Cold Temp Flights : 14'F or -10 C.
- Thread starter DrTelemark
- Start date
Took a flight today at -10F (-23C) for 12 minutes. The wifi extender shut down after 8 minutes and the iPhone made it about another minute or two before it quit in the cold, which was all far longer than my hands and feet lasted. The phantom, camera, and the controller all worked fine. The phantom still had two bars on the battery when I landed it.
I shot this when it was about -10C. My fingers gave out before the battery. A little less flight time but hardly noticeable
[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6PydWo1nZw[/youtube]
[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6PydWo1nZw[/youtube]
I did a 3km flight this afternoon and it's about -15°C out. Flight went great, still had over 3 bars on the battery when it returned. Flytrex data shows 3/4°F during the trip.
I know this is an old topic but here is my first flight at about -10c and windy. Its a Phantom 1 though with a Go pro attached.
Im thinking to go out for a little flight today to see how well it stands up to -25c and how long the battery lasts, because I will be doing a lot of flying in colder temps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCO9m4KtWs
Im thinking to go out for a little flight today to see how well it stands up to -25c and how long the battery lasts, because I will be doing a lot of flying in colder temps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCO9m4KtWs
The exploits of all you cold weather pilots would be so much more impressive if you would put your locations in your profiles so we warm weather freaks can be in awe of you.
I like locations on forums also, it doesn't have to be your house address, but even the state or province, since I am from Canada, or pick a location close to you if you don't want your actual town, etc.Great Pumpkin said:
I fly in cold weather all the time. -10F isn't uncommon. Northern Vermont or Canada. Keeping batteries in my pockets doesn't keep them warm enough, so I keep them in a bag and pack some hand warmers around them so they are nice and warm when I swap them in. The key is to minimize exposure to the cold air - swap the batteries quick and get back up in the air and working before they have time to cool down. You'd be amazed how fast a nice and toasty battery goes cold if you take too long on the swap.
I wear gloves with liners that work on touch screen. Once I get in the air I never touch the screen anyway. Working the gimbal dial isn't tough with the right gloves. I find the sticks to be bit harder to work, but it's not bad when you get the hang of it. In some ways I feel it gives me a softer touch.
Watch out for fog. Icing on the props will happen fast and your phantom will vibrate like crazy and eventually lose altitude and crash.
I wear gloves with liners that work on touch screen. Once I get in the air I never touch the screen anyway. Working the gimbal dial isn't tough with the right gloves. I find the sticks to be bit harder to work, but it's not bad when you get the hang of it. In some ways I feel it gives me a softer touch.
Watch out for fog. Icing on the props will happen fast and your phantom will vibrate like crazy and eventually lose altitude and crash.
I put tape over all the vents on the quad and it seems to help. I never had anything go wrong while flying so I can't say how much the tape helps. The worse part for me has been my Nexus 7(newer version) doesn't last long as for responding to any touch commands after about 10 minutes when flying at 18f degrees. I bought one of those setups that msinger gave links to, but it arrived after I crashed my quad so I haven't been able try it out yet. It is made really nice. It does cost a little too much in my opinion but if it works as well as it is made then I shouldn't be that put out over the price.
Scampaboy, your video had me nervous throughout the length of the video. For those being your 1st & 2nd flights you did great. But I kept feeling like I was hearing the power hesitate in 2 or 3 parts of the video. That there had me most concerned. And then it sounded like your props were either not installed correctly, or a couple of them were bent a little. You can hear that sound when you climb in altitude fast. The quad reacts with a odd sound that is not smooth. I was also expecting to see the quad drop a couple of times you were descending from higher altitudes. It almost appeared as though it was going to go into a vortex state and then drop. Other then the tip over you did good. Make sure you do calibrate the compass properly. They may have been why you had the tip over that you did. Oh, and no doubt get your some floaties on the landing gear when the lake begins to thaw.
Scampaboy, your video had me nervous throughout the length of the video. For those being your 1st & 2nd flights you did great. But I kept feeling like I was hearing the power hesitate in 2 or 3 parts of the video. That there had me most concerned. And then it sounded like your props were either not installed correctly, or a couple of them were bent a little. You can hear that sound when you climb in altitude fast. The quad reacts with a odd sound that is not smooth. I was also expecting to see the quad drop a couple of times you were descending from higher altitudes. It almost appeared as though it was going to go into a vortex state and then drop. Other then the tip over you did good. Make sure you do calibrate the compass properly. They may have been why you had the tip over that you did. Oh, and no doubt get your some floaties on the landing gear when the lake begins to thaw.
