Why no waterproof version?

Then let me share something that you don't want to hear. This hobby is likely not for you. There are two kinds of flying aircraft when it comes to RC. Those that have crashed and those that are going to crash. Now that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but take it from a guy that's been around a long time and have picked up multiple giant scales and even a +$10k turbine in a 55 gallon garbage bag. They WILL go down. They all do if you fly them long enough. The difference between the turbine in the garbage bag and the Phantom in the drink is that you didn't have to clean the Phantom up from somebody's field. The salvage qualities are exactly the same.

I still can't get over how many quads manufacturers like DJI have replaced. If we called Horizon or Great Planes complaining about crashes and demanding replacements, they'd laugh us off the phone.

Like a lot of things in life, every game has its price to play. It is foolish to play a game you're unwilling to accept the risks and costs of. You wouldn't do it in anything else in life that you made that judgement of. This is no different.

That, or just don't fly over water. Oh. Keep a kitchen trash bag handy anyway. ;)

Are you actually saying that DJI replaces drones for customers who crash them?! Seriously?

Why would they do that? Do the people blame the drone for the crash or something else?
 
Ill be starting a whole new concept offshore upgrade on kickstarter this month, and may want to use waterstriders. I cant say a lot more yet, but it will fix flight time issues and many other problems. If anyone else is interested in a fish spotting, longe range phantom give me a shout. I could use anothed developer. Im trying to keep costs low. The expensive part is a sonar transducer, which could run 1500 up to 3400 depending on customers choice.
 
Oh blah blah blah blah blah.

Watch these:

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And I mean every bit of snark in this statement: Learn how Google works. Took me all of 5 seconds to find this.
 
Everyone, I understand your concerns flying over water. They're legitimate.

However, consider the likely total loss if the thing were to fail many hundreds of feet in elevation then dropped like a rock onto... a big rock. Or a concrete building. Or asphalt surface. Or...

Probably a total smashed, exploded loss too. Point being, unless you only fly less than 10 feet off the ground at all times, the sort of failure that's going to result in a total loss over water isn't a unique risk -- catastrophic failure of the flight systems, resulting in lost ability to fly, isn't going to be pretty anywhere.

Biggest risk over water is the pilot.
 
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And I mean every bit of snark in this statement: Learn how Google works. Took me all of 5 seconds to find this.


How long for you to find out it was a flop?

Just goes to show you the web is FOREVER regardless of the present.
 
Ill be starting a whole new concept offshore upgrade on kickstarter this month, and may want to use waterstriders. I cant say a lot more yet, but it will fix flight time issues and many other problems. If anyone else is interested in a fish spotting, longe range phantom give me a shout. I could use anothed developer. Im trying to keep costs low. The expensive part is a sonar transducer, which could run 1500 up to 3400 depending on customers choice.


You've posted this elsewhere.

The Phantoms are closed Eco-system flying cameras.
Wrong platform.
 
I'm open minded, I'll just wait to see your product.
 
I fly over water quite a bit and agree with previous posts stating the pilot is most important. This doesn't only mean flying skills.

The Pilot also needs to understand the machine.
What are the capabilities of the airframe and what are the capabilities of the camera attachment?

Most pilots don't understand camera capabilities.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
It helps if yiu dont try a landing with 8 lines out trolling. I hit a rod tip and the drone made a loud plop. Now i have someone grab it out of the air.
 
I can vouch for the NanoProtech as a solution but it is a pain to do as you have to take the drone completely apart then spray it completely covering every surface, then re-assemble everything. I was waiting for my warranty to expire before doing that and it is not easy. However, it does make all surfaces (including electronics and camera) waterproof. I frequently fly over water and was worried I would trash the drone by accident. Good piloting skills are your best insurance against that but we all make mistakes and Murphy's Law holds true. So far, it hasn't happened but it is just a matter of time. I will try the water noodle floats idea (or perhaps 3D print my own waterstrider floats) in the Spring and see if I can land on water without incident. My plan is to launch from my sailboat and have it orbit the boat while tracking. But, should it have an issue it will return to home but that will be where it was launched from and likely not where I will be at the time hence the need for floats for this specific application.
 

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