Safe to fly in fog?

[With The Birds]

Point proven... Neon , enjoy your flight.

What point is proven? I'm confused. Simple observation available to anyone with a car. The puddle that forms on the road while the aircon is running is condensation removed from the air by the cold evaporator element. If you look around the condenser at the front of the vehicle (hot) it will be dry as a bone.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Thanks guys... Came in and... Well... Wouldn't recommend it lol. The fog soaked my drone and it made one hell of a whirring noise and now when I let the props spin as it sits idle it starts to rev up. Think something sent wrong lol

Sent from my HUAWEI LYO-L01 using PhantomPilots mobile app

Slow rev up is normal. At least mine does that.

 

[Les Davidson]

Hi neon, I operate a phantom 4 and am also an amateur pilot (fixed wing). I am in England so get lots of fog in winter. Helicopters are advised not to fly in fog or at least take certain precautions, our phantoms are flying machines and I treat mine as such. Fog has large particles and can adversely affect the motors. I do agree fog makes for good pictures and if you want those you have to fly. Go for it


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Goldni]

My fog flight went well. It was a last minute idea while having my morning coffee.

 

[Neon Euc]

Awesome stuff. Was looking at that last night on YouTube

Sent from my HUAWEI LYO-L01 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Vinman]

My fog flight went well. It was a last minute idea while having my morning coffee.

Wow - that is stunning! Shows talent in flying and editing!

If you don't mind, I have a few questions...
What were your flight distances?
Was that a single flight?
What editing software are you using and how many years of practice will I need to make a compilation like that?!

 

[Goldni]

Thanks guys. I bought my P3A last June and have about 250 flights under my belt. I'm not the most skilled, but I can pull off some descent videos most the time (see my Youbue channel).

That was one single battery flight of about 19 minutes. We woke up with fog, and I thought i would give my battery a good discharge since I had not flown in about 3 weeks. I had been waiting on fall colors but the drought destroyed my beautiful fall flying plans.

I went as high as 350 feet to get the mountains rising up out of the fog shot, and flew no more than 1800 feet away from my house over some woods next door to me.

I use Pinnacle Pro for iPad, and color grade with Chromic.

 

[Vinman]

Thanks guys. I bought my P3A last June and have about 250 flights under my belt. I'm not the most skilled, but I can pull off some descent videos most the time (see my Youbue channel).

That was one single battery flight of about 19 minutes. We woke up with fog, and I thought i would give my battery a good discharge since I had not flown in about 3 weeks. I had been waiting on fall colors but the drought destroyed my beautiful fall flying plans.

I went as high as 350 feet to get the mountains rising up out of the fog shot, and flew no more than 1800 feet away from my house over some woods next door to me.

I use Pinnacle Pro for iPad, and color grade with Chromic.

Thank you for that info!

 

[djphantom2015]

Let's put it this way. There is fog and fog. The fog in the video is the typical warm fog, warm air moving over cold water and moving inland. In a valley or basin fog due to temperature inversion the clouds are colder and compact. I have flown many times through fog to film from above and not once I got my phantom back wet or moist. Also the video below shows that even the lens or filter I have on it has no moisture. The wind produced from the propellers will not allow moisture to build in a short time, and the heat of the motors also protects them from humidity.

password nebbia

 

[Satellite Aerial View]

All this stuff about fog a lot is BS.
I have flown in different temp, heavy and light fog many times never a prob.
Something everyone has missed Brushless Electric Motors will operate under water, yes I did say "under water"
which I have done.

 

[Skyer]

I flew my P3A on a cold, humid, foggy morning, and had no issues with condensation on the lens. Just some light condensation on the airframe. Granted, I did not fly straight through the most dense fog, but through the thinner clouds.

This is what it looked like:

 

[pe9999]

Fly in fog will damage your quad. I did a test with a cheerson cx20, after flying in the fog for 15 minutes, even no visuable condensation on the main board, the shock prevention foam were filled with moisture, 3 months later, sign of corrosion were detected.

 

[kns1313]

I can only think of a dozen reasons why flying in fog is not a good idea, and I am rated in gliders and 5000 hours in C-130's with commercial and instrument tickets. Let's just say it is an "elevated risk" mission. Yes, the footage would be way cool, but what if something goes wrong? You won't have visual acquisition for recovery, you can't properly clear the airspace and as a result, you are unnecessarily endangering anything else in the airspace. This violates way too many Federal Aviation Regulations. Can't fly a real airplane in fog without instruments and an instrument rating, and these drones are real airplanes.

Guys, we all need to be careful here. OK, it's cool to get the footage, but if you want to kill this fledgling industry, do stupid stuff and get caught. The FAA will nail you to the wall and rightfully so (and I'll help drive the nails). And the rest of us should curse your name, as now the hammer of legal authority is now upon all our heads. The FAA is giving us great latitude here as society figures out how to incorporate drone capabilities into the National Airspace Structure, let's not jeopardize that.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

 

[Satellite Aerial View]

Here is one person who needs to fly in fog to cool it.

 

[Falcon900]

Thanks guys. I bought my P3A last June and have about 250 flights under my belt. I'm not the most skilled, but I can pull off some descent videos most the time (see my Youbue channel).


I went as high as 350 feet to get the mountains rising up out of the fog shot, and flew no more than 1800 feet away from my house over some woods next door to me.

I use Pinnacle Pro for iPad, and color grade with Chromic.

Just curious how you maintained visual line of sight at all times?

 

[Dorian Taddei]

Just curious how you maintained visual line of sight at all times?

Precisely! If this flight is to take place in the U.S. it is a violation of FAA rules for ALL UAS pilots because "ling of sight" observations must be maintained. Unless this fog is very, VERY thin this would not be possible.

And this is the problem. The COOLEST shots are those above clouds, beyond fog, out of sight of the pilot, high up, behind obstructions, shots take linking HOME to the operator's RC unit ... in a car being chased, and so on. And ALL OF THESE conditions go against FAA rules, to there you have it! For every pilot who breaks these rules, stiffer rules, more restrictions, fines and eventually very strict controls will come down on the heads of the other 98% who try to be responsible and fly by those rules. So, if we behave and play fair we loose great shots, and if we compromise the entire industry and everyone else, we get the cool shots. Wondering where this is going ... ?

And remember, these UAS FAA rules were pushed through faster than ANY FAA regulations in its history. Why? This is not just about commercial industries and safety. This is basically (legally) a Chinese finger trap!

After all WHEN did the word "drone" (a scary word for killer unmanned, armed military machines) suddenly become tied to multi-rotor helicopters? When did the FAA 'suddenly' take notice of "drones?" This all happened after one of Obama's own "security" flew a DJI Phantom2 over the ULTRA-secure White House lawn. What ... nobody told him that was not legal ... really?

This is all a set-up. High-flying surveillance cameras are a MILITARY potential as defensive and offensive tools. If you want people to provide you with an excuse to take away your freedom(s) then give them a little rope (in this case hung on in-print regulations) and there will always be the greedy, lazier, less responsible person who will screw up and provide the excuse for more and tighter regs.

We've simply been given some rope. Think this a ridiculous prognostication? Watch the news over the next year.

In the meantime, those who insist on ignoring the FAAs, strict guidelines will bring ever increasingly-stricter laws down upon the community.

Those who do not have the foggiest idea what I am talking about ... make my point.

 

[jkers10]

Got a new way point mission I want to try but it's foggy where I am. I will be flying above the fog as it will make great footage but will the fog turn into condensation and go into the drone?

Don't want to risk it but at the same time I don't want to lose this chance of great footage. Any advice would be appreciated

Sent from my HUAWEI LYO-L01 using PhantomPilots mobile app

Not sure anybody addressed the question of legality. If your drone goes out of sight, you're not legal in the US. But I certainly get the attraction to clouds and smoke plumes.

 

[ryback]

I have done it many times with my old P3S and also with the P3A that I have now. Never had a problem. I think that the rotating props keeps the humidity away from the motors, and some drops over the shell is not a problem...

 

[Satellite Aerial View]

Some people here have FOG in the brain.

 

[stitch0852]

Have flown in light to medium fog with zero problem.