Anyone who has ever taken a drone to the beach knows the uncertainty of using the pricy tech. Wind, waves, inquisitive seals… there are many hazards out there. The HoverAir Aqua hopes you’ll let it avoid those problems for you, except for perhaps the seals. There’s not much you can do about wildlife except feed them someone slower than you are.
Whether you’re using a drone to capture your surfing or SUP skills, getting it to drop a fishing line in the midst of a school of fish (that’s cheating, by the way), or just capturing footage of people frolicking, the HoverAir Aqua reckons it’s up to the task. For starters, it can swim.
HoverAir Aqua ticks the right boxes
The drone’s creators reckon that it is fully waterproof enough to accompany you on a surfing or kiteboarding expedition, though you’ll probably have to avoid Nazaré or Dungeons in Cape Town. Everything about the Aqua is designed to resist water getting in, with titanium elements and sealing throughout to protect the flying 1/1.28in CMOS sensor behind its hydrophobic lens coating. Okay, fine, it’s got an IP67 coating. Most drones don’t fly underwater, so this should be enough, unless you’re charging at Mavericks.
As with many commercial drones, this one comes in under the 250-gram mark, which means you won’t need a license to operate it. That’s about the only concession to pesky rules, as the Aqua’s other advanced features more than make up for it. It’ll operate in winds up to about 60km/h, floats and flips itself upright if it connects with the ocean, and can even take off from the water.
A so-called VirtualTether lets it follow the Lighthouse, a strap-toting addition to the user’s usual water gear. HoverAir’s wearable peripheral acts as a beacon for the drone, letting the Aqua know where to go, what to film, and when to take off to start doing all of this.
A top speed of 55km/h means the HoverAir Aqua will keep up with all but the craziest of watermen (and women), while 100fps 4K footage shot with HDR and 10-bit H-Log means whatever is captured over its 23-minute flight time is ready for the editing bay.
You might guess that the HoverAir Aqua isn’t cheap, and you’d be correct. It’s being funded, more or less, on IndieGoGo right now, with the platform acting more like a pre-order station. Early orders can pick one up from R17,700, a discount from the starting price of R23,000. The units ship worldwide, including SA, and are expected by the end of the year.
