Flying low over water

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Here is the video I made last weekend over water. I took the Phantom 3 pretty far from the boat and had no problems.

But another guy from another boat was flying a Phantom 3 Professional and the worst thing happened!!. It was about 50ft up filming people in the water and suddenly the Phantom powered off and crashed like a rock in the water. MY HEART STOPED for a moment even that it was not my drone!! When the guy jumped in the water to retrieve it, he came back up with the drone in one hand and the battery on the other. So I guess the battery got loose and shut down the drone. I don't know if this has happened to anyone. After this incident I decided to ground my drone, didn't want to have the same experience of that dude!
very good
 
Hi

Have had my P3A for a week or so now....getting more confident about its abilities (and mine!).

In the instructions it says to be careful over water, particularly at low heights when the sensors on the underside are being used. I have flown it 5m above water without issue but want to go in much lower(maybe 1 meter) has anyone had issues with this? Shoudl I switch off some of the sensors before doing this?

Perhaps I am worrying unecessarily but concerned that those sensors have some sort of flake-out, think the aircraft is going up and so drop the revs to compensate...putting me in the drink!

You are brave. About a month ago a friend of mine who sells boats asked me to use my P2 to video one of his new boats cruising down the Brazos River here in Texas. I don't charge for these requests since I really enjoy showing off in front of my friends. I practiced on land with my son driving a golf cart to be sure I was comfortable with the shots I wanted. All good to go. Then, suffering a brain fart, I updated my P2 and did not check it out before heading to the river. First 10 minutes of flight was awesome. Some of the best video I have taken (I've been flying a P1 and P2 for about two years). Suddenly, the P2 went straight up to about 100 feet and hovered. No right stick function at all. I was able to descend but between the current and the 10 mph wind it was a challenge to get the boat under the P2. Add to that the pressure of a battery getting low and being a couple of hundred yards from the home point. Finally got the P2 above the canvas roof of the boat - which covered the entire pontoon boat preventing me from just catching it. After a couple of aborted attempts to land on the roof I finally got as close as I was going to get and dropped the P2 to the roof faster that I would like but running out of options. Turns out a tightly stretched canvas roof is much like a trampoline. My beautiful P2 (which I had heavily modified) hit the roof and bounced into the river. Just so you know, these babies do not float - not even for a second. Instantly disappeared into about 25 feet of the murky waters of the Brazos. Adios.
Two items to finish this story. 1) I don't know if the update had anything to do with the loss of control but I will never fly again after an update without testing all controls in a less risky area first. 2) This gave me the excuse to buy the P3 which brings this story to a happy ending.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dalebb

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31