How crazy is flying from a boat?

[lobrien]

I have been flying my Phantom I for a few months now and have yet to experience a fly-away, crash, or electronics failure. I've even flown it from a boat a few times, but the more I read the boards, the more I wonder if this is just foolhardy. Both my batteries seem to deliver a rock-solid 10 minutes and I've always aimed to have the multirotor back over the boat at 8 minutes. Is this just madness on my part?

I have considered adding foam-noodle floats, putting my GoPro in a case, and using the techniques at http://flitetest.com/articles/waterproofing-electronics to make a crash only $$ instead of $$$$$. On the other hand, I fear that the floats would add windage and weight and end up making a water landing more likely than if I try to keep things as light as possible.

Any advice?

 

[Meta4]

Overwater flying is about as foolhardy as flying over land.
It's all what you make it.
The floatation schemes that some nervous flyers come up with are pretty well junk that would seriously handicap your flying and probably still soak your bird on a water landing.
Fly where you are happy and confident doing it.

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum lobrien !
Good luck with your flying

 

[Hspain16]

I tried the pool floats my first over water flight,thing flew like a rock lol.Ive actually crashed into water before when I was doing test flight for my phantom 1.5,nothing messed up .I just take extra caution to make sure everything's good to go before I venture over water.we live very close to the Tennessee river so a majority of the time I'm over water.its all what you get used to.

 

[Happyflyer]

Overwater flying is about as foolhardy as flying over land.
It's all what you make it.
The floatation schemes that some nervous flyers come up with are pretty well junk that would seriously handicap your flying and probably still soak your bird on a water landing.
Fly where you are happy and confident doing it.

Well, I would have to say it is much better to walk over to where your quad went down on land than to have to wade around in water wondering where it was. Or looking out into the 50-60 feet of water and knowning your quad was down there somewhere. Less damage possible on the land than in the water.
I agree with fly where you want to.

 

[Meta4]

Just because you aren't over water, doesn't mean you can just walk over and pick up your Phantom.
Not everyone flies in their local park.
Most places I fly, it makes no difference.
It's a good thing the Phantom flies well.
Here

or here

 

[ccase39]

From what I have read course lock can come in handy when on a boat. If you are moving I would reset your home point from time to time, but if you are gonna crash you are gonna crash. Odds are no matter where you crash you run the risk of serious damage so why not have fun with it.

 

[syotr]

This forum and the others I read are full of incidents where operators have lost their Phantoms in the water. A crash on land will likely be found and rebuilt. A crash into water is often not found or repairable if found, especially if it is saltwater. If you can afford to replace it, then don't give it a second thought. If the loss would be devastating financially to you then you may not want to risk it.
Floats will make your bird fly poorly and likely show up in the camera's view. If it crashes, it will probably land upside down. You can attach a Getterback to aid in recovery but there will still be water damage.
If you plan to do a lot of flying over water, get a waterproof quad shell and transfer the Phantom guts to it.

 

[paulajayne]

If flying from a boat learn to hand catch first.

Lots of posts on it on this forum.

 

[mendezl]

Here is one of mine standiong on shore chasing a boat... http://youtu.be/vF3HkaMSgx4
With FPV to frame the shot

But fly over water with caution.... http://youtu.be/IXJfbjRdOBE

If flying from a boat gotta hand launc and hand catch to avoid this... http://youtu.be/VA_dz5g51wQ

 

[morph000]

As I say - life is about risk. If you're not prepared to LIVE then what's the point of getting out of bed ? :mrgreen:
Modern society has 5 year olds on medication, teens with chronic neck pain because they're nomophobes and the list goes on.
If you're afraid of water then be reincarnated as a cat ! :lol:

 

[steveeds]

It was (and is) the same sensation as hitting a ball over a lake in golf for me, sometimes you just won't make it, it's more of a mindset than anything else imo. I personally think the retrieval processes verse damage would be less over water..sometimes

But still, I'm far too stupid to even run two of them so be gentle with my opinions

And welcome mate