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You're standing by the water, your heart is beating up to your neck, but you say to yourself: What's supposed to be different about a drone flying over water than over land? The flight behaviour is of course the same. But the danger lies in the details.
Special features when flying over water
Most drones have a range of assistance systems. These often utilise optical sensors. The drone scans the ground - which generally does not move. Things look a little different over water. Waves, reflections and currents are sources of danger for the drone's vision sensors, which you can easily avoid. Before flying, make sure that you switch off the vision system. The item "Enable Vision Positioning" can be found in the sensor menu under "Advanced Settings".
Settings
If you want to scrape the surface of the water, you should also switch off the "Landing Protection" option. This uses sound sensors that are unsuitable for water.
A final note to all boat captains: Make sure you continuously move the return to home point! Otherwise you may not see your drone again. You will find the button in the menu with the drone symbol.
If you pay attention to the three settings, you should be technically well prepared. Flights over water are permittedby law, unless it is a federal waterway. This includes all major rivers such as the Elbe, Main and Spree. You can find a map on the BMVI website
Finally, the biggest danger that nobody has on their radar should be mentioned: Seagulls! Our experience shows that the birds are very interested in drones. So always stay alert.