Fly from boat, RTH question

blmeanie · Dec 31, 2016

One of the reasons I bought a P4 was to use it for filming people skiing, hydrofoiling, wake boarding, wake surfing off my boat.

I think I understand it to be one of two likely methods:
1) hand launch and catch off back of boat - interesting proposition as there are other boats creating wake to rock my boat, but doable.
2) stand on nearby dock while riders/skiers ride and control phantom from the dock, fly it back to dock to land

#1 also has the skill to learn of controlling the phantom while in a moving object chasing a third moving object. Will really need to be practiced up looking primarily at the RC display.

#2 has the isolation factor, not on the boat, not enjoying the crew

If I go with #1, how do I do RTH on a moving object (boat) ? Or do I set it on the dock before going out and somehow not have it auto reset on hand launch?

Help would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Steve

glen e · Dec 31, 2016

RTH = Return to Controller?

blmeanie · Dec 31, 2016

is that a thing, if so, fits what I need to hand catch, thanks

John Locke · Dec 31, 2016

You'll end up doing #2. I've been there and done that.

If you want quality video you must be focused on smooth moves. Smooth cinematic navigation is impossible from a moving boat. You've got a 2mi range, there's nothing to keep you from shooting from shore. The other issue is the risk of damaging your RC and/or craft with all of the rocking and rolling that can occur from other boats when you're not moving. And what about an emergency and you are up in the air, and you need to land due to low battery? The emergency should be the priority, they won't have time to stop and wait for you to hand grab. Just too much risk IMO.

The skill to learn is flying backwards. You can put together some nice shots when you learn that. Such as this video.

blmeanie · Dec 31, 2016

thanks, makes sense, found this discussion/thread : P4 Return to Me (not to home)

blmeanie · Dec 31, 2016

John Locke said:
You'll end up doing #2. I've been there and done that.

If you want quality video you must be focused on smooth moves. Smooth cinematic navigation is impossible from a moving boat. You've got a 2mi range, there's nothing to keep you from shooting from shore. The other issue is the risk of damaging your RC and/or craft with all of the rocking and rolling that can occur from other boats when you're not moving. And what about an emergency and you are up in the air, and you need to land due to low battery? The emergency should be the priority, they won't have time to stop and wait for you to hand grab. Just too much risk IMO.

The skill to learn is flying backwards. You can put together some nice shots when you learn that. Such as this video.

All makes sense, agree, the more angles the better. So you filmed that all from your dock? Well done. Flying backwards on a lake is no big deal, nothing to worry about as long as you have elevation. I'll have visual almost the entire time if I do it from a dock too. Thanks for the reply, I enjoyed your video.