Aircraft floats for the DJI Inspire
- Thread starter Matt - AFM
- Start date
90 percent of the flying I do is over water. I've never had an issue and I don't always play the safest either I've filmed wave runners freestyle jet skiers yachts sailboats Wakeboarder Slalom skiers kitesurfers you name it. the two issues I feel like people would have is how the wind would affect the inspire with added surface and also the fact that the gear probably wouldn't be able to make it all the way down in time if the Inspire lost a motor or prop and came down fast. I also push my inspire harder than most I think, so this may not be a problem for others
How about inflatable to minimize flight aerodynamic impact but armed to inflate on command from the pilot with small separate remote switch?
The first few seconds of this video shows the "before" inflation profile of the solution.
The first few seconds of this video shows the "before" inflation profile of the solution.
Last edited:
Yes ,if something suddenly happens,and you have no time to put the landing gear down ,the floats would only work as ,a recovery (preventing the craft from sinking). The floats would be ideal for slow landing in case the battery issue (battery low) and you have no time to make it to the shore.
Overall I think it's a good idea, I may just be thinking too hard about what it does to performance on the RC seaplanes I fly when there's windy conditions.. I fully support the quick inflatable floats...
By what means would you then recover the aircraft after the emergency landing on the water?
I think the "falling out of the sky" case isn't something this solution needs to cover. On land that would produce catastrophic damage depending on height but the wreckage would be recoverable.
On water with an RC controlled quick-inflatable solution the results could be the same if the operator acted quickly.
The case where you encounter unexpected low battery or controlled decent is the case I think worth covering.
Bonus points for
1) being able to keep the camera high and dry
2) being able to take off again after deployment and water landing and
3) being able to easily reset / repack and rearm manually (presumably swapping out used CO2 canisters for fresh ones)
On water with an RC controlled quick-inflatable solution the results could be the same if the operator acted quickly.
The case where you encounter unexpected low battery or controlled decent is the case I think worth covering.
Bonus points for
1) being able to keep the camera high and dry
2) being able to take off again after deployment and water landing and
3) being able to easily reset / repack and rearm manually (presumably swapping out used CO2 canisters for fresh ones)
While I think it's a great idea... I think 800 is ridiculous. I know we've all got a minimum of 4K wrapped up in our Inspires but paying 800 for floats is like the Corvette tax on parts for owning a Corvette.
A simple solution should not be cost related to the amount of money invested in a hobby. That's hogwash. A reasonable price for a reasonable profit if fine but 800 bucks... no way.
Guess we'll see what the true price is when they come out but I'll make my own setup before spending 800 for two pontoons.
Mark
A simple solution should not be cost related to the amount of money invested in a hobby. That's hogwash. A reasonable price for a reasonable profit if fine but 800 bucks... no way.
Guess we'll see what the true price is when they come out but I'll make my own setup before spending 800 for two pontoons.
Mark
I don't know how much detailed answer are you looking for ,but the simplest description would be "SAR"
SAR? Are we to know what that stands for? Can you possibly deliver the said "simplest description"
One can only imagine how miffed SAR would be when the learned they got called out to "rescue" a RC quad copter.
I see your point.LOL
It should be on everyones check list not only get ready the craft for take off ,but make your emergency plan that includes recovery of the craft in case it comes to it.
Personally,prior to fly over the water,my question to myself would be " in case the craft ends in the water; is there someone or something to bring me to it and recover it dead or alive"?
Now in meter of building/ designed the floating device ; I would start with a simple solution first and than progress to improve it .
The simple means : try to make it in aerodynamic shape
make it inflatable for better storage
install/ inflate only when planing to fly over the water, prior the take off
remove it for non over water flights
The more complex designed ,as a system with dedicated servo/valve combination fed to the stored floats ( similar design as parachute system) through the tubing and compressed aid container.
But you might run in some issues like dedicated radio channel on the Inspire.Also the possibility of malfunction of the system.
Dos this make sense?
i fly mostly over water, and my solution is getterbacks. I've never had to rely on them so don't know how well they work, and for that reason I also use three - to allow for a bit of redundancy. But hey are small and light. My theory is that any 'falling out of the air' is going to be bad, and that any contact with water is going to be curtains. Doesn't matter if it goes in for 30 seconds, or underwater for 10 minutes - are you still going to take it out and fly it again without sending for a repair?
I just want to make sure I can get it back, and this seems like a reasonable option. The issue with floats etc is stability, both in the air and on water. Anything large enough to float 2kg + is going to hammer stability, and probably make it more likely you'll crash, and anything that can keep it floating on the water is likely to result in it capsizing at the first bit of swell. It's a very difficult thing to make safe unfortunately.
I just want to make sure I can get it back, and this seems like a reasonable option. The issue with floats etc is stability, both in the air and on water. Anything large enough to float 2kg + is going to hammer stability, and probably make it more likely you'll crash, and anything that can keep it floating on the water is likely to result in it capsizing at the first bit of swell. It's a very difficult thing to make safe unfortunately.
Hi there, I produce a fishing show in the UK which has been revolutionised by its aerial shots, so we'd be definitely be interested in something like this. (I put our Phantom 2 in a lake a while back...)
Good luck and keep us posted. I did feel that $800 seemed a bit much though, but cheap if it makes the I1 float!!!!
thanks,
Nik
Good luck and keep us posted. I did feel that $800 seemed a bit much though, but cheap if it makes the I1 float!!!!
thanks,
Nik
Similar threads
