Take off from a boat ?
- Thread starter Inspire2
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The larger the boat the easier, I don't have the luxury of a large boat but frequently take off from my small boat. The rewards speak for themselves, I am the little boat at the 10 second mark and at the intro. This one is with my Mavic but I also fly my I2 from this boat. This lighthouse is almost 5 miles off shore and would be impossible to fly to from shore.
Bigger question, can you land it? I thought about flying a P4P from a boat but would have required a hand catch in 6 foots swells. Figured my fingers were worth more than a video.
The majority of my landings are hand caught. I have the Secraft hand catch handles for the I2, the mavic is pretty easy to hand catch it as it is. Having a second operator makes hand catching even easier.
I have meant to try that but always forget and will do so on my next boat launch.
If you do fly from a boat, be very careful about returning to home (which will be a different location than it took off from, probably even if you're anchored), and if there are compass issues and it wants you to recalibrate while you're standing around a lot of metal/magnets/etc. you're better off *not* recalibrating there.
Instead, leave the compass calibration alone and try to take off from a place on the boat where there's less to interfere with the sensors, maybe even held up above you if you can do that safely.
That's all taken from reading threads written by other people who (unlike me) fly from boats. Some of them have made mistakes and lost drones, so probably the best advice I can give is to read other threads with their experiences and ask some more specific questions if you're still not sure about something.
If you're new to flying drones I would definitely get some flights from solid ground in before trying from a boat though.
Instead, leave the compass calibration alone and try to take off from a place on the boat where there's less to interfere with the sensors, maybe even held up above you if you can do that safely.
That's all taken from reading threads written by other people who (unlike me) fly from boats. Some of them have made mistakes and lost drones, so probably the best advice I can give is to read other threads with their experiences and ask some more specific questions if you're still not sure about something.
If you're new to flying drones I would definitely get some flights from solid ground in before trying from a boat though.
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It's perfectly possible as others have said and many do without issue.
However, in really rough conditions it is possible the IMU(s) will not initialize due to the movement. In this instance you will just get a warning and be unable to take off.
Don't whatever you do try and calibrate the IMU(s) while on a boat.
Oh, and don't land like this guy (or his girlfriend/wife)
I can't help but laugh at that video. She get's so pissed off you can hear her throw the $500 remote down to the floor and ruin it too!! And that is why most people have no business flying these things. If you can't fly (with precision) without aids, you really shouldn't be flying these things and in my opinion get what you deserve.
If you can't hand catch a drone, you're also not going to be able to land it. In 6 foot swells you have the same issue landing on the deck as you would trying to catch it, but worse. 6ft swells also most likely indicate high winds. So forget about it.
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Can't help but agree.
She also brings it in nose in. What possesses people to do this when they have no flying skills whatsoever is beyond me
I have landed my Inspire1 on a small boat (24 ft) but found it pretty challenging. Whether caused by wind or tide, the boat was drifting slightly, and it seemed that every time I got close, the boat moved out from under the drone. I haven't tried it lately, but next time I'm going to have the boat moving slowly and deliberately, and try to establish a stable approach. Gave me even more respect for naval aviators landing on a pitching deck.
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The way I see it and have done it many times is, if you are flying a Mavic or a Phantom just take it on your boat trip and launch from the deck, hand catch it, its kind of simple if you are flying an Inspire well prepare a little and take some thing like a folding square table and some straps to launch from, but landing on the boat no, I way prefer to hand catch it, the pilot and the catcher have to know what they are doing, practice in land first, come to land with enough battery to hover over the boat until the catcher securely catches it.
I think that hand catching an Inspire is completely different than a Phantom. And you don't want it to automatically lower the gear just before you try to catch it. Gloves and protective eyewear are prudent additions to your equipment if you're going to try to hand catch an Inspire, ESPECIALLY on a boat or any unstable platform.
