Has anyone installed any kind of floating skids on their phantom? Reason I ask because I've been flying the hell out of mine over water, mainly, and since I have my gopro in the watertight case, it occurs to me that if it ditches, I can at swim out to retrieve and salvage the camera, at least. I may experiment with something, let's see.
Floating skids?
- Thread starter PJ105
- Start date
Many people have tried, but finding a solution that is both effective and practical has been elusive. This is the solution many of us ended up with for retrieving a Phantom that goes in the drink: http://www.getterback.com/
yesterday I tried 2 coca cola bottles for this. Strapped them to my (DIY)battery side mounts, alongside the landing legs. The Phantom floated well and the Gopro just dipped completely under the surface. The only worry I have is how to keep the compass dry. I tried a plastic bag over the (stock) landing legs and that works although when you would come down in a splash, some water still enters the top of the bag. And getting the compass wet is not a good idea. You can get the craziest fly aways with a wet compass. Best thing would be to isolate the compass from moist with some kind of vulcanising tape or silicone gel. Anyone experienced with that?
But other than that I was amazed how simple the solution actually is.
Flying will be a bit less smooth with the bottles producing extra drag but on a calm day I should be able to make some great footage of my boat in the middle of the lake here. And knowing that at least it will float and that it will even live to fly another day (provided you land on the water gently, as with a RTH), gives me the courage to try it out soon.
But other than that I was amazed how simple the solution actually is.
Flying will be a bit less smooth with the bottles producing extra drag but on a calm day I should be able to make some great footage of my boat in the middle of the lake here. And knowing that at least it will float and that it will even live to fly another day (provided you land on the water gently, as with a RTH), gives me the courage to try it out soon.
What size cola bottles did you use? You you just put plastic around the compass? Seems like a great idea!
A guy in YouTube named Dustin Dunnil Just tested out a set of foam type balls sold as a floating set because if also has parts to mount it on MAVIC drones. Worked pretty good until he started purposefully bobbing it with hus hand to see if it was stable. It did dunk it under, actually flipped it. But as I said he was pushing down on the short side and if flipped. If you could find a way to mount them, it appeared to work well both landing and taking off.
