I've always been afraid to fly over large (deep!) bodies of water. I've seen plenty of videos of many people who have. Including many who fly over the ocean!! Has anyone here had any experience(s) flying over large and potentially deep bodies of water? Looking for input, good OR bad!
Yes, lots. Bad is the fear of losing everything in the water, good is there's no obstacles and pretty much nothing to hit and no one to hurt.
I've done a few flights over water now. I think it's less scary mostly, apart from flying under little bridges it's usually a wide open space so quite relaxing. No trees to worry about if it's over the sea. Need to be careful of sand and salty moisture though at the seaside. We keep a collection of those little silicone filled bags that come with electrical item packaging to keep inside the drone case to help soak up moisture. Check this out: http://www.droneminds.com/forums/index.php?threads/p3-flying-over-flooded-york-river-ouse.334/
I lost one over water. But if its going to crash then its broken anyway. Just use a full battery and and make sure it has time to get home. And this is advise from me personally. Never fly over water after a firmware update until your sure its working fine.
This is a comment left on one of my YouTube videos: "Very nice video! I was on vacation in March 2015, and took my Blade 350qx3 AP Combo with me, and I had a fly away while flying at Dr Phillips Community Park - it ended up in the lake when RTH didn't work as planned. It is still probably in the lake somewhere near the shoreline I then took my Inspire1 with me on vacation in July, to the same spot, and I didn't loose that one! Hope to have the video uploaded this week. So - if you happen to find a soggy 350qx washed up on the shore of the park, it is probably mine " I did acquire a "Getterback" and have attached it when going near water. Have yet to use it.
Flying over water is always nerve wracking, but the risk is usually worth the reward. Besides, if I were afraid to fly over water, I'd never be able to fly - there are water hazards EVERY WHERE in my neck of the woods. Back in the spring, I lost my quad in a salt water marsh. I was lucky that the tide was out at the time, or I would never have been able to recover my gear. As it was, I had to go swimming in a nasty tidal marsh (they look great from the air, but they're not very pleasant when you're crawling around in them). The drone and camera were total losses, but Yuneec repaired my Typhoon under warranty. Like I said, the risks are sometimes worth the reward. I put this together from the recovered drone footage: After looking at my own videos, I can see that most of them are, indeed, over water. Believe me, I am nervous all the time.