Hi Fellow Pilots..

I am going on a boat trip this weekend.
I was wondering how the RTH works if the take off is on a boat that moves away over time?

Does it mean I have to to Manage with Manual Landing? So RTH is meangingless in this situation right?

Anyone been in this situation? Any Advice to share?

Thanks for Sharing..
Cheers!

You can keep resetting the homepoint through your app. But you should be ready to return manually, this is best done if you have someone to help. If you reset homepoint and initiate RTH by the time your drone gets to the home point it will have changed although you can change it constantly while its returning, its a complete mess. Learn to retrieve manually, set drone to brake mode its less hassle with Obstacle avoidance and hand catch , practice this before you get on the boat.

Also remember change loss of signal RTH “ to hover” and keep drone in VLOS .

While it is possible to reset the Home Point to where the boat is currently located, even minor drift will soon make that point incorrect. What boat owners normally do is manually land the aircraft and hand-catch it. But hand-catching is a technique that is best practised many times, preferably on dry land, before you try it at sea.

hallmark007 Posted at 4-25 16:08
You can keep resetting the homepoint through your app. But you should be ready to return manually, this is best done if you have someone to help. If you reset homepoint and initiate RTH by the time your drone gets to the home point it will have changed although you can change it constantly while its returning, its a complete mess. Learn to retrieve manually, set drone to brake mode its less hassle with Obstacle avoidance and hand catch , practice this before you get on the boat.

Also remember change loss of signal RTH “ to hover” and keep drone in VLOS .

Thanks Hallmark007...

Good Advice...

Geebax Posted at 4-25 16:09
While it is possible to reset the Home Point to where the boat is currently located, even minor drift will soon make that point incorrect. What boat owners normally do is manually land the aircraft and hand-catch it. But hand-catching is a technique that is best practised many times, preferably on dry land, before you try it at sea.

Thanks Geebax...

Looks like I have to try out some Hand catching.. (sound like fun - with an element of danger)
the next few days to get use to t his method of landing...

Cheers!

WKKL Posted at 4-25 16:27
Thanks Geebax...

Looks like I have to try out some Hand catching.. (sound like fun - with an element of danger)

One other issue to keep in mind ...
If you launch and the boat travels any distance, you could end up with the drone wanting to head back to where its home point was recorded, because the battery level is close to just enough to fly that distance.

You can avoid that by keeping the homepoint closer to the boat rather than way off in the distance.
Reset the homepoint every 5 minutes or so and that will prevent that potebtial issue.

Labroides Posted at 4-25 16:32
One other issue to keep in mind ...
If you launch and the boat travels any distance, you could end up with the drone wanting to head back to where its home point was recorded, because the battery level is close to just enough to fly that distance.

Thanks Labroides..

Seems like Updating the HP constantly is KEY

Cheers

if you are on a lake or a small body of water, i would set the home point to dry land.  you can always fly your drone back manually to your boat but if you drop your remote into the lake when you reset the home point 10 minutes earlier with 15 minutes left on the battery, what will you do....try to guess when your drone will go back to and try to get under it while it hovers?

The Saint Posted at 4-25 17:23
if you are on a lake or a small body of water, i would set the home point to dry land.  you can always fly your drone back manually to your boat but if you drop your remote into the lake when you reset the home point 10 minutes earlier with 15 minutes left on the battery, what will you do....try to guess when your drone will go back to and try to get under it while it hovers?

Wear a lanyard;+)… good point though.

Hello there WKKL. Good day and thank you for reaching out. Just a reminder that when flying above the water, the vision positioning function will turn off automatically and only the GPS and barometer are used for positioning, if affected by the accuracy range, and an accident might happen. In addition I will also post a DJI Forum thread on How to Fly Safely Over Water. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

https://forum.dji.com/thread-181878-1-1.html

DJI Stephen Posted at 4-26 19:48
Hello there WKKL. Good day and thank you for reaching out. Just a reminder that when flying above the water, the vision positioning function will turn off automatically and only the GPS and barometer are used for positioning, if affected by the accuracy range, and an accident might happen. In addition I will also post a DJI Forum thread on How to Fly Safely Over Water. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

https://forum.dji.com/thread-181878-1-1.html

Thank you all for Sharing your Valuable knowledge and Experience....

WKKL Posted at 4-26 19:59
Thank you all for Sharing your Valuable knowledge and Experience....

Hi there WKKL. You are very much welcome and thank you for the reply. Again, thank you for your valued support and keep flying. .

I once did a range test on my Ma2 over water. I was in a fast boat that could normally catch up to it. Still I foolishly flew it away so fast that I was too slow to keep up (rough water). I noticed that it was nearing battery end and I was about a mile away. I found a sandbar shown on my Nav unit chart display and flew it back to over that (virtually) and cancelled RTH. I hoped it was close enough. When I got there it was still hovering over the bar. Happy ending....well not that kind;-)

I have tried many times to lose a drone but have never succeeded. I can't be that smart! That is what my Wife keeps telling me ;-)