Is there anything I should be doing. I am still in my opinion a beginner, would I be wise to get more practice first

I would suggest not to go skimming at 2-3 feet over it. Get up in the air a bit. If you have an aircraft that has VPS sensors, turn that feature off. It can mess with your bird if flying close to the surface. Be aware that if you are close to the surface, your altitude could change a little without you realizing it. Just be careful. I fly over the water all of the time, but normally no less than 50' and usually more like 150'-250'. Never had a problem. Remember not to get too far out there and get caught without enough battery to get you home. Flying over water is fun and you have no worries about it. Just use some common sense. It will certainly give you "Goose-Bumps" the first few times you do it, but it is really worth it IMO.

To add to Ricardos recommendation:
Important is that the Downward Positioning system is off when you are close to the surface.
And make sure the 'Remote Controller Signal Lost' setting is not set to 'Landing'  ;-)
And remember: If you trigger RTH and the drone is less than 60ft away it'll go straight down!

Eric13 Posted at 2017-6-30 10:11
To add to Ricardos recommendation:
Important is that the Downward Positioning system is off when you are close to the surface.
And make sure the 'Remote Controller Signal Lost' setting is not set to 'Landing'  ;-)

I'm scared

That's funny
I actually started over water since there were only a few legal choices over solid gound.
Don't be worried, you gonna make it.

You might want to read this as well, it tells you why the downward VPS is not a recommendation:
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=94692

Eric13 Posted at 2017-6-30 10:46
That's funny
I actually started over water since there were only a few legal choices over solid gound.
Don't be worried, you gonna make it.

I think you may have solved another issue I have in another one of my posts,regarding erratic hovering.
I've just checked to find where this setting is etc ( drone not connected)  and noticed this bps setting is off anyway this could be making my hovering a bit unstable

I think you may have solved another issue I have in another one of my posts,regarding erratic hovering.
I've just checked to find where this setting is etc ( drone not connected)  and noticed this bps setting is off anyway this could be making my hovering a bit unstable

Tony Dodds 1 Posted at 2017-6-30 10:24
I'm scared

Flying over water is just like flying over land .... except there are less obstacles to hit and you'll have less signal interference.

On of my first flights, flying 2m over the water of a small pond with VPS ON. Big mistake. As the P4 was suppose to hover it was actually getting closer to the tree brunches by following the small waves. I managed to get it out safe but watching the video I realized how close I was.

I fly a lot over water, using my drone to check culverts on our river banks in the town I live in. We are prone to flooding, so do regular flights on the river. lowest I fly is about 1m above the river level. It does get the heart pounding a bit. Normal height though is about 3m. Its fun when the river is in flood, but I don't get as low due to my reference points being under water.

Depending of what waters you are flying over, take note of wind direction and wind speed. If you fly in a coastal area or beside large lakes, it can be quite windy, and it can drain the batteries a bit faster. Take the drone home and land in time.

What are "VPS Sensors" and does a P3S have them?

VPS means Vision Positioning System and relates to two ultrasonic sensors at the bottom of the P4 series.
Those are scanning the ground in order for stable positioning. Esp. helpful when GPS is not available. Working range is between 0.3 to 10 meters.

The P3S doesn't have any vision sensors, neither ultrasonic, infrared or the stereo cameras back/front.
Those sensors are for obstacle avoidance.
That's why the P3S is more of a challenge. I find it the perfect start into the world of drones.

Thanks for the info Eric. With that said...can I still attempt flights over water with my P3S? Given that I'm careful and stay at least 10+ feet above the water? Or should I refrain from it all together? I've got a small pond in my neighborhood I've been itching to fly over and shoot some shots at sunset...it's tough to get fun spots to film or photograph in the city and I'm getting tired of launching from our driveway and shooting the same thing over and over while I practice flight

Labroides Posted at 2017-6-30 15:01
Flying over water is just like flying over land .... except there are less obstacles to hit and you'll have less signal interference.

Yup. I recently went on vacation to Cebu Philippines and flew my drone over the ocean.  I was launching from the dive shop where the water was less than 5m from the launch point.  I don't like skimming the water as I have seen some people do I like to get some height asap.  I did this one of the dive boats just offshore and I think about 30 feet up.

This is where I prefer to be when over the water, far far above. Flying out over the ocean a mile or 2 is not an issue as no obtructions from remote to the drone.

Lowspark420 Posted at 2017-7-1 16:06
Thanks for the info Eric. With that said...can I still attempt flights over water with my P3S? Given that I'm careful and stay at least 10+ feet above the water? Or should I refrain from it all together? I've got a small pond in my neighborhood I've been itching to fly over and shoot some shots at sunset...it's tough to get fun spots to film or photograph in the city and I'm getting tired of launching from our driveway and shooting the same thing over and over while I practice flight

Do it - no problem.
Low over water the P3S and the P4P don`t make any difference.
I've flown the P3S as low as 20cm. The fun starts when the drone stirrs up the water.
This here is with the P4P:

Thanks again! I'm going to give it a try this afternoon if the weather holds!

blackcrusader Posted at 2017-7-1 16:32
This is where I prefer to be when over the water, far far above. Flying out over the ocean a mile or 2 is not an issue as no obtructions from remote to the drone.

Stunning photos

Eric13 Posted at 2017-7-1 23:43
Do it - no problem.
Low over water the P3S and the P4P don`t make any difference.
I've flown the P3S as low as 20cm. The fun starts when the drone stirrs up the water.

No chance, its way out of my skill level, maybe I should buy a remote controlled boat,

Weather here has been torrential rain for almost a full week, then yesterday was cloudy & warm & then the wind arrived with gusts too strong to fly. Today is no different, which is a shame as there's a run of salmon/sea trout coming over the weir which would have made a nice video

Tony Dodds 1 Posted at 2017-7-2 11:00
Stunning photos

Thanks Tony.    The sunset pics is just a cast of staying at the dive shop bar after the days dives are done and watching the sunsets.  I usually stay 10 - 14 days there and there are always some stunning sunsets to the island across the ocean.  The cloud formation was just one I saw so thought should snap a photo of.

Thing is you also need to play with the camera settings and know how to get the best from such a wee camera.  DJI have done a great job with them for what they are.

From the same afternoon sunset took the bird up to around 400 feet height to get this video.

My early flights were over water at night. But I have big stones.

I've flown over water quite a bit, I haven't tried to turn off the downward VPS sensors off yet because I thought it wasn't possible on the P4  (m,aybe it is on newer firmware but I haven't checked)

It does get the adrenaline flowing - especially for the first bit. Here is one of the nicer video's I have from over water flying.  As you can see I was pretty low to the water a few times in this video, and it was glassy calm. It didn't seem to affect anything but perhaps that's because I was constantly moving while close to the surface..

Anyways - enjoy, and if you look at my channel you'll see a few more over water flights too..

First shot over the pond...a little nervous but I made it...

Hello All,
My neighbor has a large lake I been itching to fly.
Thanks for the heads up, and and bad weather here when I'm home may have saved some regrets.
However I think I would've been ok when it was over and pucker factor had ended.

It is scary no doubt...the thought of something going wrong over land is one thing...but over water it's all over if it does...