Any of you guys fly in the winter or do you let your bird rest until it warms up again?
Thanks,
Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
Thanks,
Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
Who flys in the winter?
- Thread starter llee
- Start date
yea that 40 sounds hard to handle...
But anyhow winter flying is no issue
as long as you keep batteries above 15c or better to start.
battery life is shorter and plastic is a bit brittle once you get down in the teens and below
I flew last winter, and plan to fly even more this winter. Main problem IMO is wind. It tends to be windy in the winter. But yeah, warm up those batteries before flight!
Kirk - what props do you use on your P2 series when it's in the teens? I know most prefer the 9450s in general, but I wonder if there is an advantage to 9443s in brutally cold weather? Any opinion?
Kirk - what props do you use on your P2 series when it's in the teens? I know most prefer the 9450s in general, but I wonder if there is an advantage to 9443s in brutally cold weather? Any opinion?
Winter drops to -25.... -30C at times where I live ..... at about -10C I find it starting to get a bit cold to stand out there.
Biggest problem is not the model - its the hands. Battery's I keep in a beer cooler bag that both have been inside house and car before flight area. I only open for what I want and then close up and keep inside the car. For hands - I have thin gloves that slow down the cooling so that for flight I can 'survive' and then hands in pocket to warm up again.
Snow is actually not a problem for a model as a) its fresh water based, b) it doesn't collect in motors etc. because prop wash keeps it clear .... but its on the ground that you need to have a sheet or plate area reasonably clear so the camera is not subjected to burying in snow.
Our club flies all our models - fixed wing, helicopters, multi-rotors all year round otherwise we would lose a significant part of the year. No-one has failures or problems from this winter flying.
What we do see if not careful is reduced performance of battery's if not warmed first. But never outright failure as some forum posts claim.
Winter flying has spectacular sights to video / photograph ..... why waste it ?
Nigel
Biggest problem is not the model - its the hands. Battery's I keep in a beer cooler bag that both have been inside house and car before flight area. I only open for what I want and then close up and keep inside the car. For hands - I have thin gloves that slow down the cooling so that for flight I can 'survive' and then hands in pocket to warm up again.
Snow is actually not a problem for a model as a) its fresh water based, b) it doesn't collect in motors etc. because prop wash keeps it clear .... but its on the ground that you need to have a sheet or plate area reasonably clear so the camera is not subjected to burying in snow.
Our club flies all our models - fixed wing, helicopters, multi-rotors all year round otherwise we would lose a significant part of the year. No-one has failures or problems from this winter flying.
What we do see if not careful is reduced performance of battery's if not warmed first. But never outright failure as some forum posts claim.
Winter flying has spectacular sights to video / photograph ..... why waste it ?
Nigel
I only had the standard 9443s
crashed my first flight , first day and broke a prop-- didn't know to wait for second green flash then....
anyhow went out next day and bought 3 sets thinking I would need a lot
other than a tipover into ice covered snow never did need all them
boy did that icey snow destroy that prop quick at sub 20's
did all my learning in under 30 degrees as I bought in December, 14
and 14-15 winter was long and cold and snowy
but I got some great videos while learning.
BTW I found myself flying about midnight often
it seems the winds like to die down then and I am a nite owl anyhow
so it all worked
I fly in winter but I draw the line when its 13F with a -7 windchill plus 25mph winds its been like that for the past week, it sucks.
I was happy with the 9443s but then DB told me about the 9450s and that they had more thrust and yada yada yada, plus they have better hubs, less likely to spin off, so now I'm flying them, but I have to wonder that maybe there's an advantage to the 9443s in winter. I don't need to be snappin' a prop at 400'
Night flying in winter? Sounds pretty brutal. I don't have to worry about that problem though because I'm in the DC SFRA - no night flights!
Night flying in winter? Sounds pretty brutal. I don't have to worry about that problem though because I'm in the DC SFRA - no night flights!
Just a comment - prop choice can have a marked effect on flight times.
The more power needed to turn a prop - the shorter your flight time.
Some people think because a prop has more thrust - the hover / flight will need less rpm and so less power - that's wrong and in fact opposite in terms of power demand.
It is why in general RC flying so much time is spent matching props to motor / battery / model.
Nigel
The more power needed to turn a prop - the shorter your flight time.
Some people think because a prop has more thrust - the hover / flight will need less rpm and so less power - that's wrong and in fact opposite in terms of power demand.
It is why in general RC flying so much time is spent matching props to motor / battery / model.
Nigel
This video is in weather of about -5C .....
The next video is our club having a great deal of fun last winter ... at times snow was falling but nothing stopped ... and all went home without snow induced damage ... we even had very expensive professional Survey Drone + usual DJI / other drones operating that day ... (excuse the jerky video - it was made with a hatcam I use for general model flying ... see my channel "solentlifeuk") ....
Nigel
The next video is our club having a great deal of fun last winter ... at times snow was falling but nothing stopped ... and all went home without snow induced damage ... we even had very expensive professional Survey Drone + usual DJI / other drones operating that day ... (excuse the jerky video - it was made with a hatcam I use for general model flying ... see my channel "solentlifeuk") ....
Nigel
Something I read on here last winter that I thought was strange so I tried it! Do an IMU Calibration in the cold, by setting the bird out side, not the battery for 20 minutes then put the battery in and immediately do the IMU, suppose to set the flight temperature lower so it does not take as long to warm up. Seemed to work, of course I am in Savannah and cold is 40!
Yeah i'm in South Dakota its currently 10 degrees with a -9 windchill I'm not going to try it. I fear that in those cold temps after a while the plastic may become brittle.
Yeah, it's a real pain. When all of my friends in the mid west are prepping their motorcycles for winter, I have to keep buying tires because I ride every day...
I'm pretty much grounded for the foreseeable future. Gonna snow the next 3 days and the temps aren't getting any warmer nor is the wind going away and then next thursday even more snow. It's looking like I might not fly for a good month if even that.
I'm OK with my P3S down to the high 30s, as long as the drone and battery have been kept in a warm place before going outside. When it's colder, my hands and fingers are the problem; after a few minutes, they get too cold and stiff to drive the controller properly!
Winter has some of the most spectacular views to film ...
Nigel
Nigel
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