What's the lowest point of altitude you've flown the Mavic without any issues effecting the bottom sensors? or is there an altitude to fly over water without the craft losing it's bearing.
I've flown I think an altitude of 200 ft over water for only few mins but came back to land - too afraid . Curious what you guys have experienced.

It isn't something I do on a regular basis but more than once I've flown as low as a foot or two above water without noticing any problems. I'm not sure specifically what sort of sensor issues you're concerned about, but the VPS sensors are only effective up to about 40 feet (13 meters) above the surface anyway, at least on land, and the effective range probably isn't very different over water.

I have noticed that flying low over water caused my Mavic to rise which led me to think that the sensors weren't really effective over it

A couple of times I noticed that when flying above the water, the altitude values are distorted. Those figures of height that I see on the display were different from the truth. Somewhere here (not sure) I saw a post where this lie was explained. Different temperatures of the air above the water and above the ground and something else ... I did not risk to later fall below 2 meters.

I've flown in sport mode at 3 feet above surface at full throttle many, many times without issues. Either turn vps sensor off or fly in sport mode.

sport mode over water is a blast and 3-4 ft is as low as I will go...reverse flying tracking jet skis or wake boarder makes great footage ... but has to be line of site because true altitude is always distorted...invest in the snow/water balls for landing gear though just in case...I actually lost one in lake but my error trying to land on moving boat

We would recommend to fly the aircraft at least 10 meters from the water: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... +Safety+Guidelines+(EN).pdf

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-7-31 11:25
It isn't something I do on a regular basis but more than once I've flown as low as a foot or two above water without noticing any problems. I'm not sure specifically what sort of sensor issues you're concerned about, but the VPS sensors are only effective up to about 40 feet (13 meters) above the surface anyway, at least on land, and the effective range probably isn't very different over water.

Wow, a foot of two above water! I'll probably have to change my underwear.

Jinjur Posted at 2017-7-31 11:24
I have noticed that flying low over water caused my Mavic to rise which led me to think that the sensors weren't really effective over it

Really? interesting.

Alexei Merinov Posted at 2017-7-31 11:42
A couple of times I noticed that when flying above the water, the altitude values are distorted. Those figures of height that I see on the display were different from the truth. Somewhere here (not sure) I saw a post where this lie was explained. Different temperatures of the air above the water and above the ground and something else ... I did not risk to later fall below 2 meters.

Regarding different temps (air/land) interesting point. Can VPS sensors be that sensitive?

idofuel Posted at 2017-7-31 19:20
sport mode over water is a blast and 3-4 ft is as low as I will go...reverse flying tracking jet skis or wake boarder makes great footage ... but has to be line of site because true altitude is always distorted...invest in the snow/water balls for landing gear though just in case...I actually lost one in lake but my error trying to land on moving boat

3-4 feet still risky but seems like it's time for me to experiment, shall I say.

Sportbike*Pilot Posted at 2017-8-1 04:07
Wow, a foot of two above water! I'll probably have to change my underwear.

I was flying line of sight and I never pay much attention to the VPS height anyway, but I don't remember seeing any unusual / unexpected increases or decreases in height during the flight. In the right conditions it also makes for nice video or photos when the gimbal's pointing straight down at the reflection, which is distorted by the waves created in the water by the prop wash.

DJI Susan Posted at 2017-7-31 22:22
We would recommend to fly the aircraft at least 10 meters from the water: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20170117/Mavic+Pro+Disclaimer+and+Safety+Guidelines+(EN).pdf

Thanks a lot Susan. Seems like another good piece of advice to stay in the 30 feet range. Good to know that I need to come down to earth a bit since I was in the stratosphere at 200 feet.

None of you guys ever had the craft malfunction and fall into the water?

Any way to set a min safe altitude to avoid unexpected sea landing? Especially when flying from the sea-side cliff top?

Sportbike*Pilot Posted at 2017-8-1 04:17
Thanks a lot Susan. Seems like another good piece of advice to stay in the 30 feet range. Good to know that I need to come down to earth a bit since I was in the stratosphere at 200 feet.

Please pay attention to "at least"~  Also, disable VPS may be helpful to fly above water.

DJI Susan Posted at 2017-8-1 04:55
Please pay attention to "at least"~  Also, disable VPS may be helpful to fly above water.

Sure will. I strive my best to stay within that altitude and/or playing it safe. If I had several Mavics' I might push the limits but don't.

Not all water is created equal.  Reflections, clarity and so on can have an effect.
Ive not noticed any real issues until i hit 15-20ft or so.  Then, either nothing at all changes or occasionally it'll rise and fall and sometimes drift.
Once ive seen it start a slow descent from hover from about 20ft that i let happen to see if it would correct but bottled it at 6ft and flew it back up manually - i believe in that incident it would have crashed into the sea.  Ive also seen the opposite, a slow ascent from about 15ft to about 35 where it stopped, presumably because the sensors were now out of range.

gnirtS Posted at 2017-8-1 07:58
Not all water is created equal.  Reflections, clarity and so on can have an effect.
Ive not noticed any real issues until i hit 15-20ft or so.  Then, either nothing at all changes or occasionally it'll rise and fall and sometimes drift.
Once ive seen it start a slow descent from hover from about 20ft that i let happen to see if it would correct but bottled it at 6ft and flew it back up manually - i believe in that incident it would have crashed into the sea.  Ive also seen the opposite, a slow ascent from about 15ft to about 35 where it stopped, presumably because the sensors were now out of range.

"Ive not noticed any real issues until i hit 15-20ft or so"


Good to know. It seems like anything between 20 and 30 feet is probably the sweet spot?

Not all water is equal - ive heard of but not personally witnessed people getting the thing go into landing mode 150ft up due to the VPS getting confused by reflections.
My experience is variable, USUALLY nothing happens at all and i frequently forget to turn the sensors off.  But the few times ive seen horizontal or vertical drifting once i checked i found the sensors still on.  Its a rare occurrence though as given where i live 100% of my flights involve ocean.  Best suggestion is make sure youve got eyes on the drone any time youre low in case it drifts.

Also, use the altitudes on the RC not the app - the app can lag behind by a few seconds so the craft could be lower than the tablet shows.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-8-1 04:15
I was flying line of sight and I never pay much attention to the VPS height anyway, but I don't remember seeing any unusual / unexpected increases or decreases in height during the flight. In the right conditions it also makes for nice video or photos when the gimbal's pointing straight down at the reflection, which is distorted by the waves created in the water by the prop wash.

I just love the straight down shots we can get over the ocean...here's one with the water going out colliding with the waves coming in.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KG1UjnYQ3SvyIOD03

10 12 ft over a lake. 20ft over ocean. VPS turned off. Always within LOS. Do this on a regular basis

LIVNXXL Posted at 2017-8-1 10:11
10 12 ft over a lake. 20ft over ocean. VPS turned off. Always within LOS. Do this on a regular basis

I'll def keep this in mind.