Flying around the sea - corrosion

Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
179
Reaction score
0
I was just wondering, is any protection needed for corrosion when flying around the beach/sea?
 
I recently flew around the beach and sea in Bora-Bora. The only extra thing I did was to carefully wipe down the outside of the Phantom once I brought it back, especially the motor turrets which appear to be made out of metal, and the gimbal.

The biggest worry for me was sand......... I had to find a place well inland to launch from because I was worried if I took off from anywhere that had any sand around, getting sand into the motors would be an issue.
 
Almmohd said:
I was just wondering, is any protection needed for corrosion when flying around the beach/sea?

Don't land in it and you shall be fine.
 
ianwood said:
Almmohd said:
I was just wondering, is any protection needed for corrosion when flying around the beach/sea?

Don't land in it and you shall be fine.


:oops: easier said than done Ian, sometimes I look at a pole when I'm flying my helicopter and I think "ok don't hit that" and then BAM!! :shock:
 
ianwood said:
Almmohd said:
:oops: easier said than done Ian, sometimes I look at a pole when I'm flying my helicopter and I think "ok don't hit that" and then BAM!! :shock:

I have no idea what you're talking about! https://vimeo.com/85400257

Ha HA HA!! :lol: omg I mean that was terrible...

Ooh I am glad that it survived. I didn't have a chance to have a bad spill with my P2V, I had to send it back. Now I'm haunting this forum trying to figure out if to get the P2 and how to set up FPV. Compass and GPS issues have made me jumpy about DJI.
 
SARC said:
I recently flew around the beach and sea in Bora-Bora. The only extra thing I did was to carefully wipe down the outside of the Phantom once I brought it back, especially the motor turrets which appear to be made out of metal, and the gimbal.

The biggest worry for me was sand......... I had to find a place well inland to launch from because I was worried if I took off from anywhere that had any sand around, getting sand into the motors would be an issue.
I live in a marine environment and sand is a big concern. I usually take off from either a small folding table or from a piece of plywood. Either one stops the rotorwash from throwing up sand onto the vehicle. For landing, I don't. I just hover above head height and grab the thing by the skids before shutting down the motors. It works fine. Just use a light touch because if you pull against the thrust of the Phantom, it will fight you and try to maintain its position.
 
droneranger said:
SARC said:
I recently flew around the beach and sea in Bora-Bora. The only extra thing I did was to carefully wipe down the outside of the Phantom once I brought it back, especially the motor turrets which appear to be made out of metal, and the gimbal.

The biggest worry for me was sand......... I had to find a place well inland to launch from because I was worried if I took off from anywhere that had any sand around, getting sand into the motors would be an issue.
I live in a marine environment and sand is a big concern. I usually take off from either a small folding table or from a piece of plywood. Either one stops the rotorwash from throwing up sand onto the vehicle. For landing, I don't. I just hover above head height and grab the thing by the skids before shutting down the motors. It works fine. Just use a light touch because if you pull against the thrust of the Phantom, it will fight you and try to maintain its position.

Where I was thinking about flying has some sea spray, so I was more worried about the salt corroding stuff. I wouldn't launch at the beach though I would be on a hill a couple hundred feet away. I would like to fly up to the beach front.
 
Almmohd said:
Where I was thinking about flying has some sea spray, so I was more worried about the salt corroding stuff. I wouldn't launch at the beach though I would be on a hill a couple hundred feet away. I would like to fly up to the beach front.

Sea spray might be a little more menacing. Depends on how much and how aerosolized it is. My guess would be if you can feel it and feels damp, you're risk level increases.
 
ianwood said:
Sea spray might be a little more menacing. Depends on how much and how aerosolized it is. My guess would be if you can feel it and feels damp, you're risk level increases.

You shouldn't feel it at the height and distance I would be flying at but you can see the effects on the houses that are about 500m away and they are at some height (a couple hundred meters at least).
 
Marine environment is cruel to electronics, especially this type of electronic. I use Boeshield T-9 and spray my boards and plug connections. Been using it for years on boats. Way better than WD-40. Boeshield dries to a light, waxy type of coating.
 
Almmohd said:
ianwood said:
Sea spray might be a little more menacing. Depends on how much and how aerosolized it is. My guess would be if you can feel it and feels damp, you're risk level increases.

You shouldn't feel it at the height and distance I would be flying at but you can see the effects on the houses that are about 500m away and they are at some height (a couple hundred meters at least).
Don't forget about fog too. I was doing some testing in fairly heavy fog and when I got the aircraft landed, it was soaking wet. The condensation effect and the AC's motion through the moisture laden atmosphere deposited a surprising amount of water on the bird. Since it has poor weather protection, I'm sure it got wet inside too. Good thing I had the GoPro's lens capped 'cause it was dripping also.
 
Skimmer said:
Marine environment is cruel to electronics, especially this type of electronic. I use Boeshield T-9 and spray my boards and plug connections. Been using it for years on boats. Way better than WD-40. Boeshield dries to a light, waxy type of coating.

This Boeshield stuff looks promising, I think I will look into it.
 
I often fly close to the waves above the seas, sometimes in the mist blowing off the tops. I've had the gimbal go squirrelly with a salt spray and the gopro get coated. The worst spray required a fresh water rinse of the gimbal and gopro and a day to dry. The phantom wiped clean and dry, everything worked fine the next day. Before each flight I spin the rotors to make sure everything is free and loose. Occasionally a grain of sand will get in the motor well which requires a total shut down to free it. You are doomed if you take off with that situation. Hand landing helps prevent that, and taking off from rocks and sand free areas.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic