Why does the AeroKontiki fishing drone seem so expensive?
For what it can do, the AeroKontiki fishing drone is not expensive. It is a serious machine engineered to give you high performance, reliability, and many hauling missions. Its rigid Y6 carbon fibre frame with six brushless motors has the power to lift 4 kgs — much more than many other fishing drones available on the market. It uses the industrial-grade Cube autopilot with backup sensors, and is world renowned for performance and reliability. Coupling with quality power reels ensures it works well as a portable aerial fishing system capable of hauling up to a 25-hook setline over 1000 meters and retrieving the entire catch
Is the AeroKontiki fishing drone waterproof, and can it float?
No, it is not waterproof, and it does not need to be, but the AeroKontiki can fly in the rain. The process of hauling from land requires a powerful drone which performs well in all fishing conditions. Like real planes and helicopters, the AeroKontiki is designed to fly well and no compromises are made so that it can float. Having a drone that floats does not offer any advantage with hauling out a longline. For other drones which claim to be waterproof and float, users are still not able to retrieve it if it fails, falls and leaks. Also, a similar problem occurs when torpedo Kontiki users need to retrieve their Kontiki when it is cut loose from its backbone. The best solution is to design a fishing drone that is very stable, flies well in all weather conditions, is powerful, reliable, and always comes back to land after completing its mission.
Can the AeroKontiki fishing drone handle sea salt air environment?
Yes, it can. The frames are made of carbon fibre, fibreglass, reinforced plastics, and stainless-steel fasteners. The propulsion systems are contactless brushless motors with waterproofed speed controllers. Moreover, sensitive electronics are protected from exposure to salt air by being coated with rubberised coatings with sand guards and air filters.
How is the Evolution III Aerokontiki fishing drone different from its predecessors?
The Evolution III Aerokontiki uses the Cube autopilot with the Here2 GPS. It has many advantages including overload protection, swing load stability, and redundant sensors, in addition to the multiple fail-safes to ensure its safe return.
How does the AeroKontiki Fishing Drone protect itself?
It has many inbuilt failsafe features to ensure its safe return. For example, the Aerokontiki battery management system monitors the battery charge for you, and if this charge reaches the amount that is needed for it to return to you and you have not noticed, it will release the fishing line and come back to land itself
Can the AeroKontiki Fishing Drone be accidentally lowered into the sea?
No, it cannot once the Low Altitude Shelf (LAS) is automatically activated. After moving 30m away from the take-off point, it will rise to a minimum altitude of 15 meters to be well clear of the sea for the entire haul. This feature is especially important if you are live baiting and need to lower down to the sea as quickly as possible. The AeroKontiki fishing drone will not go lower than 15 meters allowing the live-bait to survive the plunge.
Does the Aerokontiki need to be calibrated before flying?
No, it doesn’t. All AeroKontiki fishing drones use industrial grade flight controllers which are factory calibrated and will work at any location in any country without needing re-calibration.
What’s involved with hauling out a fishing long-line?
To haul out a fishing longline is to continuously pull out the baited leader line from a winch or reel, and to overcome the resistances such as drag through the water, wind, water currents, and reel resistances. As the hauling distances increase to over 1km the overall drag can be as high as 2.5kgs, in addition to the bait and sinker weight applied to the leader line. Hauling is very different from just casting a few weights and sinkers a few hundred meters. To haul out a baited longline over 1000 meters needs considerably more system protections such as handling overloading from snags, excessive line drags and high wind. The AeroKontiki fishing drone is designed for fishing and have these failsafes.
Why is swing load stability so important?
When carrying a single load weight such as a 2.5kg live bait, the load can swing like a pendulum and become unstable. The AeroKontiki will dampen these swings allowing you to focus on just hauling out the bait and dropping it as quickly as you can
What is the best longline hauling altitude?
When hauling its essential that the entire setline leader with baits and sinkers is out of the water. This method ensures your baits are kept fresh with lots of burley, and the water drag on the line is minimised. For long-distance hauling such as 1000meters its preferred that the AeroKontiki is flown between 50 to 60 meters high to get the maximum range. The AeroKontiki fishing drone has a 60-meter ceiling so it cannot be flown higher than this.
Why are failsafes so important?
Most AeroKontiki fishing drone users are fishing experts, so the flight systems need to be simple without worrying about battery power, overloads, snags, distances, strong wind, radio signals, distractions, and environmental disturbances. The AeroKontiki fishing drone will manage these issues for you. If there is hauling stress, radio dropout, insufficient power or a tied battery, the AeroKontiki will drop the line and automatically return to the takeoff point and land. You might not get out as far as you would like but you may still catch well, and your AeroKontiki will be safe with you to fly another day.
Does the leader line with traces get tangled when dropped?
If the leader setline is rigged correctly and dropped from the AeroKontiki, it appears to fall in a cluster, but it will not tangle. The sinkers hit the water first and quickly sink to the bottom, and the traces with baits sink much slower allowing it to stretch out. A good practice is to wind in about 20 meters soon after it’s dropped to stretch the leader out. Sometimes water currents will do this for you. AeroKontiki users always find the leader stretched when pulled in, hopefully with fish. Tangles are rare and may only happen if some aggressive species of fish are caught.
Does fishing further out help catch more fish?
Generally, one can fish reasonably well just past the breakers in warm weather, which may be around 300m, but greater distances can get the traces into deeper waters with an increased chance of catching. Also, in colder waters fish generally go deeper and further out so having an extended range is an advantage. AeroKontiki fishing drone users do very well in New Zealand’s winter season when they catch big snapper past 1000 meters, within line of sight.
What sinker weights and types can be used?
Sinker weight depends on the casting distances and the water currents in the area. In the west coast side of New Zealand, water currents are generally high which apply accumulated pressure on the entire braided backbone, so heavier sinkers are preferred. A total of 32 oz sinkers which are sand grabbers, teardrop or breakaway sinkers can help anchor the baits and minimise drift. Some have used 40oz sinkers, but this may slightly reduce the hauling distance, especially in harsher conditions. On the East coast of New Zealand, 16 oz sinkers will work.
What sort of trace hooks are used and how does it work?
The longline trace hooks are a circular design which will hook the fish without any help from the AeroKontiki user. They are designed to lip hook, not gut hook so that undersized fish can survive when quickly returned to the sea. The traces are clipped onto the leader with stoppers so that they can slide until it hits a stop and so sets the hook.
Can the AeroKontiki fishing drone experience flyaways?
All drones have sensitive compasses which can be influenced by magnetic disturbances such as a vehicle, metal under the ground, or boot speaker magnets, and cause you to lose control of it. The Aerokontiki fishing drone has an industrial Cube autopilot that does pre-flight system checks, and if there is a magnetic disturbance in the area you intend to fly from, it will annunciate the error and refuse to fly. This feature will minimise any occurrences of flyaways which are frequently experienced by low-quality drones.
Do we have a quadrotor drone version?
The AeroKontiki fishing drone uses a Y6 shape with six coaxial propellers so that the thrust ratio to the thrust surface area (three propeller circles) is higher than a quadcopter variant. This configuration enables it to punch through high winds and is faster responding to give better stability. It also uses a very rigid carbon fibre frame to handle jerks and snags which occurs when hauling.
