hit reset and play again.

Oh, the DJI manual cautions against flying over water - in fact, it says don't do it I guess you also think DJI is clueless about the odds, eh?

I just saw this posted on the other forum...http://www.phantompilots.com/thr ... h-3-and-ph-4.82475/

Pretty cool.. The music chosen as well. ;-)


RedHotPoker

droneflyers.com Posted at 2016-6-26 17:40
You can agree or disagree, but for some unknown reason the FAA and all worldwide aviation authorit ...

If you say so...
You sure do post a lot of negativity on this forum. How did you become such an expert on everything? Keep on doing you. But I think you are full of it.
Have a pleasant day.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2016-6-27 02:15
My advice is this.
Fly over water ONLY to get valuable shots you can't get any other way.
Take off w ...

DJI Care doesn't cover drones crashed in water, not sure the exact reason. Doesn't care lost drone either, which I can see why, in case some people will simply hide it.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-6-27 03:49
The main point is, they won't warranty it if you LOSE it in the water (cannot retrieve).  If you can ...

Actually DJI will honor the warranty if the logs in your DJI Go app indicates it's because of malfunction. For example, if a battery cell suddenly dies, a rotor dies, faulty firmware, etc.

Don't listen to the negative posts the drone will be fine if you follow my instructions

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-6-27 05:49
The main point is, they won't warranty it if you LOSE it in the water (cannot retrieve).  If you can ...

There are many cases where this has proved to be not true.
DJI gave me a new P3 when mine malfunctioned and was not retrievable from the water body it went into.
If the flight record proves the issue was a malfunction, it doesn't matter if you are above land or sea.
On the other hand, if the flight record indicates the Phantom was functioning normally and operator error is likely .... you're out of luck.

04red6 Posted at 2016-6-27 05:27
Why would someone not file a claim just because they fly over water. That has to be the dumbest adv ...

I think he is referring to two different warranty claims.  The first is a loss due to pilot error.  The other is a mechanical failure which is covered under manufacturer warranty/DJI Care/Third Party insurance.  In the first instance I agree, I don't think you should be compensated for making a mistake or for stupidity.  The cost of your replacement machine is passed on to every other customer, making it more expensive than it needs to be.  If the aircraft fails and it is provable by recovery of the wreck, reading of the flight recorder, or syncing the flight record (even without recovering the wreck), it is appropriate that it is covered under a manufacturers warranty.  A "warranty" is really a guarantee that the manufacturer makes, promising that the item is going to hold together and perform as advertised.  The other situations are "insurance" whereby you are paying for protection if you have an accident.  In that case they may want to see the unit to verify the extent of the damage or total loss.  Otherwise it would be easy to do bogus claims, like suffering minor cosmetic damage and keeping it for spare parts then claiming for a total loss saying it was lost in water.  Again, the cost of replacements are passed on to other policy holders.  It works the same as if you are claiming for a totaled or stolen car, the insurer wants to see something, even if it is a police report.  At least that way you are discouraged from making a false report due to penalties.

I flew my PHV3p over the Pacific Ocean...performed like a champ.  Was I nervous...?  Sure...but the payoff was worth it

tonycorsoimages Posted at 2016-6-27 10:17
I flew my PHV3p over the Pacific Ocean...performed like a champ.  Was I nervous...?  Sure...but the  ...

Beautiful area, a must see. We drove from San Fran down to Morrow Bay, that is bucket list material.

If the payoff was worth it that means you don't cry if the next time it doesn't come back!

I actually tend to look at mine that way. It's paid for itself already in pleasure, photos and videos and I don't have the expectations of it lasting forever.
The problem with the "whose fault it is?" scenarios are many...as I see it.

First, most crashes and losses, even if a craft malfunctions, are not all the fault of the manufacturer. If the manual says don't fly over water and you do...or the same with high power tension wires, large magnetic metal structures, areas with vast amounts of wireless signals, etc. - well, the "malfunction" is often a known limitation of the machine. If a pilot disregards those he or she has some blame.

I have seen many loses where the pilot admits to seeing lots of error messages (maybe compass errors) on takeoff yet then goes for a long flight anyway - and loses their machine. Obviously they lost it to a "system malfunction", but whether it should be under warranty fully is another story.
If a customer never cleans their battery contacts - and then a battery failure brings the machine down....is it DJI's fault? If they don't snap the battery all the way in and the machine crashes...same thing? I've seen both scenarios.

DJI is a big company but they haven't gotten their heads around all this stuff yet. In fact, it came as a surprise to them that customers expected warranties on crashes and losses since this was never the norm in this industry. Up until about 3 years ago pilots expected to crash and lose their stuff regularly.

I don't know what the final solution is...yet...to the variations in customers expectations and in the different ways people use these things. If I were in the drivers seat (the DJI Boss), I would probably work out a pro-rata warranty based on flight hours as opposed to months or years. I would also limit the warranty to perhaps a certain percentage based on whether the machine was lost for good...or a crashed unit was recovered.

As an example - maybe after 20 hours of flight (about 100 flights), warranty would be limited to 50% for repairs or replacement...and/or you'd lose another amount (from day one) if the craft is not recovered. I was in the HVAC biz for 30 years and a lot of things were done that way....50%, 40%, 30% of the repair or part would be covered depending on the unit age.

When you think about it that way - a P3A that cost $750 with 100 flights only cost the user $7.50 for each flight (if totally lost)....which is a good deal. So if DJI sold them a new or refurb for 1/2 that price ($375), then DJI would be happy (they'd get their cost from it) and your cost per flight would be $3.75 and headed down since you have another machine...

People can understand a clearcut policy but it's a little harder when the customer always thinks it's a DJI malfunction even if the evidence does not support it.

huntcool001@gma Posted at 2016-6-26 23:04
Actually DJI will honor the warranty if the logs in your DJI Go app indicates it's because of malfu ...

Very possibly you're right, but I've never read a case of it here (my only source).   Plenty of the opposite though.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-6-27 01:04
There are many cases where this has proved to be not true.
DJI gave me a new P3 when mine malfuncti ...

That's good to know.

I leave here  the last video link taken with Nautical Floats .

I hope you enjoy
Here I leave the translation of the post that has written a user of the floats nautical :
http://www.todophantom.com/foro/ ... ara-phantom-3/page6

Hi everyone, I think it is time to congratulate Araw by being it tested its creation,
For my part these floats are great, the flight behavior is very good although a little windy affects without causing danger I think, but I consider it unavoidable given its minimum volume required,
The behavior when landing in water is brutal, super stable and more .., can do much more abrupt landings on the ground with its landing gear without problems because of its flexibility and stability.

For my part I find another interesting feature that could have, although maybe you think I'm crazy, jajajaj
in one of my jobs maybe I would do well to takeoffs and landings moving speed of clear sailing, and I think for some tests already done that with the apparatus in atti and using the floats as landing gear could be interesting, losing risk to dump the apparatus on landing.

Finally warn you that when landing the appliance sea with some waves, ends up taking off alone and staying hover 10 centimeters of water, it takes some time, I understand that the movement of water causes the device attempt to stabilize when you have engines up on water.

I congratulate you Alex for your work and I thank you because in my case is very interesting to have something to work on the water.
Finally say that in my case it has had an outstanding attention because the package takes me several days, he personally contacted me to see if he had arrived
and he immediately contacted postal resolving the issue, you can rely on 100%.

#31Araw, Tuesday at 7:50 PM

Ibiza and Formentera.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2016-6-27 17:06
If the payoff was worth it that means you don't cry if the next time it doesn't come back!

I actual ...

I told my wife its like vegas. Bring as much to the table as you can afford to lose. I can't afford to lose $1000 on a toy. I got my P3S for $379.00. If I lose that I will mourn the loss but eventually get a new one.