Anyone have experience in flying in Arizona Heat?

Desertdude · Feb 24, 2017

My question is what happens when it gets so hot your iPhone shuts down and you get a heat warning.

It happened the other day. I was flying with my IPad Air 2 tethered to my iPhone laying in the back of my SUV. It was only 78 degrees, didn't realize it was in the sun. After awhile the phone shut down with a heat warning.

What gappens when we hit 105 consistently. I guess we just don't fly or can we fly at 82 in the morning.

Wombat55 · Feb 24, 2017

It's not just the iPhone you have to be concerned about. The Mavic specs state a maximum operating temperature of 104˚, and I know that it can easily exceed that for days on end during the middle of the days in Phoenix.

SkyRider · Feb 24, 2017

I intend to fly very early to avoid the heat.

TekSone · Apr 18, 2017

Wombat55 said:
It's not just the iPhone you have to be concerned about. The Mavic specs state a maximum operating temperature of 104˚, and I know that it can easily exceed that for days on end during the middle of the days in Phoenix.

Thanks for this info, here in NV it can be days on end where it is over 104º.

BlakPhoenix · Apr 18, 2017

I've flown in Australia on days around 40C (104F) and the Mavic didn't complain. It's probably good to try and keep the drone moving in those hot conditions though to ensure it's getting as much airflow over the heatsink as possible.

As for the remote and phone, I always try and set myself up in the shade somewhere. I know I don't like standing in the sun on a 40 degree day for 20 minutes!

onasphere · Jul 31, 2018

I was flying my Mavic Air yesterday at around 100 degrees with direct sunlight, and lost my right forward motor in flight over water. The drone was in tripod mode, and I was shooting stills. Upon noticing the drone's erratic movements, and a motor voltage error, I instinctively hit the return home button. The drone took off at high speed in the wrong direction, further over the water. I canceled return home, and manually took control, heading directly toward land. I got a message of "land immediately and check props". I breathed a little easier once I got over land, but still had a couple hundred feet to go to my location. When I got over my truck, the motor started working again. When I grabbed the drone, I felt each motor, and they were all too hot to touch except for the front right, which had apparently taken a little rest.

Conclusion: The Mavic Air can be flown, with great difficulty, with only one forward motor operating.

Wombat55 · Jul 31, 2018

onasphere said:
Conclusion: The Mavic Air can be flown, with great difficulty, with only one forward motor operating.

Pretty sure that quadcopters require all four motors to be operating for stability purposes. For one, having only three operating motors would cause a torque imbalance because two motors would be turning their props in one direction, and there would be only one motor turning its prop in the opposite direction.

onasphere · Jul 31, 2018

Wombat55 said:
Pretty sure that quadcopters require all four motors to be operating for stability purposes. For one, having only three operating motors would cause a torque imbalance because two motors would be turning their props in one direction, and there would be only one motor turning its prop in the opposite direction.

It flew horribly. I barely got it back. It was clearly having trouble modulating the prop speeds in order to answer my commands. It was pitching and yawing wildly. Front left and right rear motors were hottest, as they were doing the majority of the work. It was flying like a Chinook helicopter.