Boat take off / landing

lucadeceres · May 20, 2015

After the latest firmware update now I1 is able to take off from a moving surface like a boat.
I did a lot of flights in the past days and it's very good.

I noticed that sometimes, when starting the motors, I1 goes immediately up and drifts so you have to be very careful to climb very fast after arming the engines. So the best solution is take of from a little table without anything around.

Another strange behaviour is that it was not possible to set the moving homeport; for this reason in some occasions the I1 attemped to return home in the take off position even we moved away with the boat... so be careful about the flight path

lucadeceres · May 20, 2015

That's what I mean

Shazbot4 · May 20, 2015

good picture

dcbrewer · May 20, 2015

lucadeceres said:
I noticed that sometimes, when starting the motors, I1 goes immediately up and drifts so you have to be very careful to climb very fast after arming the engines. So the best solution is take off from a little table without anything around.

I found that the boat moving—even a small amount with little waves—created a challenge for me taking off. You basically have to move with the boat while taking off until the Inspire clears the sides of the boat. A table would've been nice.

We also tried launching and landing by hand, for obvious reasons this is not a good idea and we won't be doing it again. Nothing happened, but it's too risky.

I also noticed that unless takeoff is level, the Inspire drifts a lot. This was a challenge on the boat as well.

lucadeceres · May 20, 2015

Yeah.... we usually lift off from a little table and landing is made grabbing the I1 by hands.
To avoid drifting I used to climb very fast just after arming the motors; the landing was quite easy with landing gears down.
We used to pick the front left one and the right bottom just with the fingers while hovering in stable position.... when the grab is good I stop the motors

lake_flyer · May 21, 2015

nice.
I'll be doing this a lot in the future, good to see it's working.

likeaninja · May 23, 2015

Just want to confirm this too, I launched several times today from a small rib, power up was done with the boat rolling all over the place, then launch and recovery was done by hand. Absolutely no problems, wind was about 10-15kts you just have to take it slow on the approaches fine adjusting it in to the hands of an assistant, going around where necessary. I felt quite comfortable about it, catching was done holding roughly where the vps is with the gear up. no issues at all.

jon b · Jun 7, 2015

I was going to launch from a boat yesterday but it was VERY Choppy and the compass values on deck were way-off norm so I decided not to risk it. Your shot is amazing (as expected). Flew an old Phantom with a GP Black but disappointing result.

What kind of boat did you launch from? Wind speed? Sea state?

Nice work!

lucadeceres · Jun 25, 2015

Hi, sorry for delay I was abroad for shooting.
We used a 10 mt rubber boat to lift and land.

Here is a little part of the shots

(a mix from Ronin, Inspire 1 and S1000)

lake_flyer · Jun 25, 2015

Luis Morales · Jun 25, 2015

lucadeceres said:
Hi, sorry for delay I was abroad for shooting.
We used a 10 mt rubber boat to lift and land.

Here is a little part of the shots

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(a mix from Ronin, Inspire 1 and S1000)

you got me there, how did a S1000 lifted off one of those boats? hand launch?

what about the I1 i would like to take off a boat this summer i would appreciate some tips

lucadeceres · Jun 25, 2015

S1000 hand launch and hand landing.

Inspire 1 take off from a little camping table on the boat deck, hand catch for landing (we use to put landing gear down, hover and my partner takes with his finger the front left and rear right skid; when he holds it firmly I push motors down).

Luis Morales · Jun 25, 2015

lucadeceres said:
S1000 hand launch and hand landing.

Inspire 1 take off from a little camping table on the boat deck, hand catch for landing (we use to put landing gear down, hover and my partner takes with his finger the front left and rear right skid; when he holds it firmly I push motors down).

awesome thanks for the info.

Airtech Inspect · Feb 13, 2016

Awesome shots and video, I do a lot of sailing out here and race on friday night in the beer can races, trying to work up the nerve to hand land, luckily we have a point where we turn around to race back to the Ala Wai harbor. We turn around right at diamond head and it's near a point so I can easily fly out and take pics, but then I wouldn't be racing :/ if your ever out in Hawai'i hit me up

lucadeceres · Feb 14, 2016

Airtech Inspect said:
Awesome shots and video, I do a lot of sailing out here and race on friday night in the beer can races, trying to work up the nerve to hand land, luckily we have a point where we turn around to race back to the Ala Wai harbor. We turn around right at diamond head and it's near a point so I can easily fly out and take pics, but then I wouldn't be racing :/ if your ever out in Hawai'i hit me up

I know Diamond Head... I was there several years ago.... hope to come back again to Hawaii