DIY Phantom floats

Sailing in a river?
I see it all the time ,having the Tenn Tom waterway here and the locks we have large lakes behind them .Not big sailboats but big enough to have some fun on . Then we have the Mississippi and that's not to small .
 
Yep, the St. Croix river, between Mn, and Wi. Flows into the Mississippi. Fairly good sized river. There is at least one large local sailing club around here, sailboats are very popular here, and they have sailboat races on it regularly.
 
To all the people with negative comments, this is exactly what I want to do. Why? I want to undertake a video of student groups kayaking in mangrove estuaries while controlling the drone from a kayak. Wind and waves not a problem (would not fly under windy conditions anyway). Floats allow landing (watering?), battery change and take off while on the water. Not too keen on catching a drone from a kayak (my drone flying skills are better than my kayaking skills). Bearing in mind once underway the land is virtually covered by mangrove tree canopy so a land based landing is not a viable option. Would welcome any better alternatives.
 
I will jump into this!

Its my first post anyway....

I think whats needed is a water activated mechanism, a CO2 cartridge and a sturdy balloon.
No guarantee drone will be upright but if the water sensor is activated it will deploy basically an airbag.
Flame away....its only my first post, buying a P4Pro any day now.
 
Another one which probably weighs a lot less.It will still have the same issues with wind though.
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Those who wonder why you might want to do this would be to be able to recover the drone while sailing a sailboat. I have not yet mastered the ability to catch a Phantom 4 while under sail. That said, I did spray mine inside and out with NanoProtech Electric which is supposed to keep water from damaging the drone interior parts. I haven't had the misfortune yet to see if it works but I saw it as a $25 insurance policy. You can fly it off a boat pretty easy but the home point will be where it was launched and not on the boat. In case of failure it will return to home which is unlikely to be where you are at with the boat when a fault occurs. I always plan for Murphy's Law. So, if it lands itself you can sail back and recover it and hopefully it doesn't sink in the meantime.
 
I will jump into this!

Its my first post anyway....

I think whats needed is a water activated mechanism, a CO2 cartridge and a sturdy balloon.
No guarantee drone will be upright but if the water sensor is activated it will deploy basically an airbag.
Flame away....its only my first post, buying a P4Pro any day now.


Yes, I saw this a while back and it makes some sense. It is the GetterBack Home
 
Another one which probably weighs a lot less.It will still have the same issues with wind though.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Those who wonder why you might want to do this would be to be able to recover the drone while sailing a sailboat. I have not yet mastered the ability to catch a Phantom 4 while under sail. That said, I did spray mine inside and out with NanoProtech Electric which is supposed to keep water from damaging the drone interior parts. I haven't had the misfortune yet to see if it works but I saw it as a $25 insurance policy. You can fly it off a boat pretty easy but the home point will be where it was launched and not on the boat. In case of failure it will return to home which is unlikely to be where you are at with the boat when a fault occurs. I always plan for Murphy's Law. So, if it lands itself you can sail back and recover it and hopefully it doesn't sink in the meantime.


interesting concept! I just started to fly my p4 and thinking about a failsafe when flying above water, which I plan to do a lot. I see 3 things here to be considered: weight (Waterstrider and the OP setup weighs 200g+, which is stressing the phantom), windage and stability. Windage and weight goes hand in hand, since the heavier float you make, the worse windage you'll get. Shape also contributes to all these.

I just checked, pool noodles have about the same density (a 4.5liter piece weighs about 120g) as those polystyrene blocks and they are easier to work with. The trick is how to add stability that the slightest wave won't turn your bird upside down. This needs a carbon tube structure.
 
I flew my p4 into a lake a few weeks ago , it's going to sit 35' down in it's watery grave . State farm bought me a new drone and put money in my account all for $60 a year . dam the water .
 
To all the people with negative comments, this is exactly what I want to do. Why? I want to undertake a video of student groups kayaking in mangrove estuaries while controlling the drone from a kayak. Wind and waves not a problem (would not fly under windy conditions anyway). Floats allow landing (watering?), battery change and take off while on the water. Not too keen on catching a drone from a kayak (my drone flying skills are better than my kayaking skills). Bearing in mind once underway the land is virtually covered by mangrove tree canopy so a land based landing is not a viable option. Would welcome any better alternatives.
not hard hand catching even from a kayak , the hard part will be flying though the mangrove tunnels while paddling the kayak , or flippping the kayak while trying to fly and soaking your device and controller ,
 
interesting concept! I just started to fly my p4 and thinking about a failsafe when flying above water, which I plan to do a lot.
Every few months these contraptions surface and attract timid new flyers but they never really catch on and we don't see anyone continuing to use them.
The only way they would make any sense would be if you really needed the ability to land and launch from water bodies and didn't care about the loss of performance and flight time.
For general flying over water, don't handicap your Phantom and it's going to have a much better chance of coming home to you.
 
...the loss of performance and flight time. ...

That's correct, weight and loss of flight time is usually hidden in the fine print (if there is any...) while the cost of a commercial system is around the price of a new battery.
 

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