Flying over water?

[TheRock]

Has anyone taken The Flip over a lake or, even better, over the ocean? From the videos I've seen it doesn't have the problems of the NEO or other foldable drones over bodies of water. Anyone tested it or seen tests (frozen water doesn't count)

 

[Chrislaf]

Has anyone taken The Flip over a lake or, even better, over the ocean? From the videos I've seen it doesn't have the problems of the NEO or other foldable drones over bodies of water. Anyone tested it or seen tests (frozen water doesn't count)

I think the Flip, like any other drone will be fine over water as long as it has a good GPS lock. I have flown my NEO with the RC-N3 controller over water without any problems. However I don't fly it with the phone or with onboard quickshots over water since there is no way to tell whether I have enough satellites locked in. I would imagine the same is true for the Flip.

One question I have is: Does the Flip have a better VPS system than the NEO? Is it similar to the Mini 4 Pro?

Chris

 

[ryguy80]

I would be a little more confident taking the Flip over water than the Neo since it has been reported that the GPS functionality is better in the Flip as it appears to hold onto satellite lock better than the Neo.

 

[OrionsQwest]

I've flown it out over ocean, no issues just keep a eye on wind factors, RTH goes wonky with high winds so be prepared to fly it manually back if it gets rocky

 

[Curtiscop]

I read in an article to be careful going over water; especially if the water is calm. If you get too low, and then stay in one place, the drone may think the still water is 'land' and land the drone automatically. I don't know what I would do if my drone 'landed' in the mountain streams we have in Utah. "Bye Bye Drone ..."

 

[Chrislaf]

I think the key here is to make sure that if you fly over water, you use a controller to reduce the chance of signal loss and have access to RTH.

Chris

 

[karmakap]

I’ve flown the Flip a few times over a lake, and it performed smoothly without any signal or stability issues. The sensors managed reflections well, and I didn’t notice the problems that some foldable models have near water. I haven’t tried it over the ocean yet, but based on my experience, it should perform well in calm conditions. Just watch the wind speed and battery safety.

 

[Chrislaf]

Welcome to the forum!

I think the Flip will behave just like any other DJI drone over water. The main concern with the Flip and the NEO which can be controlled via a cell phone in addition to a regular controller is that if you loose signal over water, the drone will just hover until it runs out of battery and then will land in the water unless you can re-establish the connection. The range for a cell phone connection is limited - usually much less than it's rated at.

Chris