On your wedding day I bet your guest could not tell if you where frozen in fear or just cold! hahaha
Cold weather flying
- Thread starter MagnusGlad
- Start date
First snow and first cold weather flight today!
Last night we got our first blast of winter - the temps dropped and it snowed. We got about 5-10cm. Had to brush off vehicles and shovel the driveway. Even the snowplows were out. And it was cold, -13C. There was snow covering everything and mist was coming off the lake.
Checked both UAV forecast and Hover and they both indicated it was not good to fly, probably because of temps and wind gusts. Went down to local beach and it did not seem very windy so decided to try a cold weather flight - my first. I had checked my P3S and installed the battery at home so I wouldn't have to fumble with all that in the cold on the beach. Launched the AC and took a few 360 degree panos. I kept the AC close by (out 50m and up about 20M) and monitored the battery voltage closely. Everything went well, but my fingers and toes were cold as I expected them to be. It was good to do this flight to see what it would be like flying in cold weather. I do have thin iPhone friendly gloves but can't see myself using them to control my iPhone. I'm looking into a transmitter glove but so far haven't found one that will fit both the transmitter and my iPhone in its standard P3S mount.
What is the minimum battery voltage I should be watching out for when flying in cold weather? The lowest I think it got was around 3.54v. Airdata indicated my max battery temp was 22C.
Last night we got our first blast of winter - the temps dropped and it snowed. We got about 5-10cm. Had to brush off vehicles and shovel the driveway. Even the snowplows were out. And it was cold, -13C. There was snow covering everything and mist was coming off the lake.
Checked both UAV forecast and Hover and they both indicated it was not good to fly, probably because of temps and wind gusts. Went down to local beach and it did not seem very windy so decided to try a cold weather flight - my first. I had checked my P3S and installed the battery at home so I wouldn't have to fumble with all that in the cold on the beach. Launched the AC and took a few 360 degree panos. I kept the AC close by (out 50m and up about 20M) and monitored the battery voltage closely. Everything went well, but my fingers and toes were cold as I expected them to be. It was good to do this flight to see what it would be like flying in cold weather. I do have thin iPhone friendly gloves but can't see myself using them to control my iPhone. I'm looking into a transmitter glove but so far haven't found one that will fit both the transmitter and my iPhone in its standard P3S mount.
What is the minimum battery voltage I should be watching out for when flying in cold weather? The lowest I think it got was around 3.54v. Airdata indicated my max battery temp was 22C.
UK pretty mild compared to some of you posters here but I did get motor load warnings on my P2V+ once when taking some photos of a friend's house in patchy fog. The props had iced up - when I landed there was a thin film of ice on the leading edges of all props.
Something else to consider. I would imagine the vibration would have been pretty bad if one side of any of the props had shed the ice block and become unbalanced.
Something else to consider. I would imagine the vibration would have been pretty bad if one side of any of the props had shed the ice block and become unbalanced.
The mist off the lake was only a few metres above the water. The first pano was well above it. On the second one I was about 7-8m and just above it. When the AC came back in everything seemed dry - no ice build up. What was surprising was that the wind seemed more gusty at the 7-8m rather than at around 20m and the water looked calm. Not sure how my panos will turn out - AC seemed to be moving around quite a bit at 7-8m. It was close by (no more than 50m out) and I was watching my telemetry closely. I’m glad I did it. This was the coldest flight I have done and wasn’t sure how everything would go. I do know I need some sort of transmitter glove so that I can operate my iphone. I can’t see myself using thin gloves as it would be very hard to operate the phone (set up pano, change settings, etc). I plan on flying in even colder weather so need a good solution to keep transmitter and phone warm enough.
Chris
I've flown at down to -35C. (Heck, it was -22C here just last night 
As far as battery voltage, I use the same programed minimums that I use in the summer. The battery temperature however is important. You need to be over 18C, or you'll get warnings.
The battery is enclosed and it creates its own heat. I've found that after take-off the battery will always get warmer while flying. But, at about -25C, (and lower) you need to do some spirited flying. If you simply hover for any length of time the battery temperature will start to drop. Again, don't let it get under 18C.
I've found that the cold has little affect on flight times. Even at -30C, I get about the same number of minutes in the air as I do in the summer. The battery is quite happy at temperatures of 22C. Personally I think that's better for them than the 50C I often reach on hot summer days.
Just for interest, in sub zero weather, I fly from my garage. It has a big picture window that faces a large expanse of fields across the road from my property. I heat my garage, so I don't get my fingers and toes frost bitten
As far as battery voltage, I use the same programed minimums that I use in the summer. The battery temperature however is important. You need to be over 18C, or you'll get warnings.
The battery is enclosed and it creates its own heat. I've found that after take-off the battery will always get warmer while flying. But, at about -25C, (and lower) you need to do some spirited flying. If you simply hover for any length of time the battery temperature will start to drop. Again, don't let it get under 18C.
I've found that the cold has little affect on flight times. Even at -30C, I get about the same number of minutes in the air as I do in the summer. The battery is quite happy at temperatures of 22C. Personally I think that's better for them than the 50C I often reach on hot summer days.
Just for interest, in sub zero weather, I fly from my garage. It has a big picture window that faces a large expanse of fields across the road from my property. I heat my garage, so I don't get my fingers and toes frost bitten
Jwt,I've flown at down to -35C. (Heck, it was -22C here just last night
As far as battery voltage, I use the same programed minimums that I use in the summer. The battery temperature however is important. You need to be over 18C, or you'll get warnings.
The battery is enclosed and it creates its own heat. I've found that after take-off the battery will always get warmer while flying. But, at about -25C, (and lower) you need to do some spirited flying. If you simply hover for any length of time the battery temperature will start to drop. Again, don't let it get under 18C.
I've found that the cold has little affect on flight times. Even at -30C, I get about the same number of minutes in the air as I do in the summer. The battery is quite happy at temperatures of 22C. Personally I think that's better for them than the 50C I often reach on hot summer days.
Just for interest, in sub zero weather, I fly from my garage. It has a big picture window that faces a large expanse of fields across the road from my property. I heat my garage, so I don't get my fingers and toes frost bitten
Thanks for the helpful info. I mostly use Litchi to fly with and I haven’t noticed the display of battery temps just voltage but I’ll look closer in the battery area next time I fly.
My house is in a built up neighborhood so can’t fly from there. I’m looking into getting a transmitter glove similar to this one but it will probably only cover the transmitter and not the phone clip. It may work though as it will keep my hands warm when not using my phone.
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