Boat Landing

Endjinnear · Mar 21, 2015

I am wondering if anyone has any advice or thoughts on landing on a boat.

Currently working on a large yacht made of alumin.... First attempt at landing ended fairly badly.

Slightly worried about radars, vsat and all that metal interfering.

Please leave the take off "discussions" for the other thread.

jon b · Mar 22, 2015

I'd be worried as well. The Inspire is an amazing aircraft which does so many things. In my shoe experience, I have found it to be quite reliable, super smooth and steady. I have also found it to be quite sensitive to flight in and around magnetic structures and steel buried in concrete etc. As for other RF and radiation sources, I'd expect the same sensitivity. It's a pretty expensive bird to experiment with so for me... The first Phantom I owned does most of the "exploring new frontier" kind of thing. There are other craft flying with Wooing, A2 and Naza with little or no restriction that can do the job and permit use in less than ideal situations. Bottom line... I think what you're trying to do is a high margin kind of thing, not that you can't or shouldn't... Just don't think the inspire in it's current iteration is cut-out for this kind of duty.

Again, my own personal experience with Inspire so take it for what it's worth.

Love to hear more of your experiences on the water as I'm an avid boater in the summer months.

Black Sky · Mar 22, 2015

We have launched and landed with an Inspire in the FL Keys. 40ft boat with radar.....no issues. We prefer to use a "catcher" just like we do with the Phantoms.

Bren · Mar 22, 2015

Black it would be cool if you posted a quick vid of the launch and catch aboard the 40 footer. Not boating season here on the Chesapeake yet. I'm personally going follow the suggestion of putting the radar array in standby.

AERO 1 · Mar 22, 2015

Black Sky said:
We have launched and landed with an Inspire in the FL Keys. 40ft boat with radar.....no issues. We prefer to use a "catcher" just like we do with the Phantoms.

what do you mean by a catcher?

Wiski23 · Mar 22, 2015

AERO 1 said:
what do you mean by a catcher?

A person with 2 hands

AERO 1 · Mar 22, 2015

I'd like to see a video of a catcher in action. That sounds cool.

Black Sky · Mar 23, 2015

Hello AERO 1 ,
I am sorry I didn't explain. My sons take off from the boat by hand launching,then when its time to land they hover close and grab the landing gear(lowered).)
I would love to show you but we didnt get any video last time until it was in the air. I will be back in the Keys in late April and will do one then.
I think its easier with the Inspire because it handles wind so well,however with more power and bigger props you want to be smooth at it.

My son(22) can boat launch his Phantom and catch it himself.I don't know if I could pull that one off......
I do agree about putting the radar on standby.

sirnikolas · Mar 23, 2015

Black Sky said:
Hello AERO 1 ,
I am sorry I didn't explain. My sons take off from the boat by hand launching,then when its time to land they hover close and grab the landing gear(lowered).)
I would love to show you but we didnt get any video last time until it was in the air. I will be back in the Keys in late April and will do one then.
I think its easier with the Inspire because it handles wind so well,however with more power and bigger props you want to be smooth at it.

My son(22) can boat launch his Phantom and catch it himself.I don't know if I could pull that one off......
I do agree about putting the radar on standby.

Wow that's really very dangerous.

Richard-Inspire · Mar 23, 2015

yes you're brave getting someone to do that for you (especially your own son!)

I want a good solution for boat launching, but to be honest, if something's going to go wrong, I'd rather it was the inspire falling into the water than taking out someone's eye or the top of their finger, doing a hand catch.

I think the inspire is so controllable at low altitude that I reckon I can land it on a size not much bigger than the width of its feet.

damoncooper · Mar 23, 2015

Hand launching / catching the Inspire, unlike the Phantom is really not recommended.

13-inch props on one of DJI's most powerful motors will do real damage to people if anything goes wrong.

Don't do it.

sirnikolas · Mar 23, 2015

Warning - Very graphic! The following is a video of guy flying his I1 in a mall of all places then he loses control and she bites him well!

mdomeny · Mar 23, 2015

Richard-Inspire · Mar 23, 2015

i had a similar experience, but with smaller motors and smaller props. the pain is quite extraordinary, but fortunately it didn't require stitches. Imagine how much of a tit you would feel in hospital.

sirnikolas · Mar 23, 2015

I'm comfortable flying the I1 but I never fly her too close to me as you just never know...

Richard-Inspire · Mar 23, 2015

with this in mind, and going back to the topic, (to a degree), if you were within (say) 400m of a safe landing site clear of trees and people, would it be better to have that location programmed as a failsafe destination, so that once you're finished filming for a bit, you can just hit RTH and it would go there and land. Or is that really asking for trouble?

Noël · Mar 23, 2015

I'm doing a lot of filming from boats (with my Phantom(s)), and always need to hand land it.

The only thing holding me back from buying an I1 is the difficulty of hand caching it.
I've seen video's of people doing it, but not from a rocking/moving small boat!

Do you guys think that it's possible to add some kind of vertical "handle bar" underneath the I1 (somewhere below the battery)?

Obviously I will not be able to film "backwards" as it will see the "handle bar", but this is only a small price to pay!

mdomeny · Mar 23, 2015

why isnt it possible to start off a boat? is it the IMU that has to be still?
i am curious now...

Noël · Mar 23, 2015

mdomeny said:
why isnt it possible to start off a boat? is it the IMU that has to be still?
i am curious now...

Read this: http://www.inspirepilots.com/threads/wont-launch-from-boat-so-im-selling.572/

Jay Kay · Mar 23, 2015

I confirm that it will launch from a boat.
We used to catch the phantom but the I1 looks a bit scary to land on someone.

Radar should not be an issue but standby when you're not actively using it as it's not so healthy to be bathing in those waves constantly.

Motor boats should be easier to fly from/to that sailboats as there is no mast and rigging, but remember that the engines and generator are massive metal objects so they might screw compass calibration.

I am excited about a 'follow the remote' feature that would make filming a moving boat a bit less stressful.