Flying over Water?

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I've heard so many horror stories about Phantoms crashing in water...

If you plan to fly over water, maybe you should consider getting a couple of these:
http://www.water-buoy.com/

Just a suggestion than might save your bird and your $$$$ :)
 
The name of my next viral video is gonna be titled "Baby delivered by quadcopter"
The ultimate drone delivery service ;)
 
Thank you. I thought I was reasonably familiar with the differences between British and American English, but I hadn't come across this one before.
 
So, to be clear, is the tech of the Waterbuoy essentially the same as the Getterback... the big diffence being that the Getterback actually "deploys", rising to the surface with a drag line, away from the pressure of deeper water, where it's more likely (than the Waterbuoy) to inflate... is that about the size of it?
 
OI Photography said:
Also impossible to find any for sale any more.

This is the solution many of us are using instead: http://www.getterback.com/

I may have to get one! I have a question after watching the video... he says "after descending below 5 ft..." I fly over river beds that are typically less than 5 feet deep. I take it this wouldn't work in shallow water less than 5 feet deep?
 
HarryT said:
Thank you. I thought I was reasonably familiar with the differences between British and American English, but I hadn't come across this one before.

Its also easy to peg a Brit when the word "whilst" appears in your posts. That word is not in the American English vocabulary. lol
 
ProfessorStein said:
So, to be clear, is the tech of the Waterbuoy essentially the same as the Getterback... the big diffence being that the Getterback actually "deploys", rising to the surface with a drag line, away from the pressure of deeper water, where it's more likely (than the Waterbuoy) to inflate... is that about the size of it?

The getterback doesn't inflate anything, it just deploys the buoyant half of the casing which drags a fishing line behind it fed from the base still attached to your object. Theoretically you can then use that to pull up your lost valuable.


DesertFlyer53 said:
I may have to get one! I have a question after watching the video... he says "after descending below 5 ft..." I fly over river beds that are typically less than 5 feet deep. I take it this wouldn't work in shallow water less than 5 feet deep?

I've never tested it that way (or any way) but I did notice that in the vid and expect there may be a minimum depth (pressure) required to trigger whatever separates the floater. No idea if being at a shallower depth for a length of time can cause it to work as well.
 
OI Photography said:
The getterback doesn't inflate anything, it just deploys the buoyant half of the casing which drags a fishing line behind it fed from the base still attached to your object. Theoretically you can then use that to pull up your lost valuable.

Ahhhhh. Yes, I see.

I realize that this is very much a "better than nothing" circumstance. But I'd still hate to rely on a 100' length of 10# test fillament to get my Phantom back. Seems the very environment where 100' of line is going to do any good (ie - a river... it's certainly not going to do you any good over the ocean, or even in the surf) is going to be filled with rocks, snags and other sharp edges just waiting to grab that line and snap it in half before you can retrieve your drone.

Getterback looks like a great product for it's intended use... a coupla ounces of rod and reel. But it wouldn't do a thing to make me confortable about flying my Phantom over water.
 
ProfessorStein said:
I realize that this is very much a "better than nothing" circumstance.

Bingo. It doesn't do anything to prevent a crash or even to keep it from sinking, and still wouldn't always work in every circumstance. I know the odds of saving a recovered Phantom after it went under are 50/50 at best, and that's only in fresh water (I won't fly over saltwater). However with the current absence of any other solution that doesn't involve water wings on your drone this seemed like a no-brainer to at least strap on any time I go "feet wet"
 
Has anyone tested this with a Phantom? I can't think where you could attach it to a Phantom such that the deployed line wouldn't simply get tangled around the props and prevent the capsule from floating to the surface.
 
HarryT said:
Has anyone tested this with a Phantom? I can't think where you could attach it to a Phantom such that the deployed line wouldn't simply get tangled around the props and prevent the capsule from floating to the surface.

How exactly would you "test" this with a Phantom? I'm not willing to dunk mine in a lake for testing purposes. ;)
 
Just fly like me, every flight is a test flight. I'm awake in 2 hours for a shoot. It shouldnt be done but hey, you have to get the shot. I'll have the video with court summons pic up soon. Never be afraid to fly ;)
 
I do a lot of over water flying, salt and fresh water. I love the perspective you can achieve by flying from water toward land. My philosophy is simply that if you were to crash onto terra-firma from 50m or more then your Phantom is probably screwed so if it were to drop into the water from that height, you're equally screwed except you also lose your Gopro. All in all the risk is worth the results.
 
DesertFlyer53 said:
HarryT said:
Has anyone tested this with a Phantom? I can't think where you could attach it to a Phantom such that the deployed line wouldn't simply get tangled around the props and prevent the capsule from floating to the surface.

How exactly would you "test" this with a Phantom? I'm not willing to dunk mine in a lake for testing purposes. ;)

I meant "testing" as in "ditched and found out whether or not it works" :).
 

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