Advice about water

[Buzz SparkYear]

My first post, new drone flyier, so Looking for advice on our first trip with a drone to Aitutaki, worried about flying it over the water as its like a swimming pool, light blue clear and often almost still, see photos below, wondering if its safe to fly just not too low, or is it pretty risky even up high, and should i turn off the bottom sensors? thanks for any advice Kim

 

[msinger]

Assuming you have sufficient battery power, it's perfectly safe to fly over water. You shouldn't have any trouble with the sensors unless you're attempting to hover in place close to the surface of the water.

 

[Andre Levite]

Living in Florida I fly over many types of water... a lot. My Spark only misbehaves when flying within about 4 feet of the surface. Especially noticeable if flying slow or hovering - it tends to jerk briefly towards the surface which induces sphincter spasms.

Just stay above 4 feet with good LOS and keep it moving and you shouldn't have any issues. Sounds like a great trip

 

[Buzz SparkYear]

thanks for the replies was watching you tube videos and started to get nervous, as so excited about having a drone to take to The cook islands, cant wait to get photos and Videos from above, Aitutaki is stunning and deserted and omg im excited, would cry if i lost my drone on day one in Rarotonga before we even got to Aitutakis lagoon

 

[Buzz SparkYear]

Living in Florida I fly over many types of water... a lot. My Spark only misbehaves when flying within about 4 feet of the surface. Especially noticeable if flying slow or hovering - it tends to jerk briefly towards the surface which induces sphincter spasms.

Just stay above 4 feet with good LOS and keep it moving and you shouldn't have any issues. Sounds like a great trip

so jealous of living in Florida, i adore Disney and WDW

 

[Andre Levite]

thanks for the replies was watching you tube videos and started to get nervous, as so excited about having a drone to take to The cook islands, cant wait to get photos and Videos from above, Aitutaki is stunning and deserted and omg im excited, would cry if i lost my drone on day one in Rarotonga before we even got to Aitutakis lagoon

A word of caution about flying over palm trees...

If you are standing on the ground and watch Spark clear the height of tree do not assume you are safe. The freshest fronds of palms are thin rods that point straight up. They don't always set off OA sensor and hard to see on monitor on a sunny day. That one grounded me in Costa Rica on first day.

Have fun and be safe!

 

[Buzz SparkYear]

A word of caution about flying over palm trees...

If you are standing on the ground and watch Spark clear the height of tree do not assume you are safe. The freshest fronds of palms are thin rods that point straight up. They don't always set off OA sensor and hard to see on monitor on a sunny day. That one grounded me in Costa Rica on first day.

Have fun and be safe!

thanks will keep that in mind, i did try to fly between trees once to get a cool shot and a VERY thin twig took out my drone, lucky it was 1- 2 metres off the ground and all was fine

 

[Rafiky]

so jealous of living in Florida, i adore Disney and WDW

I live in Miami and constantly flying over water. Thought, I’ve never flown lower than 20 feet over water. I use the Litchi App 80% of the time instead of DJI GO 4. The Litchi App has a switch on the settings to turn off the VPS when flying over water and it works great. Just have to turn it back on when in solid ground.

 

[Buzz SparkYear]

I live in Miami and constantly flying over water. Thought, I’ve never flown lower than 20 feet over water. I use the Litchi App 80% of the time instead of DJI GO 4. The Litchi App has a switch on the settings to turn off the VPS when flying over water and it works great. Just have to turn it back on when in solid ground.

Wow didn't know there was app options we could use, would that void DJis warranty like care refresh though I wonder

 

[msinger]

Wow didn't know there was app options we could use, would that void DJis warranty like care refresh though I wonder

It won't void your warranty, but DJI might not cover your drone under warranty if they can either prove the app caused the problem or cannot prove without a doubt that the blame is on them. The latter usually only comes up when a drone is lost since there is no DJI created flight log to review.

 

[Buzz SparkYear]

It won't void your warranty, but DJI might not cover your drone under warranty if they can either prove the app caused the problem or cannot prove without a doubt that the blame is on them. The latter usually only comes up when a drone is lost since there is no DJI created flight log to review.

oh ok, yeah makes sense