Have any drones ever been struck by lightning?

[Xenomorph]

Thank you!

No prob! Hey did you shoot them in 4K? What was your resolution set at?

 

[BroKyle]

No prob! Hey did you shoot them in 4K? What was your resolution set at?

Between 100-400 ISO, lowest aperture possible, and the exposure varied. Some were 2" and others 8"

 

[FunN4lo]

Yes, Dr. Emmett Brown proved that lightning can produce up to 1.21 gigawatts as well!

Great Scott!

I better break out my Back to the Future watch face and see if we can get this baby up to 88 mph

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Prolly not.. Why you may ask? Cuz most drones would fly like crap in a lighting storm.. Specially any drone with sensitive electronics such as any of dji's drones.. Thunder and lighting produce an enormous amount of electromagnetic Feilds, if any quad were to be flown in that large of a lightning or thunder storm and that close to one at that, I'm sure it would prolly have some very bad affects ..

I would say the quad getting hit by lighting would be the LEAST of your concerns lol.


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[APR]

Actually, if struck by lightning, the current would pass through the electronics circuits in the bird just like in a real aircraft. I used to work in the Air Force Atmospherice Electricity Hazard (I.e. Lighting) lab at WP where we deliberately flew into thunder storms in order to get struck. Even in the middle of a storm, it wasn't that easy. Out in clear air the odds are really negligible. Our research showed that contrary to popular belief, planes didn't initiate lightning strikes, rather they flew into the channel and became part of it with the return stroke, the part with all the current, then traveling to an in some cases through the aircraft. Modern metal aircraft are pretty well protected. Our phantoms would have no protection and if the same thing happened, the path of least resistance would be through the wires such as from the motor to the esc and out another motor. Not going to do the aircraft any good. And yes it could melt the plastic, the currents in a lightning strike can exceed 100000 amps! But again, the chances are so slim as to be ignored. The pilot on the ground is in more danger if there is a storm nearby. Standing out in an open field in a thunderstorm is definitely unhealthy.

Live in Florida, been struck by lightning in my bed. Hit the back yard arctic through the window and hit me. I hate lightning!!!

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[joet]

yes, 100k amps, millions of volts and multiple Joules of charge transferred! Lightning is some mean stuff!

Not to mention the sonic boom and concussive effects.

 

[Richard R]

Prolly not.. Why you may ask? Cuz most drones would fly like crap in a lighting storm.. Specially any drone with sensitive electronics such as any of dji's drones.. Thunder and lighting produce an enormous amount of electromagnetic Feilds, if any quad were to be flown in that large of a lightning or thunder storm and that close to one at that, I'm sure it would prolly have some very bad affects ..

I would say the quad getting hit by lighting would be the LEAST of your concerns lol.


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In the near field, the emp from a lightning strike is similar to that from an atomic weapon!! We used to use triggered lightning (small rocket pulled a thin wire up toward the thundercloud) to generate fields in testing sensors designed to monitor for nuclear events. Fields fall off with the square of the distance, but a strike wouldn't have to be that close to upset, possibly even destroy the electronics in our birds.

 

[microlinux]

An interesting experiment . . .