Flying Over Lake

[Aldin]

Hello All,

This is my first post here so I'm pretty excited! I bought a P4 for recreational use and potentially getting into some photography opportunities later down the road. My question was about flying over a lake, I've read tons of posts about it and I can't seem to find a clear answer about this one.

So if I'm flying let's say between 70-150 feet above the water. (Following some jet skis and speed boats around that family members are on) do I need to turn VPS off or since I'm so far up its irrelevant?

Second question would be how close to the water can you take it with VPS on if recommended and how close to the water can you take it with it off? The reason why I'm asking this is because if the whole family is swimming in the lake, I think getting the drone down close and going around everyone would make for some awesome footage.

Thank you for the replies!

P.S. I'm from St. Louis, so if anyone knows any locations that would be great to fly or get some awesome pictures at, I'm all ears!

 

[msinger]

There is no way to turn off VPS. The best you can do is fly in ATTI -- where the VPS data is not used to position the Phantom. However, your Phantom will then drift with the wind since ATTI mode does not use GPS data to position the Phantom. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

As for the effectiveness of VPS, the Phantom should only attempt to use the VPS data if it's flying within about 30 feet of the ground. You can still fly over water below 30 feet, but it might not hover in place as steady since it has a harder time detecting the ground when over water. It would be best to go out and test this beforehand to see how your Phantom flies in this scenario.

 

[Aldin]

Got it. I read some posts on how "dangerous" it is and the drone will just nose dive.... I wasn't sure how valid those comments were that's why I wanted to ask.

Thank you again!

 

[Geeno]

Ive flown mine about 20ft above body of water. It test your bravery. I was filming some folks paddleboarding and surfers. I had to account for potential waves that were high and in general if the random surfers would think its funny to try to splash water on it. So i used the 20ft as my base, then just watched it directly. It was constant looking up and at the screen to make sure the height was ok both visually and per the sensors.

 

[Alex Baxter]

I think you should be wary of relying on VPS over water, water has no patterns for the sensors to focus on.

 

[msinger]

I read some posts on how "dangerous" it is and the drone will just nose dive

I could see it crashing into the water if flying close to the surface and it automatically descends due to an invalid altitude reading from the VPS. That's an easy fix though. Just don't fly close to the surface

 

[brettinteriors]

I have flown mine at the lake many times. Filming a moving object lower than 20 or 30 feet above water is hair raising. I had no issues but didn't try to get really low, say 15 feet lowest. I would fear splashing. I was on the back of a moving boat and last thing I wanted go worry about was height. Too much going on. Take it slow and always keep enough altitude for a save if there is an error flying anything.

Sent from my SM-N910V using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Lyverbe]

It's a bit scary at first but you get use to it. Here's a clip I did where I'm always over a lake and also climb up to 1650 feet.

 

[Aldin]

It's a bit scary at first but you get use to it. Here's a clip I did where I'm always over a lake and also climb up to 1650 feet.

Wow that looks awesome. Did you use sport mode for that? It looks like the P4 was flying really fast there. I still haven't used my sport mode yet lol. I'm nervous

 

[Dragonfly2016]

I fly my p4 over water all the time. You do have to be aware of altitude fluctuations but it in no way becomes uncontrollable. I have always managed to land it safely on return

Sent from my XT1585 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Lyverbe]

Wow that looks awesome. Did you use sport mode for that? It looks like the P4 was flying really fast there. I still haven't used my sport mode yet lol. I'm nervous

I use Positioning mode only when taking off and landing. Once up in the air out of obstacles, I switch to Sport or Attitude mode. Other than GPS stabilization, I don't see much difference between these two modes else than perhaps battery performance with Attitude because GPS is off.

 

[BA577]

In this video I am flying at 25-30 ft over the ocean without any issues

 

[r62ewa]

I've done lots of flying 10 feet or less over the ocean without any issues. The only time I noticed any abnormal behavior was when hovering low over water when the VPS was in use, the Phantom would drift following the waves. But, as long as I was moving I've never had any issues.