phantom launching from boats

[stu]

Im looking for some info on how to launch my phantom 1 from a boat, i fly over water a lot, and im on boats a lot, but i cant get my phantom to start in rocky water, i live in tassie where its rarely calm and the places i want to shoot require boat access and rocky water, the last trip i did i tried so many times to get the blades to start, by holding the phantom level etc, but no luck,
then as soon as we hit the calm water next to the boat ramp, boom it powered straight away, any help would be awesome, and if not has this been fixed with the phantom 2 that im about to buy, cheers

 

[amrflyingdude]

I like this idea and have in fact considered in the past.

The problem is that take offs and ladings are the most critical phases of the flight, if for example your phantom gets tipped off to the ground because of windshear or anything else you can dust off the props and try again, now the same scenario in the water is a completely different story. there is a video on youtube of a phantom being lost to water damage because of a windy take off from a boat.

To play this safe I suggest you fit some floats on your bird and if the winds is a fact the hand launch the phantom and grab it on landing. Otherwise if the wind is calm and you really want to land in the water you could go for it I guess!

Again. there is an increase in risk by operating in, out and overwater.

 

[stu]

yeah i land into my hand everytime even on land, so no issue there, its just getting the props started that is the issue, a green light if in attitude mode, or a orange light in gps mode, flashes when you pull the levers down to try to start them, i assume its a warning light, because the phantom isnt sturdy,

 

[ratbastard]

Have you thought of using a boogie board? http://www.ebay.com/bhp/kids-boogie-boards

If you use a child's board, it would be small, but big enough to launch. It would also float level giving you the ability to take off.

 

[stu]

boat would be more stable int he type of water im in trust me,

 

[Ozzyguy]

If possible I would start my pantom on land and let it set the home point there. That way if anything goes wrong you can initiate the fail safe and land on dry land. This would also eliminate and problems with start up as the phantom needs to level to initialize. I know this May not be possible but just adding my two cents worth.