Max wind the Phantom can be flown in (to shoot kitesurfers)?

Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hi everybody!
This is my second post. The first one is in the help section, asking how to fix NAZA M firmware that got apparently bricked during upgrade. :evil:
The idea, once I'll get my brand new Phantom flying, is to shoot kitesurfers from above. I haven't found any report so far of anyone doing this, yet I am convinced it's doable if it can fly in 15-20 mph (13-17+ knots), as I was told it could handle without problem. The sea-breeze is usually laminar (no turbulence), so controlling the Phantom should not pose problems.
Anyone with such experience? Any kitesurfers around?
Cheers,
Alex
 
Re: Max wind the Phantom can be flown (to shoot kitesurfers)

alderi said:
Hi everybody!
This is my second post. The first one is in the help section, asking how to fix NAZA M firmware that got apparently bricked during upgrade. :evil:
The idea, once I'll get my brand new Phantom flying, is to shoot kitesurfers from above. I haven't found any report so far of anyone doing this, yet I am convinced it's doable if it can fly in 15-20 mph (13-17+ knots), as I was told it could handle without problem. The sea-breeze is usually laminar (no turbulence), so controlling the Phantom should not pose problems.
Anyone with such experience? Any kitesurfers around?
Cheers,
Alex
Hi Alex,
I flew my Phantom on the beach in high wind, as you said the wind is very smooth. But I did not have gimbal the result was most of the video was slanted to the extreme.
The motors have to work very hard to fight the wind so expect less running time.
 
Re: Max wind the Phantom can be flown (to shoot kitesurfers)

I tried to shoot some surfing video last month in Hawaii, but the guys were too far out both days I tried, and I wasn't comfortable (a) staying over the water long enough, and (b) being able to judge the correct distance from where I was on shore. Also, there were constant gusts of wind which seemed like enough to push a small quad like a Phantom into the back of a wave. I didn't want to find out the hard way that it all added up to a bad idea, at least on that occasion.

As for getting video of kitesurfers, that adds a couple more difficult (and dangerous) elements to the mix. The kitesurfers I have seen up close very often popped up into the air unexpectedly, and if there's a quad hovering there over the wave it would be hard to get out of the way fast enough. There's not only the surfer to avoid, but also his kite and the lines attached to it. Unless you can totally predict what they are going to do (and often THEY probably couldn't predict that either), your vantage point would need to be quite a distance away, or at a considerable altitude. Don't get me wrong, it's a fascinating idea, and you can undoubtedly get some amazing shots from unusual angles... but for a beginning flyer, or even a veteran pilot for that matter, there is a LOT that could go horribly wrong - of which, bye-bye Phantom to a saltwatery grave would be the best case scenario.

Having said that, I would still love to see the videos! Be sure to post them here if you pull this off!
 
Re: Max wind the Phantom can be flown (to shoot kitesurfers)

I have flown in 20-25 knot gusty winds, not great for video but the phantom did ok. May depend on props your using and how heavy your phantom is but best to try some lower altitude stuff in stronger winds in a big open field. The official speed of the phantom is 10m/s but it does go much faster then that though I dont have an OSD to give me an actual speed.

Id say max forward speed would be closer to 50-60kmh but if its very windy then take off and fly into the wind to see how easily it can handle it. If you take off and go downwind then your pretty well screwed if it cant go fast enough to come back against it.

If you dont have a gimbal and its very windy then your going to be pitched very hard into the wind most of the time so footage wont be great. Watch out for the kites, lines and everything else as snagging a line will mean a watery grave in a second. Id love to see the footage if you do manage but make sure you do a test flight over land as what your planning is about as sketchy as it gets flying a phantom. Over water with lines and other hazards in strong winds things can go bad very quickly and youd want to have plenty of flight time before trying anything like this.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

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