Flying Low Over Water.

Soad70 · Jul 27, 2016

Hi, I have been trying/experimenting with low flying over water and found it hard/impossible to keep control of the AC. I have been playing with litchi and tried turning off the VPS and I must say I am very happy with the outcome. It might be giving me a false sense of security but it's some where to start..... Anyone else played/experimented with low flying over water and have tips/info they can pass on would be great.

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bbfpv · Jul 27, 2016

most definitely keep VPS disabled.

BA577 · Jul 27, 2016

How low are you flying over water?

maseman88 · Jul 27, 2016

I don't get this post... i fly over water all the time. With all the sensors activated... no issue for me.

Soad70 · Jul 27, 2016

BA577 said:
How low are you flying over water?

I don't have a particular height I want to fly at, just want to feel comfortable flying low if/when I need to. I have a lot of water around me and would like to explore. In the video the bird was about 1 metre above the water.

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Soad70 · Jul 27, 2016

maseman88 said:
I don't get this post... i fly over water all the time. With all the sensors activated... no issue for me.

How low are you flying? What type of bird do you use?

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BA577 · Jul 27, 2016

Soad70 said:
I don't have a particular height I want to fly at, just want to feel comfortable flying low if/when I need to. I have a lot of water around me and would like to explore. In the video the bird was about 1 metre above the water.

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I have been flying at 30' above the ocean without any issues. I have a Phantom 4 with all sensors activated. I am not inclined to fly much lower than that over the ocean due to wave hight variations.

Wibble · Jul 27, 2016

Just remember you get lots of real birds on the water. They can take off suddenly. I fly high over water for this reason only.

erikgraham · Jul 27, 2016

What issues are caused by VPS over water?

Tarzan! · Jul 27, 2016

erikgraham said:
What issues are caused by VPS over water?

The manual states that the VPS cannot function properly over surfaces that do not have pattern variations and later states may not function properly by flying over water. I think it has something to do with water's reflective properties and the transparency of it. In other words, it can't accurately detect it's altitude over water.

erikgraham · Jul 27, 2016

Tarzan! said:
The manual states that the VPS cannot function properly over surfaces that do not have pattern variations and later states may not function properly by flying over water. I think it has something to do with water's reflective properties and the transparency of it. In other words, it can't accurately detect it's altitude over water.

Yeah. I've seen that. I was trying to get more at what bahvior people are actually seeing when they fly low over water. Do you get an in-app warning? Does the P4 gain or lose altitude suddenly? What happens?

Tarzan! · Jul 27, 2016

erikgraham said:
Yeah. I've seen that. I was trying to get more at what bahvior people are actually seeing when they fly low over water. Do you get an in-app warning? Does the P4 gain or lose altitude suddenly? What happens?

I'm not sure, because I haven't tried it. However, since the VPS is used to hold a solid location, I'd assume it might just have the tendency to wander a little bit since it would then just be relying totally on GPS.

Soad70 · Jul 27, 2016

erikgraham said:
Yeah. I've seen that. I was trying to get more at what bahvior people are actually seeing when they fly low over water. Do you get an in-app warning? Does the P4 gain or lose altitude suddenly? What happens?

It will wander sideways or jump around (decrease/increase altitude), turning off VPS stopped all that and gives me a little more confidence when flying low over water.

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Soad70 · Jul 27, 2016

BA577 said:
I have been flying at 30' above the ocean without any issues. I have a Phantom 4 with all sensors activated. I am not inclined to fly much lower than that over the ocean due to wave hight variations.

Flying 10 meters (30') is not an issue its when I try to go lower than say 3 meters I have issues that's why I'm experimenting with the VPS off option in litchi. I want to feel confident in the bird so I can go lower and get some good video.

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Patrick · Jul 27, 2016

Tarzan! said:
The manual states that the VPS cannot function properly over surfaces that do not have pattern variations and later states may not function properly by flying over water. I think it has something to do with water's reflective properties and the transparency of it. In other words, it can't accurately detect it's altitude over water.

the issues ive seen has been a drift over wavy or running water . still water i havent had issues. but if its moving the phantom seems to lock on to the pattern and try to follow the wave....

erikgraham · Jul 27, 2016

Soad70 said:
Flying 10 meters (30') is not an issue its when I try to go lower than say 3 meters I have issues

Makes sense. 10 meters is beyond the range of the VPS sensors... so your on the barometer anyway.

erikgraham · Jul 27, 2016

So can't we disable VPS in the Go App? Only in Litchi?

Tarzan! · Jul 28, 2016

Soad70 said:
Flying 10 meters (30') is not an issue its when I try to go lower than say 3 meters I have issues that's why I'm experimenting with the VPS off option in litchi. I want to feel confident in the bird so I can go lower and get some good video.

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Awesome shots!!! Just be careful. Rangers can be funny about what is considered "harassing" wildlife. I fly paramotors, classified by the FAA as an unltralight, and a couple years ago a fellow pilot got whacked with a big fine for flying over a few whales. He was between 200 and 230 feet above the water, but it was too close in the eye's of the ranger.

Patrick · Jul 28, 2016

Tarzan! said:
Awesome shots!!! Just be careful. Rangers can be funny about what is considered "harassing" wildlife. I fly paramotors, classified by the FAA as an unltralight, and a couple years ago a fellow pilot got whacked with a big fine for flying over a few whales. He was between 200 and 230 feet above the water, but it was too close in the eye's of the ranger.

a little off topic , i wonder if the sonar bothers the whales

Toyz · Jul 28, 2016

This is a topic of interest to me also. I have been using my phantom 4 for knee board and wake boarding video. Makes me nervous flying 15' off the water. I somehow pressed the left stick down instead of the right and almost put it into the drink. I am going to neuter the altitude stick (why do I need to go up or down that fast).